I'm breakable, unbreakable

I'm very low energy tonight, but I did want to take a haunt in. I went to Kekuli Bay earlier, and decided nope, the texture flickr on the whole of the ground is so savagely jarring I developed more of a headache, and that's just no good. So, the next one that perked interest was Doom's.



The first warning is for the arachnophobes: There are jumping spiders in this haunt. Like, dog-size jumping spiders. That, not to put too fine a point on it, jump at your face. (As in, the screen--not your avatar, this haunt is going after you.) It's a little jarring even for non-arachnophobes, so steer clear of this one if you aren't big on crawly things.



The burning church was novel, and really well done.



And this is the first time I realized it's pretty much just a three-sided box--and since I was still set on midday, it was kind of a switch between dark gloomy darkness and bright seaside blue?

Then there was the "Hallway of Torment".



Interesting conceit here--the picture frame closest to the avatar shows their avatar's current profile pic. It is slightly unnerving, I'll give them that.



Found the exit point to the next area, and unsurprisingly, lots of fire. Surprisingly, also lots of game rips. Argh.



Like these, the hanging triptych from Silent Hill.

But finally, I found the exit to the next area and ran into the sim owners in an...uh...intimate moment, let's say...so...I left.

For the game rips, I'd give them two skulls, but that profile picture trick was neat, so I'm upgrading to three. Don't know if I'll stop back by again, though, so...they may stay at three.

I can do what I want, I'm in complete control, that's what I tell myself

Today I went to Nightmares and Screams. It was very, very wet. Their blurb was fairly short:

"Dark, scary, haunted house, hunt, maze, ghosts zombies blood skeletons frights prizes tricks treats ritual death ghouls"

So, first off, walking onto the parcel will give visitors a drop-down. You'll need to agree to the Experience system to play.



It's definitely got its own feel, I'll give it that.



Arachnophobes be warned: there are spiders. And screen-filling jump scares, so...there's that, too.



Finally, inside the mansion and out of the rain! But the foyer is full of drifting leaves and howling winds...



Unique wall art...



And a tentacled cultist at the back of a very large film, mostly full of drifting shades, gargoyles, and ruined columns.



The rest of it, though, apart from some fun effects, is mostly just slowly moving dead things and screaming. They could have done more with it. Good atmosphere, kind of weak execution, so...three out of five skulls.

so I'll take two of what you're having and I'll take all of what you got (part II)

(Continued from part I.)



Another spider warning--seems like visitors are going to have to make their way through the webs to reach the front door.



Through the front door, more webs, more spiders...and a skeleton playing piano.



In a side room, two very tired skeletons, a wife and husband reclining after a hard day, and...a skinned dog??



Upstairs, in this very familiar build, the childrens' room--where the children seem to be watching over their possessed grandmother, as the crucifix slowly rotates on the wall.



And finally, the master bedroom, with a web-bedecked canopy bed, a web-draped sewing mannequin, and a very dusty vanity.

All in all, this one's fairly quiet, but well done. Not one for people who aren't fans of creepy-crawlies, but it's a pleasant walk, with some nifty decorations, and I quite enjoyed it. It's not a large space, but you know, they don't all need to be. My first five out of five skulls for the year.

so I'll take two of what you're having and I'll take all of what you got (part I)

GRIND Halloween's blurb said:"Romantic Dancing with your date and Halloween Spooky Sim brought to you by Alexzis Meredith.
Haunted,house,skeletons,zombies,zombie,graveyard,Scarecrow,scary,,ghotic,Ghosts,Tombstone,Graves, scary sprits, ghouls, witches,trick or treat, costumes, dress u" Well, I was in a dress, so...I went.



Turns out I didn't need one. While there was a dance floor--and people there--I was more interested in the marquee arrows that led around the side, because that's where I saw Hallows decorations. Including this rather familiar Slenderman at a bus stop along the sidewalk.



Well, this is certainly unusual. From a quiet sidewalk, through a wrought-iron gate, to...an alligator? Seemed upset, too.



To the side of the alligator--and the little shack it was in front of--was a side passage. Here be spiders, so be warned.



To one side of the house was this dancing masked fellow. Not sure why he was dancing there, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.



