Haunted Adventures, Fright Nights and cricket eating!
Jim Davis, City of GatlinburgOriginally published: October 22. 2009 11:52AM
Last modified: October 22. 2009 11:55AM
Ripley's Haunted Adventure in Gatlinburg is celebrating its 11th annual Fright Nights show with “Phobias”, a show dedicated to fears of the human psyche. This Halloween season, the haunted house is featuring the “Eat a Cricket for a Ticket” promotion, in which people will be randomly picked on the street to see if they can truly eat a cricket to win a ticket to the Ripley's Haunted Adventure Fright Night show. There will also be special visits from some of the creepy crawly bugs and reptiles for those brave enough to hold them.
Ripley's Haunted Adventure – a year-round haunted house – is an unbelievably scary tour of the old Grimsby & Streaper Casket Company; a firm that was run by the two men since 1891 – until they mysteriously vanished. The disappearance of the two men as well as many townspeople, combined with odd happenings in town, was blamed on the fact that the casket company was built over a cave called The Sink, where many entered but never left. The old casket factory was abandoned under mysterious circumstances during the early 1900s. Ripley Entertainment acquired the property and has been giving tours of the mysterious building to those brave enough to enter. Live actors and dozens of scary and mysterious scenes and galleries greet all those who take the tour.
Ripley's Haunted Adventure is one of the few haunted houses in the nation that is open 365 days a year. Tickets are $12.99 + tax for ages 12 and up and $7.99 + tax for ages 6-11. No one under the age of 6 is allowed due to the graphic nature of the facility, and those under 12 must be accompanied by a guardian.
There is no extra charge for the special Fright Nights shows which run every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in October. Shows are kicked off nightly at 6:13 p.m. with a character parade.
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