The Nightmare at Beaver Lake is not just a bad dream!

Nightmare at Beaver Lake

The annual scare-fest at Beaver Lake has begun. If you enjoy this sort of thing, the Rotary Sponsored event - Nightmare at Beaver Lake is for you but be warned that it’s not for the faint at heart. http://www.nightmareatbeaverlake.com/

The word “nightmare” shoulda tipped me off but the word “family” in “Family Scare” mislead me to believe that from 7-7:45 the Nightmare would be extremely toned down enough to include younger siblings who want to follow in the teenagers darkened steps and go to the Halloween attraction. For us it was just on the cusp of too scary. Be warned.

Although the girls I took were appropriately scared and thrilled, I was surprised that Family Scare was so macabre. Gory. Intense. My fault, i'm sure. I’m not sure what I was expecting but we had to rush through at the end to avoid the last exhibits which sounded and looked too scary for us. Call me a bad mother, call me irresponsible for taking them but I didn’t realize it would be gory. You can also call me a prude because I don’t do gore.

Be warned parents that Family Scare still includes macabre themes of torture. As we walked through the woods the girls enjoyed the phobia displays and actually came home to look up “Fear of Needles” but once we passed the zombie graveyard and the whirly room, it got more intense. There is a big difference between scary monsters and bloody gore as any Hollywood censor will tell you. At this point we rushed through, me in front of the girls warning the actors by saying “scared girls , please don’t scare us, just rushing to the exit”. And they didn’t. The ghouls and ghosts are, of course, just moms and dads and Safeway shoppers from the Plateau, warned to take it easy on the before 8 pm crowd.

The family hour is said to be a gentler version of the Full Scare, demonstrated by the victim caught in a giant spider web who was not screaming for her life, as I’m sure she was by 8 pm. The gal who tortured her dolls was quiet and the clowns actually danced with us (the girls’ favorite part) but when we got closer to the lake and heard ‘victims’ screaming for their lives inside makeshift houses, we rushed to the well-lit Kettle Corn stand to re-group and decompress. The security volunteers (and there are many) were most helpful, showing us a path around the exhibits with their flashlights. The whole thing is done so well, it, in itself, is scary. Hundreds of people are involved in this scare fest and it is an example of how well a town can come together to present a show, which benefits many worthwhile charities.

While in line waiting to be scared, I worried about the group of dads in front of us who had very young children. I hope their glow sticks warned the actors to stay back, be careful and not get too close. The father behind me with two sons also avoided the exhibits at the end and I could hear his older boy refuse entry to the pavilion near the lake. My teenager later told me it was a torture chamber for the Full Scare crowd and I'll never know what it was for the Family Hour.

I do not, nor have I ever, watched horror movies so this is just my opinion as a mother who isn’t ready to talk to my 9 year old child about sicko people in the world capturing innocents and torturing them (as close as I'll get to that is the novel ROOM - a stunningly unusual perspective). I’ve never seen the movie “Halloween”  or any horror movies where people get stalked, tortured and murdered by psychotic killers. I prefer to dwell on the nice things in life, see Rom Coms and not admit that there is a dark side to human nature that includes torture. My Halloween lawn decorations do not have blood or hacked off limbs. Halloween for me is still pumpkins, friendly ghosts and barely scary witches. How did Halloween get so gory, I ask myself annually? Are we so de-sensitized to what used to be scary that now we need to scare ourselves with the fear of being tortured? Yes folks, I am a prude.

My teenage son went to the FULL SCARE at 8 pm with friends and loved it. He’s gone to the Nightmare for several years now, recognizes some of the zombies from school and has a wonderful time walking with his friends. He is someone who watches horror movies and doesn’t internalize the fear of having sicko people in the world who get their jollies from torturing people. He simply sees the event as a rollicking good time had by all in the dark at Beaver Lake. A great place to go in a group of teenagers (there isn’t alot to do for this age group who aren’t able to drive without an adult in the passenger seat, except walk to YO Plateau http://yoplateau.com/ after school), the teens gather by the ticket desk, meet up with other friends and head off into the Beaver Lake woods for the unknown. Or for a group of adults, this would be a great reason to get a babysitter and head out on Saturday night. There happened to be a hummer limo parked beside us last night and I only imagined who got out of that bad boy.

Nightmare is a fun thing to do in a group. For this, I commend all the folks who volunteer to bring it to us. It’s a huge collaborative effort from people who give their time and energy (and money) to make a fun event on the Sammamish Plateau for Halloween. Kudos everyone.

Be aware there were no snacks for sale at the ticket area, nor were there glow sticks, as advertised on the web site, so bring your own if you like. The whole thing is lit well enough without a stick though. I recommend rubber boots as the path was wet. Dress for the weather. Part of the fun is the anticipation on the drive, the sky search lights, waiting in line, wondering what will happen and if you’ll be scared. Nightmare at Beaver Lake did not disappoint. It’s scary. Just be warned if you think you can take a 6 year old or a tender hearted teen, it’s gory and it is a the representation of someone’s Nightmare at Beaver Lake.

Mu Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...