Nearly every child grows up in America spending the last weeks of summer eagerly counting down the days until Halloween and filling most of that time thinking of what costume they want to wear for trick or treating. Before the advent of slasher films in the late 1970s, children relied heavily on the well overdone costumes of Halloween past including ghost, devils, cowboys, Indians, etc.
From the first screenings of John Carpenter’s Halloween in October 1978 through the entire 1980s, children of America were given new and more evil and monstrous characters to dress up as on the ‘devil’s holiday’ whether it be Micheal Myers, Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger. As someone who grew up in the 80s, my desire to be Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise on Halloween quickly turned into one of wanting to meet the ‘man behind the mask.’
For decades, meeting Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and even the Seven Dwarfs was just a plane ride away from reality for most children in America, but meeting the causes of nightmares and prolonged bed wetting was not something one thought could become reality. That was until a man from New England had a dream of scaring the masses.
In 1991, David Bertolino started a Halloween themed hay ride event on a farm in rural Massachusetts about 45 minutes outside of Boston. The ride would pass by several staged scenes that would be filled with a variety of Halloween tropes including zombies, classic monsters and more. The event which would grow to be appropriately named Spooky World is now the focus of the new documentary Spooktacular! from director Quinn Monahan.
Spooktacular! shows the rise and fall of the annual event that many believed gave birth to the Halloween themed events seen across the country every year at theme parks like Universal, Six Flags, and Knott’s Berry. Monahan interviewed Bertolino and numerous people from the town of Berlin that Spooky World called home for most of its run as well as former employees and collaborators.
The charming documentary portrays Bertolino as the P.T. Barnum of scare haunts and early on you learn of the love of horror films David had as a child and the director even intersects footage from Vincent Price films to further get the point across. As the documentary moves, every season of the world’s first ever horror theme park grew bigger and bigger and even to the point where it actually out grew the small town it called home. From its initial incarnation Bertolino quickly understood the need to give customers a reason to make the trek out to the middle of nowhere. The innovator decided to bring the stars of some of the biggest names in horror and pop culture to the farm to give fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the people responsible for their nightmares.
Everyone from Elvira to Alice Cooper to Jason Voorhees himself (aka Kane Hodder) were brought in to meet and entertain fans during the month long event. Special effects master Tom Savini was brought in that first year in 1991 to meet fans and quickly became a collaborator at the park with his ideas for improved effects and additional attractions.
The interesting and sometimes bizarre business decisions made during the run of Spooky World that eventually would lead to the town of Berlin turning against its biggest employer and tourist attraction are on display during the film and Bertolino doesn’t shy away from his part in its eventual downfall.
Spooktacular! is a fascinating time capsule for the fans of Spooky World who came from far and long to visit the park every year that always wondered what happened and one hell of a ride for Halloween fans everywhere.
Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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