Let me start by saying that I don’t like scary things. I don’t like creepy slasher movies, or people or things jumping out at me in the dark, or having my heart pound out of my chest because I’m pumped up on SCARY adrenaline. I don’t like being frightened for the fun of it, and I don’t normally subject myself to terrifying situations that I know will scare the beejeebers out of me.
But my husband and two teenage girls do. They love watching spine-chilling movies, even if that means they sleep with the light on in their room because they’re too afraid to sleep in the dark. They laugh and think it’s so much fun when someone hides in a dark hallway and unexpectedly jumps out at them with a menacing growl. So, it goes without saying that they love the month of October, Halloween, and all the spooky fun that goes with it.
Me? Not so much. But here we are in Oregon where everything is new and different and the month of October is all about Halloween fun. Being in a new area (to us), we’re up to exploring and doing things as a family — luckily, our girls love hanging out with us, and we always have a fun time together. A few weeks ago someone told me about the corn mazes (maizes) here in Oregon, and for the month of October they also have a haunted corn maze. So, last week we thought we’d give them a try.
The regular corn maze is made on five acres and is three miles in length of the actual trail through it. It was HUGE with lots of twists and turns and dead ends. Since the corn stalks are way above your heads, there is no way to see where you’re going on the trail to get out. Halfway through the regular corn maze, Danielle and I got separated from Don and Kellie. And of course, me being directionally challenged, we got ourselves good and lost. I swear we kept going around and around on the same path! But we laughed and had a great time, and eventually we did find our way out of the maze.
We hung around until nightfall because the girls wanted to go through the haunted corn maze. At first, I was adamant about sitting this one out, but they really wanted me to go, so I sucked it up, 
psyched myself out, and followed them in. By now, it’s pitch dark out in those corn fields, and the maze is HUGE. Around every corner was goblins and ghouls and all kinds of scary things whose main goal was to frighten you. Yes, I screamed — A LOT. And Don and the girls laughed — A LOT. I think it was more fun for them to watch me freak out! But I survived and made it through the maze — and had to admit that I had fun, despite running and screaming like a banshee throughout most of the maze.
You’d think that the haunted maze would be enough Halloween fun for the girls, but oh, no — they heard about a bunch of haunted houses at a place called “Scream at the Beach”, about 30 minutes from where we live. I quickly learned that Scream at the Beach is rated one of the top 10 “haunts” in the country. Oh, goody. They really wanted to go. I really DIDN’T want to go. But I knew they didn’t want to go without me (of course, because I was their comic relief!), and again I told myself that it was a family outing, it would be fun (ha!), and I just had to remember that there were regular, ordinary people beneath all that terrifying make-up and those hideious masks. Uh-huh. So, off we went to Jantzen Beach this weekend, to brave all those haunted houses.
The first one was Zombie Apocalypse — a take on the movie Resident Evil (which I’ve never seen, but Don and the girls have). There was a city under attack with flesh eating zombies everywhere. The 
girls thought that one was “way cool”, while I felt lucky to survive the ordeal. Next up, The Mine — an abandoned gold mine that is infested with hideous mutants. The inspiration behind this attraction is The Hills Have Eyes (again, I’ve never seen it, the girls have) with mutuants eating tourists to stay alive. Can you say “ewww?”. After that we went into The Lost Temple — the crumbling walls of this ancient edifice hides a terrible secret. It’s a dark palace guarded by deathless warriors, traps, mazes and bottomless pits to keep unwanted visitors out. Mystery and intrigue draw you in, but the discoveries to be made are not treasures, they’re of death and destruction. Ummm, yes, I can attest to that! Then there was The Awakening — a classic vampire haunt. Surprisingly, this attraction didn’t scare me — I was more amused than anything and had fun walking through this haunted mansion, which reminded me a lot of the haunted mansion at Disneyland.
Lastly, there was The Dark Carnival — and this one, in my opinion, was the scariest one of all. This haunted place was all about the darker side of carnivals. It combined the thrills of a pitch black maze and tight squeezes (I clung to Don through this part!) with flashes of carnival freaks and evil clowns. The walls were even slimey, and there were strange textures and smells everywhere. Things reached out and touched you in the dark and creepy things hung from the ceiling. I have no idea what those “things” were, but they scared the beejeebers out of me!
Needless to say, I survived the night. Just barely. And after all was said and done, we had a great time, lots of laughs, and it’s something we’ll always remember. And believe it or not, I’d even do it again next year!
But, I have to admit that I’m looking forward to the more “cheerier” holidays that are coming up. Again, being in a new place means we get to experience new things — and I’m anxious to see what Oregon looks like in the month of December — the holiday lights, the bright decorations, and all the mellow stuff that won’t give me a heart attack!
By the way, that’s my oldest daughter, Danielle, in those pictures!
So, do you enjoy terrifying things, like scary movies and haunted houses? And what do you like to do during the month of October to celebrate Halloween?
