Screamers (Top Level Location)/
Haunted Asylum/Screaming Tunnels
Attraction Type: Haunted Attraction
Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Years Operational: 1985-1996 (Maple Leaf Village location), 1996-2013 (Victoria Ave. location), 2013-2015 (as Haunted Asylum), 2015-2018 (as Screaming Tunnels)
Designer(s): ?, Distortions Unlimited
Screamers was a walk through haunted house attraction which first opened in the mall portion of Maple Leaf Village in 1985, being located on the top floor across from Shaboom's Diner/Pool Hall. The attraction had deeper roots however, being started by an ex-employee of the similar Nightmares haunted house owned by Bobber Gibbs, who had opened his attraction in the mall in 1984 after two years of owning the Haunted House at Prudhomme's Landing in nearby Lincoln, ON. Screamers opened the following year after the owner had a dispute with Gibbs, and the two attractions would be in constant competition for the entire lifespan of Screamers. The attraction's original slogan even directly one-upped Nightmares, with the tagline being "Screamers... Where nightmares become reality!"
Screamers in Maple Leaf Village, 1995.
The attraction would be a mix of live actors, fun house style mazes and floor tricks, animatronic props, and illusions. While the focus was more on the rooms and actors rather than the scenes and props such as other attractions like The House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula, it was still carefully crafted and of high quality, bringing in props from professional prop studios, a practice many haunted attractions wouldn't begin for nearly a decade. Much like Nightmares, the attraction was nearly pitch-black, with red lights high on the wall near the ceiling acting as guide for guests journeying from room to room.
A favorite (or least favorite, depending how you look at it) among guests was "Tony the Tongue", an unseen entity which would lick your face, an element the attraction had borrowed from Nightmares' "Tommy the Tongue". Tony was in reality a wet sponge on a pole which employees would poke guests faces with in the pitch blackness, accompanied by a licking sound effect. Other elements included a dead-end room which guests would be trapped in for 10 minutes before the door to the next room opened, a giant Mack truck which would chase you down the hall in a shrinking room, and a live actor with a chainsaw nicknamed "Chainsaw Charlie." Much like Nightmares before it, the live actors actually touched guests, with zero warning or waiver, which was incredibly unexpected. This was at a time where the caution-to-the-wind spooky houses touching guests was becoming a thing of the past, but the trendy "you must sign a waiver" system many modern haunts implement wasn't a thing yet. This resulted in an incredibly intense experience, especially when combined with clever planning, timing and psychological elements behind it.
The attraction did well in the mall alongside Nightmares, even into the mid 90's as the mall declined around them. By then Nightmares had opened three (or two depending on how you look at it) more attractions in the mall. The first of these had been Nightmares Part II, which was just a separate-ticket addition to the original. The second was Nightmares the Black Journey, a horror themed obstacle course, and the final was Nightmares Fore, an indoor horror themed mini golf. Despite the overwhelming presence Nightmares held in the mall, Screamers continued to do well, even opening a second attraction in Maple Leaf Village themselves in 1995. This would be facing the former amusement park at the back of the mall, now facing the parking lot that replaced the park. Since the space formerly faced the park and was originally part of it rather than the mall (despite being located in the mall building), it had formerly been the park's haunted attraction, which had a variety of re-themes over the years. It began as Showboat, (possibly) became the short-lived Creep Show attraction, then became the Haunted House, then became the Mysterious Mansion, finally becoming the second Screamers in 1995 after the park had closed the previous year.
The space later home to the second Screamers as the Mysterious Mansion in the mid 80's (top) and 1987 (bottom).
The plaza wrapping up construction before Screamers moved in.
Very little is known about this attraction, however the speculation is that it was essentially a sister attraction to the original, a practice Screamers would implement again in the future with Creatures of the Night (more on that later.) The entire Maple Leaf Village mall would close in 1996, rendering the Maple Leaf Village complex itself entirely no more to make way for Casino Niagara. Screamers would move up to Victoria Ave., following in the footsteps of Nightmares who had done so five years earlier when the writing on the wall was clear for the mall (and Maple Leaf Village as a whole), after the closure of the complex's amusement park. It's not clear what props and elements from the second Screamers would be recycled for the new location, but the majority of the original location's contents would make the move. While Nightmares operated on Victoria Ave. between Clifton Hill and Bender St. in the building formerly home to the original Castle Dracula, Screamers would be located on Victoria Ave. the in other direction, between Clifton Hill and Ferry Rd. It was now located in a strip plaza constructed the same year on the former site of a portion of Jungleland Mini Golf/Tivoli Miniature Golf.
Screamers on Victoria Ave., early 2000's.
Now with the tagline "Screamers House of Horrors", the attraction would sever it's references to Nightmares, but the competition would grow ever stronger. While Nightmares had combined elements of all its attractions into one super-attraction in the massive Victoria Ave. building and started gaining global fame, the smaller Screamers was located in the much more highly trafficked area of the two, creating a sort of balance between the attractions. They were also very different in ethos, while Nightmares was almost entirely focused psychological horror and phobias, and Screamers ever more focused on props and movie magic. The lobby especially was themed to the maximum with props from Distortions Unlimited and references to slasher movies, including a graveyard scene, a coffin and a variety of ghosts and demons suspended from the ceiling. There was even a small gift shop/head shop in the lobby, something Nightmares also featured.
