With Halloween right around the corner, Richmonders will seek some fun and entertaining ways to celebrate the night. Many local events take place such as haunted hayrides, haunted house tours and haunted forest visits. One of the most popular events happening in Richmond this year is the Blood Lake Haunted House. The Blood Lake Haunted House takes place at Cobblestones Park in OverHill Lake Lane by Staples Mill Road. Blood Lake is back this year and supposed to be better than ever with three new attractions and extended hours and days. The first new attraction is the Lethal Lullabies indoor haunted house. According to the “Blood Lake Haunted House” website, guests can explore the haunted halls of the Blood Lake Home for Orphans and discover what happened to the unfortunate children who inhabited its treacherous confines so many years ago.
The second new attraction that guests get to experience is the Portrait of a Vampire Indoor haunted house. People will see the story of Richard and Hetty Brood, who bought the lake property in Hanover County just off of Staples Mill Road. It was renamed Brood Lake in 1855.
At each site, the actors give a history about Brood Lake. For years, people remarked that Hetty seemed ageless. When she outlived everyone around her by decades, some folks got downright suspicious.
Hetty donated the property at Brood Lake for use as a home for orphans and “retired”, still looking as young as ever. Rumors began to fly as people speculated that Hetty’s youth could only mean one thing; she was a vampire. Many mysterious deaths and disappearances seemed to follow in Hetty’s wake, therefore the locals organized a vigilance committee and went in search of Hetty. Their first stop was the basement of the orphanage. As guests walk through the house, they follow in the footsteps of the slayers and join them in the spider’s web, which is Portrait of a Vampire.
The final attraction of the night is the Camp Blood outdoor trail. Guests walk through a dark trail as they experience the horror with GroundsCreeper Willie who is the terror of Brood Lake. The legend is if he hears you then you will be dead.
After experiencing the haunts of walking through the haunted houses and the dark thrill, I talked to one of the actors, Justin Lowenhagan. He plays the role of three different characters of the evil clown, the “Bully,” or the scarecrow depending on the night.
“As the clown I "scare" people by popping up at them after they play a scary carnival game, as the Bully I intimidate people and pop out and scare them and use a paddle to intimidate them by hitting it against my hand, and as the scarecrow I blend into a field of other scarecrows and follow them down the path and hopefully scare them,” says Lowenhagan. Along with Lowenhagan, there are quite a few other Virginia Commonwealth University students who auditioned through the VCUTheatre department and auditioned for a role.
In preparing for the haunt every night, hours of hard work and effort are involved.
“Well, the house and forest are already set up and remain set up for the remainder of the month.,” explains Lowenhagan.
“Every evening the haunt is open, the actors arrive beforehand to get into make up and be assigned the parts they are going to portray. They then go into costumes and get suited up. Just like any other part, there are certain things that the actors are assigned to the different haunts.”
This event is great for people of all ages, especially teenagers. It’s great for some family fun, however, Lowenhagan advises to the public, “If you are going to the haunted house, be open to being scared, nothing is worse than going through a haunted house and not being open to the experience.”
If you decide to go to the Blood Lake Haunted House, the only warning you will get is to be prepared for a great scare.
The operational nights are every Thursday through Sunday night throughout October. The park opens at 7:30 p.m. and closes at 10:30 p.m. on Thursdays, 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays, and 10:00 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets can be bought at the gate for $20 or online for $18 for the Terror Trio which includes access to the Lethal Lullabies, Portrait of a Vampire and Camp Blood. For Camp Blood tickets are $8, and the Indoor Combo tickets are $15.
Sources
Justin Lowenhagan
804-678-8183
lowenhaganjj@vcu.edu
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