By: Noel Teo & Iffah Rakinah

We’re spoilt for choice this year, with 3 places in Singapore going all out to be as conducive as they can to be a playground for ghosts, ghouls and the like. Sentosa, Universal Studios Singapore (USS), and *SCAPE & Movie Mania are the ones that have gotten most of the attention this time round. We’re really dodgy on the hearts, but braced ourselves for the terror anyway to bring you this feature. We also threw in a short survival guide so you don’t pee in your pants while you’re there.


Sentosa Spooktacular

Photos courtesy of Noel Teo.

There’s nowhere to run once you start on any one of the 6 walking trails the Sentosa Spooktacular has. The trails are all located at different points on the island (not too far apart, fortunately) and are actually main island attractions that have been given a ghoulish makeover for the event. The queues may snake on, so if you’ve only got so much time and patience, we suggest you go for the following 3 trails.

Deadly Lesson (located at Sentosa Nature Discovery)

Walk along the hallways of a school inhabited by the souls of its long-perished students. They scurry right up to your face, and will coyly ask, “Do you want to play with me?” They don’t wait for an answer, and begin their twisted games consisting of tailing you closely and ramming desks and chairs in your way.

Legendary Courts of Hell (located at Images of Singapore)

The trail felt like it lasted an eternity. Sometimes, you won’t be able to find the continuing path, confusing you and causing you to panic more (at least we did). And it doesn’t help that while you’re scatterbrained, all these ‘ghosts’ seemingly pop out of thin air. It really throws you off and you have nowhere to run!

Rumah Gila (located at the Cable Car Museum)

The start had a claustrophobic path we think induced at least a teaspoon of psychological trauma in us (we had to run through a corridor of rubber hands sticking out from the walls!). This was followed by the usual pattern of ‘ghosts’ jumping out of hidden spaces. You’d think we’d be immune to the scaring by now, but the not knowing exactly when they’ll surface made it mentally tormenting.

Round-up: This one’s a downright screamfest, so do prep your vocal chords. It messes with your mind quite a bit, and post-event effects include randomly squinting into the darkness to see if there’s anything there waiting for you.

Scare factor: ☠☠☠☠
Dates: October 21 – 22, 28 – 30
Time: 7pm – 11pm (last admission at 10.30pm)
Ticket Prices:

  • $39.90 for 3 trails
  • $49.90 for 4 trails
  • $59.90 for 5 trails
  • $69. 90 for 6 trails

Note:

  • Usual island admission charges apply.
  • Event is not suitable for children aged 12 years and above.
  • Guests under 15 years must be accompanied by a parent or a guardian aged 21 years and above.
  • Log on to their website for more information.

 

*SCAPE & Movie Mania: The Museum Of Horrors II

Photos courtesy of Samuel Ow, Klix Photography.

Starkly less scary than the other two attractions, *SCAPE and Movie Mania makes up for the lack of terror with novelty. In here, statues inspired from movies and characters you only hear from myths and legends come to life at this fright night.

There isn’t a time limit as to how long you can stay inside, so that’s a plus for people who like to take things slow, or rather, easily terrified people who spend the entire time dodging the ‘ghosts’ and can’t find the exit.

What’s more, the props and scare talents are more than happy to accommodate the camwhores in you, so do bring along your cameras to immortalize your night in .jpeg!

Once you’re done touring around the area, head on up the stairs where it’s an entirely different world. Walls with neon paint splashed on them form a pathway for you to walk through. You might feel really disoriented here, what with the blinding colour and the fact that everything’s going to be in 3D.

Yup, 3D! The trail will get challenging to navigate, as you will soon realize with every corner looking the same. You’ll have no idea what to expect because of the unsuspecting twists and turns in here.

Round-up: Be prepared to get shocked randomly when you explore the area, especially while you’re taking pictures with the scare talents. On a lighter note, most of the creatures here are pretty harmless. You’ll be able to sleep at night.

Scare factor: ☠☠
Dates: Oct 21 – Nov 2
Time:

  • 1pm – 12mn (Fri, Sat, Sun)
  • 5pm – 11pm (Mon to Thurs)

Ticket Prices:

  • Sep 23 – Sep 30 ($19 per person)
  • Oct 28 – Oct 30 ($22 per person)
  • Oct 31 – Nov 2 ($19 per person)

Note:

  • Operating hours may extend beyond 11pm depending on demand.
  • Customers are highly encouraged to bring along their cameras.
  • More information can be found on their website.

 

Universal Studios Singapore: Halloween Horror Nights

Photos courtesy of Universal Studios Singapore ® & © Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The theme park gets a freaky facelift when the sun goes down. Instead of the usual happy Universal Studios mascots, flesh-eating zombies and bizarre circus acts now conquer the streets.

Only half of the park was used for HHN, and that means we didn’t get to see Far, Far Away, Lost World and Madagascar. The remaining spaces were further divided into 6 scare zones, where one carried a theme vastly different from the other. They were all set one after another, so that every one had to go through all 6 worlds.

One thing that made HHN stand out from the rest of the Halloween events was the amount of intricacy the details had. Whether it was the extensive range of costumes (300 costumes on 280 scare actors!) to the fantastic atmospheric sounds and effects in the haunted Peranakan house, it really hit the atmosphere nail right on the head.

The scare actors are pretty hard to escape here at HHN! They’re in every nook and cranny of the park, making sure that every visitor gets a good hair-raising freak out. From disturbing Carn-Evil acts (a bearded lady, and a crazed ring master on stilts) to bloodthirsty zombies to deformed carriers of a flesh-eating plague down at Pestilance.

The cherry on top of this sundae is that some of USS’s star rides are open for the night! If you think the Battlestar Galactica rollercoasters are great, wait till you get on them after dark. When you’re shot into the air, the momentary view of Sentosa and the city lights while you’re in the sky is breath taking.

Other available rides include Accelerator as well as Revenge of the Mummy (another rollercoaster).

Round-up: We can’t get over how thoroughly thought out the entire event was. What scored the most brownie points with us was the detail that went into the haunted house, especially the rooms that you had to find your way around.

Scare factor: ☠☠☠
Date: Oct 20 – 22, 27 – 30
Time: 8pm – 12mn
Ticket Prices: $60
Note:

  • HHN is a separately ticketed event and not included within regular theme park admission.
  • Daytime theme park guests will be able to upgrade their daytime park admission tickets in order to re-enter the park for HHN.
  • Resort World Sentosa hotel guest specials and group discounts are also available.
  • Discounts are also available for USS annual pass holders and daytime theme park guests.
  • For more information, log on to their website.
  • If you want to snatch yourself some tickets for this, go here and join the contest!

 

Our advice for Halloween:

  • Expect everything and prepared your hearts for any random attack.
  • Lying is your solution when you’re inside. Use reasons such as “night blindness” to gain sympathy from the scare talents so they’ll feel bad scaring you (or maybe not scare you at all).
  • Make sure to bring fans and water to stay cool and hydrated.
  • Get friends, or at least make some there.
  • It really all is in the mind.