And to the other side of the house I noticed these color-changing skeletons. I hadn't noticed them on the other side of the fence, so...either they hadn't rezzed in yet, or they weren't visible from the front? Not sure, but they were also fun to watch.

Next up: the house!

now and then there's a light in the darkness

Let me give you another good reason to keep wearing masks. This is dire news. Be safe out there. In the meantime...



Welcome to Hell Castle.



The theatre seems to be the one place that isn't haunted on this parcel, but they have some nifty lobby posters.



And they have a chain ride! So here...we...GO!



There is some spider action, but only here, right past the entrance.



I ended up going through this ride twice, just because I loved this section so much. So, the rest of it moves like your standard chain ride--jerk forward, see set pieces, jerk forward again, new room...but in this passage, the coffin car spun 45 degrees diagonally so that people in mouselook could see each painting change. That's pretty nifty coding.



And I never felt movement up, but we're on the second floor. That's pretty neat too.



I have left out a couple rooms, because they weren't as fun as the rest? But there are some zombies, some floating heads, in other rooms, at least one very familiar split-head dog (it's from a video game, or a movie; I just can't place it right now), a tunnel of reaching hands, and the traditional spiral-of-doom passthrough...



This was also nice. A tunnel passage that managed to be eerie and atmsopheric without dripping gore or triggering repetitive screams on the soundtrack. Neatly done.

There's something like five or six other haunted houses on the parcel, I may go back and see what they are, but if nothing else, any other fan of chain rides in SL needs to check this out. Pretty good job all told. Four out of five skulls.

and as I watch you disappear into my head, well, there's a man who's telling me I might be dead (part two)

(Continued from part one.)



On the second floor I found mostly empty rooms, with a pinball-bouncing Chucky doll triggering every time I came out to the center area that all the rooms open onto. That...was annoying. But of the two rooms that had anything, this was definitely the more visually interesting--the other being the same bed with a bloodied red blanket, a cut-out wavery butler, nine feet tall, and a floor candlestick.



There's very little on the second floor, and very little in the attic. But the attic is confusing: rip clown, devil's head, the Jigsaw puppet, and Tiffany in a T pose. Why?



The last structure I found before I left was a barn, complete with jumpscare clown, drifting spectre, and hanging man.



And there's nothing upstairs in the barn loft.

All in all, this isn't terrible. It's sufficiently atmospheric. I'd honestly give it a solid three skulls if not for the fact I had to open the map and peer at a poster to get the correct coordinates for the haunt. It wasn't arduous, in the sense of having to move a car or anything, but it was irritating, and it didn't need to be.



In the meantime, I'm just not getting used to this new let's-rearrange-all-the-things style of logout screen. (The red arrow is due to my using a screencap service to grab this, and it grabbed where my mouse cursor was, too.)

and as I watch you disappear into my head, well, there's a man who's telling me I might be dead (part one)

This one is deeply weird. Their blurb:

SG Restaurant,grocery store,groceries, produce,fruit,free food court,buttermilk,wood,logs,lumber,power,energy,friendly,ice,water,wellness,center,herbs,medical,rice,craft,supermarket rentals,social,fun,music,market,vegetables,Haunted House

So...nothing at all to do with anything seasonal, but oh-wait-Haunted-House. I haz a confuse.

So...where's the haunt?



Wandering a short distance discovered this jumpscare clown. I wasn't interested in jumping into him repeated times to get everything to rez in, but...this is suitably creepy, I feel, on its own.

Later, I found a port pad. It was...confusing. It had these options: "Bowling Alley", "Education Par", Entertainmen", Supermarket", "clinic", and five completely empty buttons. I still haz a confuse.



I wandered into the courtyard area and finally saw this sign. Oh, so I have to get there on my own, there's no direct port? That's annoying.



That's...not a sign style you see every day.



There's a tricky, but doable, corn maze that's fun to go through.

However, I got lost out the other side. I pretty much had to go back to the beginning and take a couple different paths before I cound the house.



Warning: the house is not for arachnophobes, so do be aware.



This was an interesting thing--one of the outdoor wandering spirits has apparently been given the house to patrol. Which means he randomly floats through rooms, through walls, circles back, and wanders through again.

