Zeitgeist Design & Production, the creator of UX-IRL: User eXperiences In Real Life, has helped Hersheypark in Pennsylvania to launch a world-class Halloween event, Dark Nights, with the development of three immersive haunted house experiences that take inspiration from local Pennsylvania legends.
The Zeitgeist team, led by LBE industry experts Ryan Harmon and Joe Lanzisero, drew upon its almost 40 years of global theme park and attraction design and production experience to create three new walkthrough attractions: Haunted Coal Mine, Creature Chaos and Twisted Darkness.
Bringing scary tales to life
“The Zeitgeist team instilled each of its three haunted houses with believable backstories, unique characters, clever techniques, and surprising physical situations,” says Brewer Lister, Hersheypark’s managing director of marketing. “As a result of this fresh approach, each of Zeitgeist’s designs seamlessly integrates immersive theatrical scenics with special effects and costumed ‘scare actors’ to bring each original and spine-tingling tale to life.”
In the Haunted Coal Mine experience, visitors journey deep inside an abandoned mineshaft, home to a troupe of mischief-making gnome-like men, determined to protect their treasure at all costs. Meanwhile, Creature Chaos is based on legends of mythical creatures from Pennsylvania’s forests. Here, guests meet nefarious cryptozoologist Professor Stanley Darkstone, whose travelling sideshow of hungry creatures is on the loose.
Finally, Twisted Darkness presents a grotesque carnival of nightmares, accessed through the psychic visions of the fortune-teller Madame Zola, where visitors need to escape before they end up trapped forever.
Compelling storytelling
“We approached each haunted house like a dark ride,” says Zeitgeist president and chief creative officer, and former Disney Imagineer, Ryan Harmon, who wrote the narrative for each house. “Your ride vehicle is your feet as you trepidatiously traverse a series of fantastic environments as a compelling multimedia story unfolds around you, culminating in a spectacular finale every time! Our goal was not just the physical scare, but an emotional scare that will haunt you in your dreams.”
Zeitgeist executive vice president and chief art director, and Disney icon, Joe Lanzisero, adds: “We wanted to create thrilling experiences that are unique to Pennsylvania. We spent a lot of time researching local lore, as well as visual vocabularies we didn’t see in existing Halloween attractions. Of course, Hersheypark’s natural forested and creekside setting – especially in the autumn – provided an already dark palate on which to paint.”
Zeitgeist’s work at Hersheypark’s Dark Nights can be experienced until 30 October 2022.
