The Fear at Fenway: Spooky World Transforms Fenway Park into a Haunted Halloween Attraction

Posted by Noelle Swan

For the first time, Spooky World has set up shop at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

Since July, the owners of Nightmare New England in Litchfield, New Hampshire have been working seven days a week to construct the three haunted houses that now reside in the famed ballpark. The attraction opened last Thursday and has already drawn several thousand visitors.

While the evening events promise genuine scares, the Saturday and Sunday matinees are family friendly affairs. The park’s director, Mike Krausser, said that parents should feel comfortable bringing children of all ages to the weekend matinees. “We have covered up the really scary stuff. Anything bloody or gory has been taken out. The lights are kept on, and the music is much lower.”

Ten-year-old Nasir DaCruz of Hyde Park and his twelve-year-old cousin Kaire Bernier teased each other while waiting at the box office.

“You’re gonna be scared,” said DaCruz.

“Yeah, you’re already scared,” said Bernier.

Mary Grace Aboudou of Revere hoped that neither of her five-year-old twin daughters — who were dressed up as Mario and Luigi from Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers — would be scared. Aboudou brought her daughters to Fenway “for some Halloween entertainment for the kids.” She said she had heard that event organizers would be covering up the scary stuff for the kids during the daytime matinee.

The journey began with a maze of hallways painted with Day-Glo 3-D paint and then continued with a hall of mirrors. Eerie music peppered with occasional claps of thunder and crying babies played softly in the background. Costumed actors offered candy to children and posed for photos.

The next stop on the tour was a crypt full of skeletons, tombstones, gargoyles, and hologram portraits that changed from living to dead as people walk past. One lone ghoul slowly followed patrons and moaned quietly.

The tour continued onto the ball field where families posed for photos under the famed Green Monster. The bright sunshine and impeccable green field seemed somewhat out of place for a haunted Halloween attraction, but guests seemed thrilled to have the chance to step onto the field. One young girl commented to her family that the glimpse of the field was the best part of the whole event.

A candy-bearing actor and large animatronic dog welcomed patrons to the third and final haunted house in the park. The house was furnished with a collection of antique-looking furniture and taxidermy animals adorned the walls. It had the vague air of the set of a cheesy horror movie, without any of the scary parts.

Black mesh covered the entire kitchen of the house. Glimpses of crimson splatters peeked through the holes of the covering, hinting at the gore that awaits evening patrons.

Before leaving, some children custom-ordered balloon animals from a friendly actor dressed in a cape, top hat, and fake mustache. Others stopped to have their faces painted.

While Aboudou’s twin daughters were having their faces painted, she grinned and said, “It was perfect, I think. The girls were hesitant, but not scared.”

After dark, everything changes.

Throughout the evening program, “A chorus of screams can be heard echoing throughout the park,” Strausser said.

Jayn Lloyd, a makeup artist and actor at the park said, “We’ve seen people run for the emergency exits.” Gory mannequins not seen by matinee-goers distract visitors so actors dressed as ghouls can sneak up on them, Lloyd also noted.

Stephanie Fulton works at Spookyworld’s Lynchfield location as well as The Fear at Fenway. “Last night I had one person curl up in a ball and cry,” she said with a laugh.

“We’re not trying to traumatize anyone,” Krausser said. “The actors know when to back off, but people come to the park to be scared. That’s the fun of it.”

Giana, a twelve-year-old from Revere who preferred not to give her last name, had hoped to be scared and was a bit disappointed by the “lights on” attractions. “It wasn’t that scary,” she said and added that she hoped to return for the night show next weekend.

After each matinee show, Spooky World staff spend an hour and a half moving the scariest and goriest parts of the scenery. Actors set aside their ‘trick or treat’ bags and do their best to scare the dickens out of patrons. In all, 120 actors populated the evening spectacle at The Fear, jumping out of the shadows, following patrons, and adding a genuine air of fright.

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