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Warm wishes for a Happy Birthday go out to Plotmonkey Pals Nancy Lowrey & Debbie Smith today! We hope you have a fabulous, fun-filled day!
Janelle Denison finds it hard to believe that it’s been nearly 25 years since she first started writing romance novels. At first, it was a way to pass idle time while her husband worked swing shift, but before long it became an obsession to get published. Luckily, she kept at it (it took her over 5 years to get that first book published!) and is now a Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and USA Today Bestselling author! Now, after selling over 45 plus novels, she finds that her Plotmonkey pals help to keep her stories fresh and unique, and she can’t imagine writing a story without their input. Janelle lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, along with two teenage daughters that keep life interesting.
Destiny
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Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
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I decorate the outside of the house, but in a spooky fun way- both for the kids who come knocking and the senior home across the street. The old guys love it. Ihaven’t done as much this year because of the truck accident and the fact that my arm is still giving me grief. Which sucks.
We are planning a day in Salem this weekend. Heather has wanted to go and with her, hopefully, off to school in CA in January, we need to go now.
I don’t like slasher movies, and especially anything with clowns. ick. But last week at the Con they did a Star in a Horror Movie thing and Heather went. She ended up directing it. Which is good since that is what she wants to go to school for. It was 3 minutes long and one i could actually watch- more funny than bloody. Actually there was no blood and NO clowns.
And what happened to your pictures at the beginning of the blogs??
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Janelle that sounds FANTASTIC!
:banana: My whole family would have gone nuts over that–what a hoot!
And what is it about clowns? My kids all hate them, find them terrifying.
My middle flew down to Florida for this past weekend to stay with her older sister and they went down to Orlando for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. So you can imagine they would absolutely love your neck of the woods.
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I loved watching horror movies when I was a teen, but now avoid them like crazy. I could deal with vampires, werewolves, and even zombies, but clowns push me over the edge. Why must every haunted house have “The It Clown”? I think running into the clowns in the dark is the worst thing about haunted houses.
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I HATE things that are scary and would have run for the hills!
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I hate, hate, hate to be scared!! One of the churches in our area did a corn maze that is about the size of the one you did. Kidlet has gone 2X, I have no desire to go. I keep using my allergies as an excuse! :giggle:
I used to work for a haunted house. It was actually a fulltime job, I handled the marketing for it, we did it in 4 cities across the country and we spent the entire year planning. I knew every part of those buildings front and back. I knew which actors were supposed to be where, I knew what they were supposed to say and do and I knew where all the escape doors were. And I still despised going through them at night. It was because of a very serious reason that I put my foot through those doors at night!
Hubby and kidlet want to do that haunted house thing at our house again this year. And I’m okay with putting one on…just don’t make me go through it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed all of it this weekend and had that great time with your family!!
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I don’t know what it is about clowns that scare people, but it seems to be a very common thing! My youngest, Kellie, has a huge fear of clowns, mainly because of the movie “IT”, which scared her silly. We had to really pump her up to go through the clown haunted house, and while she did okay, I could tell all those clowns did scare her — probably more than me!
Ev – I can see all the pictures in the blog. Is anyone else not seeing them?
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I hate to be scared. I HHHHHHHAAAAAATTTEEEEE clowns. There is no way in He double hockey sticks that I would have gone through the clown tent, Kellie is a brave soul.
My daughter has a Halloween party every Halloween and we do spooky, but since I am doing it, it’s not scary. We have also participated in a local historical sites haunted walk. Again, participating so not scared. LOL
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I’m not into Halloween either and am always really glad when it’s over. My daughter likes it. This year she is dressing up as a werewolf of all things. Our sweet girl who has always been a princess or a fairy or Dorothy or something cute like that is wearing this awful wolf mask and these gloves that look like wolf paws with hair on them and everything.
But she’s going to a dance at the rec center instead of tricks and treats. The only thing about Halloween is that it generally brings our first snow of the season and that’s fun–not for the kids who have to trudge through snow in their costumes–but for me and my husband and Lilly who do love snow.
I look forward to November and December and celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas and of course the days building up to the holidays. Those are always fun and exciting.
Have a terrific day all,
Cher
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I HATE being scared. I cover my eyes during scary commercials or even go so far as to switch to the local all news channel until I think the commercial is over. If a movie or tv show looks like it might be even a little bit scary I avoid it like the plague. My biggest mistake was years ago, when friends invited me to dinner and a movie at their house. When they mentioned the name of the movie, I asked if it was scary, and they told me oh no, it was a love story. So, I went and watched The Sixth Sense and hated it, HATED it. Way too spooky for me. Halloween isn’t a favorite holiday of mine, although I do like to see the children in their costumes.
