{"id":3487,"date":"2018-10-23T08:01:54","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T07:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/invitation2events.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3487"},"modified":"2023-04-15T14:11:12","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T14:11:12","slug":"scary-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invitation2events.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3487","title":{"rendered":"Scary history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not a big attraction in the UK (yet), there are\u00a0over 1,200 professional haunted houses, 3,000 charity-run spookshows and 300 theme parks that operate horror-themed events in the United States.<\/p>\n

Creating scares is not a recent phenomenon –<\/h2>\n

but in the past it was used for different purposes.<\/h2>\n

The ancient Egyptians used scares to keep body snatchers and tomb raiders away from the contents of their pyramids. They employed moving walls and self-opening doors, traps and mazes,\u00a0as well as snakes and insects to provoke fear.<\/p>\n

Mazes and labyrinths, often filled with monsters, can also be found in Greek and Roman folklore.<\/p>\n

Theatrical scares were started in ancient Greek theatre, with productions including things such as trapdoors, ghostly images and fake blood. By the middles ages, travelling players performed\u00a0mostly Biblical stories, including the scarier parts which were intended to frighten audiences into being good Christians.<\/p>\n

The middle ages was also when the idea of Halloween, as we know it today, began. When the Europeans converted to\u00a0 Christianity, they carried over the idea of an autumn holiday from their Celtic and pagan religions. This included bobbing for apples,\u00a0carving pumpkins or turnips, dressing in costume and trick -or-treating.<\/p>\n

Communicating with the dead……<\/h2>\n

As theatres developed, so did the development of special effects for the Ghosts, demons and monsters that often appeared in plays. But these spectral sightings were make believe.<\/p>\n

By the 1800’s additional forms of ghostly entertainment were available, with Mediums, fortune tellers and spiritualists communicating with the dead.<\/p>\n

Or did they?<\/p>\n

Harry Houdini and others debunked several famous spiritualists as frauds.<\/p>\n

Amusement park thrills and beyond……<\/h2>\n

In the early 20th century freakshows and dark rides became part of the travelling carnival’s attractions.\u00a0Then permanent sites for\u00a0amusement parks sprang up. These included haunted houses and mazes.<\/p>\n

Disneyland\u2019s Haunted Mansion did not open until 1969. It’s facade was based on the Winchester Mystery House. Inside the house visitors ride \u201cdoom buggies\u201d through the haunted mansion.<\/p>\n

Now haunted hoses are not restricted to amusement parks. Halloween enthusiasts known as \u201chome haunters\u201d create attractions at their homes. There are also haunted hayrides, mazes and scavenger hunts.<\/p>\n

\"night
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last year the team attended Fright Night near Southampton.<\/h4>\n

Want to join us on an adventure?<\/h2>\n

To become a member of The City Adventurers visit\u00a0https:\/\/www.cityadventurers.co.uk\/City-Adventurers.html<\/a>\u00a0and subscribe. Full\u00a0City Adventurers<\/a>\u00a0Membership includes invitations to adventures and travel mainly in the UK. If you are not UK based, or prefer online adventures, join the City Adventurers as an\u00a0Armchair Detective<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not a big attraction in the UK (yet), there are\u00a0over 1,200 professional haunted houses, 3,000 charity-run spookshows and 300 theme parks that operate horror-themed events in the United States. Creating scares is not a recent phenomenon – but in the past it was used for different purposes. The ancient Egyptians used scares to keep body… More Scary history<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,286],"tags":[281,282,283,284,285,287,288],"class_list":["post-3487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-puzzle","tag-dark-rides","tag-haunted-hayrides","tag-haunted-houses","tag-haunted-mazes","tag-haunted-scavenger-hunts","tag-scary","tag-spookshows"],"yoast_head":"\nScary history - Invitation 2 Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/invitation2events.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3487\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scary history - Invitation 2 Events\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not a big attraction in the UK (yet), there are\u00a0over 1,200 professional haunted houses, 3,000 charity-run spookshows and 300 theme parks that operate horror-themed events in the United States. 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