And this is verging on long, so I'm splitting it in half. Continued in part two!

in truth, I want to live so bad it hurts (part two)

You're a jerk for selling this openly, Fresh3D. Just so you know. That is a direct game rip from the second Evil Within game, and I've never seen it on offer before, which means you brought it in. You should be ashamed of yourself.

? We continue from the passage of Tim Burton flailing things.



I guess it's only fair, tentacles and blood lead to radiation? Or maybe radiation leads to tentacles and blood, the ride just had it reversed. Oh, and there's a game rip, from Silent Hill: Homecoming, I believe. Because of course there is.



And then...



Or some sort of very odd sea life.



The next corridor was all visual--televisions, projectors, eyes, with scraps of horror films running on them interspersed with static. This was also weirdly effective for how simple it was.



And the next corridor...largely features spiders. Be warned. I tried my best to crop the picture I'm showing to feature only webs, but the section of the ride has a lot of things in those webs.



Next up was Halloweentown, and I view this as more homage over mesh rips, especially because I'm not sure there ever was a Nightmare Before Christmas game.



One last shot of Oogie Boogie rolling his dice...



...and then the ride was over.

All things considered, it's long enough to feel like an experience, and short enough to take friends with and make a jaunt of it. The sets are varied, and interesting, and while I do detract a skull for the game rips, honestly this is a four-star haunt otherwise. It's a lot of fun,and non-arachnophobes will enjoy it. There are a few jump scares, if you're sensitive to those, but otherwise, it's just a good, nostalgic carnival ride.

and as I watch you disappear into the ground, my one mistake was that I couldn't let you down

This one's weird...their description:

Restaurant buffet, Dinner, Date, anyone welcome to dine in and enjoy the other activities in Bazzar Fantasy Community, Bowling Alley, Movie Theater, Halloween Haunted House, Ice Cream Shop

So "Haunted House" is in there, but...the rest of it has nothing to do with anything I'm looking for. Will it be any good?



I have all the dread.

So I looked around for a bit, and near the corner of "Beyonsay Road" and "Fierce Blvd", I found what might be a haunt? Maybe? Okay, time to set the proper mood.



Midnight works better. Could this be the place?



I walked up to the sidewalk, walked onto the parcel, clicked to open the door...and was immediately bounced:

[23:03] Second Life: You have been ejected from this land.

Well, that's rude. No skulls for you.



What about Peach's Haunted House? The parcel image looks very overcrowded. The description seems just as cluttered:

Interactive Haunted House. Halloween, Haunted Mansion. Fun for all ages. Take your time exploring and sit on things to interact. Spooky, Scary, asylum, Circus, Freakshow, Haunted Museum, Fright, Halloween Photo Spot. Vampires, Haunt, boo, witches,

"Boo, witches" indeed. At least this place looks more like a haunte....waitaminute, this is Lunar's haunted house again? WHY DO YOU HAVE TWO NAMES AND TWO ADS IT IS CONFUSING!

Okay, third try. And the rapid sound looks are just as annoying, even without a headache.

Ana-stasia's came up. Their blurb:

Voice Lounge, voice, club, music, dance, dj, dancer, voice club, open mic, games, voice, haunted house, hangout, chat, fun, all genres, Singer, relaxing, Entertainment, karaoke, celebrate, photo studio, Comedy ALL WELCOME

So...basically a voice hangout, but it does say haunted house...I am dubious, but let's go.

So first off, the port drops off inside the club. Which is not the haunt. And I was having a bit of trouble rezzing in walls and such--I'd cranked down all my settings for the masquerade ball and had forgotten to raise them--so it took a bit to figure out I couldn't just walk through the "door" in the back of the club--which was, in fact, the back wall of the club--to get there.



This is a weirdly expansive place. Once I found out how to get in, I had to stand on one side of the room and just let things rez in. I kept having to up my draw distance. Most haunts I can run through at my standard 180-225 draw distance. This one I kept having to edge it up because it was so huge.



I set this pic to autocontrast, just because it was so dark and so large. The animated arrows on the floor led me from the, I guess, haunted warehouse, through a door to, I guess, a haunted warehouse club. Here there be spiders (note arrow--that's a larger-than-human sized one. Not realistic, but be aware). Here there be game rips. And here I'm done with this haunt. Three for three, all struck out.