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Janelle, your plotmonkey avatar is what’s missing. I’m with most folks here. Clowns aren’t my thing, though I loved Emmit Kelly and Red Skelton’s “Bum”. Go figure. My DD used to love the haunted hayrides around here and she still watches scary movies. I’m “like…whatever…” The same goes for scary books. They aren’t my thing. I’ve never been much of a Stephen King or Dean Koontz fan.
Have a great day, all. Back to
for me as soon as I finish this 
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Happy Birthday, Nancy and Debbie…
My moms group has a MNO at Scream at the Beach. I will not go. WAY too scary for me. I like the whole Disney version of Halloween….LOL.
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I love halloween and I love scaring myself silly. I’m still terrified of Mike Myers- like jumping off the couch scared- and I watch the Halloween movies every year. Same with Amityville, Poltergeist and Children of the Corn- can’t stop watching :yikes: They are so cheesy and they scare me to death!
I went through a corn maze when we lived in Hawaii and I don’t like the lost feeling. One thing I cannot do is the haunted house thing- I scare myself probably worse than the actors ever could. We have one here in Tucson called Nightfall and it is rated one of the best. It’s at the Old Tucson Studios and this year is an escaped mental patient/genetic experiment/horror theme. Too creepy for me. So I guess I can watch movies but I cannot go inside a haunted house.
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Yikes, I totally dislike being scared, so no scary decorations or visits to scary mazes or scary movies for me!
Happy birthday, Nancy and Debbie!
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I love haunted houses, so I would have enjoyed your mazes. We don’t go to to many haunted houses but do love them.
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I am not a big fan of slasher movies or the haunted houses with chain saws and all of the other gore that goes with it. Give me a traditional Halloween. :pumpkin: Perhaps a Disney version.
My daughters and I will be hosting our annual Halloween party. Good food, good friends and great costumes. I can’t wait. :arrr:
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I do not enjoy being scared.
On Halloween I stay home and pass out goodies to the goblins that ring the doorbell.
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I do not like slasher movies or creepy scary movies but my youngest daughter & her son love them! She reads Stephen King & Dean Koontz, just not my cup of tea. I’ve been to a Haunted House that was lots of fun. The house was just perfect for it & they drew a huge crowd. The only thing they asked was for people to donate some candy to pass out to all the kids that came. They put a lot of work in to it and each year added more. We started taking my oldest grandson when he was 3 or 4 and he loved it! It was fun, scary!! I like passing out candy to the little kids. When I answer the door & they are all bigger than I am it is a little intimidating!!
For me the best part of Halloween is the candy! When my kids were little I always made them share the “good stuff” with me! :yikes: Where I am living now I doubt there will be any Trick or Treaters.
Janelle, it sounds like a great weekend with your family despite the Scary Stuff!! Glad you had a good time. :ghost: :pumpkin: :bat:
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Whoops! Forgot to post the birthday wishes.
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Janelle, it sounds like a great weekend with your family despite the Scary Stuff!! Glad you had a good time :yikes:
I used to like to watch scary :yikes: movies, but now NO WAY lol
I would be the comic relief with my son and husband too
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Oh, Janelle, I’m definitely like you in not liking scary things. When I was in eighth grade, a group of kids from my school went down to Cave of the Winds in Colorado Springs and did some spelunking. We crawled through a bunch of caves before coming to one that had another cave branch through the ground that had been closed. Our guide decided this would be a good place for some scary stories. So, he had everyone turn off their flashlights and put us in pitch black as there was no light in the heart of the mountain. As he started to tell the first story, I grabbed onto the person closest to me, without knowing who it was. The poor guy had practically lost circulation to that arm by the time the second story was done because I kept tightening my grip the more scared I got. After the second story he actually asked to turn the lights back on because his hand had started to tingle. I also went through a haunted house at the local amusement park once with my sister and did not like it one bit. As for scary movies, I try to avoid them at all costs. I can’t even watch TV shows like Unsolved Mysteries and can only watch Ghost Whisperer if there are other people around.
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Janelle, you are very brave. I am terrified of haunted houses! I always think that there is a real killer hiding in there! Chicken, I know, but I have seen too many horror movies!!! My daughter and her friends always drag me to see them. For Halloween, we always go see the latest scary movie. For the last few years, it has been the latest Saw movie.
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I don’t the haunted houses I went there when I was a kid but I almost peed my pants. The last time I went I was pregnant and didn’t know it and had to go down a slide to get out of it they was terrible and very scary.
My birthday was yesterday and so it being in the month of Halloween people always want to do scary things for it. I do like it that the colors of fall are here so that makes it special.
Glad you had a good weekend and made it through it to tell us about it. It was a good laugh for the day..
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No way, Jose (or Janelle!) Never have liked and never will like things such
as those which you have described! Don’t enjoy scary movies or books or
scary amusement park rides! My son was an extra in Student Bodies and
he likes to watch it every so often. I can barely stand to see his big scene
and he just stands on the sidewalk!
Pat Cochran