Original graveyard scene in 1999. The tombstone to the right appears to be honoring the late wrestler Owen Hart.
Entrance, Chicken Exit, and camera feed on the T.V. monitor showing the live reactions of guests inside.
Merchandise and ticket counter, 1999.
Prop suspended from the ceiling.
Shortly after opening, a small sequel attraction would open next door in a space formerly occupied by a souvenir store. It would be named the "Torture Chamber", and be a similar attraction that was more focused on claustrophobia. Screamers would once again attempt the concept of a sister attraction in 1998, when it opened Creatures of the Night further down Victoria Ave. at the other end of the same plaza, right at the bend where it becomes Ferry Rd. It had the same basis of "follow the red lights", but leaned even further into the props and scenery than Screamers, resulting in many scenes containing then-modern, high tech props. Despite it being one of the furthest attractions in the Clifton Hill district from the heart of the area, being the furthest East attraction from Clifton Hill which was still technically located in the district, it managed to perform well as a more visual sequel to Screamers and the Torture Chamber. The same year the owners opened "Dino Rampage 4D", a motion theatre attraction beside Screamers.
Joint brochure for Dino Rampage and the Torture Chamber, early 2000's.
Creatures did so well infact that the owners actually saw it fit to open a third (fourth if you count the Torture Chamber as seperate from Screamers) haunted attraction in the area at the top of The Hill, this time located on Centre St., the street which Clifton Hill becomes up past Victoria Ave. This attraction would open in 2000 and be known as Horror Manor, located in a nearly century old building. The first floor would be home to the "Chambers of Terror" walk through, consisting of similar fare to the other attractions in the Screamers chain and even including a walk through vortex tunnel named the "Black Hole". The top floor, which was formerly apartments, was converted into the "Zombie Zoo", a horror themed nightclub catering mainly to the goth, punk, metal and new wave crowds.
Creatures of the Night (left) and Horror Manor (right) in the early 2000's.
Between the Screamers chain of attractions, the Criminals Hall of Fame, Rockworld/Rock Legends Wax Museum, Nightmares, Alien Encounter (later Classic Iron Motorcycle Museum), and the many smoke shops, head shops, t-shirt stores and gag gift stores that perhaps weren't suited for the heart of family friendly Clifton Hill, a bit of a thematically darker, more teenage and young adult-oriented district at the top of The Hill had emerged. The major artery for this sort of sub-district was Victoria Ave. between Clifton Hill and the Ferry Rd. bend, and was what the street was known for in the late 90's to mid 2000's. The Screamers chain was no doubt the center of all this, and was integral in keeping Victoria Ave. and the surrounding area at the top of The Hill relevant as the generation of attractions which first occupied the street in the 70's had all since closed (with the exception of the Criminals Hall of Fame.) Screamers would even receive an updated lobby in the early 2000's with repainted walls and more detailed props.
Screamers and Dino Rampage at the height of their popularity, early 2000's.
Updated lobby, early 2000's.
In the mid 2000's, the amusement industry began taking major turns, felt especially in tourist destinations like Niagara Falls. While these wouldn't really come to a head until the 2010's, with five attractions (again, seven counting the Torture Chamber and Zombie Zoo as separate experiences from the attractions they were housed in) the Screamers chain would begin to be affected as soon as the industry's turning point began. The similarities between Screamers, Creatures, and Horror Manor couldn't have helped either in causing an over-saturation, with Horror Manor closing first in 2005, making it the first attraction of many in the area to close in this time period.
Creatures would follow a year later in 2006, while Dino Rampage remained operating until 2011, leaving Screamers (now with the Torture Chamber absorbed into part of the main attraction) the sole attraction left in the Screamers portfolio. It would be presumably sold in 2013 when all the Screamers signage, references and merchandise was removed, and the attraction renamed Haunted Asylum. The interior would change very little however, retaining most of the features of Screamers. The case would be the same when the attraction was renamed again (with another possible ownership change occurring) in 2015 to Screaming Tunnels Haunted Playground, a reference to the internationally infamous tunnel of the same name elsewhere in the city of Niagara Falls which is alleged to be haunted. The gift shop was replaced with a zombie themed paintball shooting range facing the street. The attraction would finally close for good in 2018, ending 33 years of at least some version Screamers operating.
The attraction as the Haunted Asylum.
The much less themed Screaming Tunnels.
The former Screamers space on Victoria Ave. today, divided into fast food joints.
While the attraction never hit the level of notoriety with the general public that some of it's peers like Castle Dracula or Nightmares have, it's nearly worshipped among fans of haunted attractions. It was a truly intense experience that was the best offering for the niche it was trying to fill, being more direct than the drawn-out and sometimes implied terror of Nightmares, yet still more psychological than any of the other attractions in the area. It's also remembered fondly by fans of horror and slasher movies, due to it's incorporation of movie themed scenery and live actors portraying horror characters. It was constantly rated among the scariest haunted attractions in Niagara time and time again, and terrified at least hundreds of thousands in it's lifespan.