What's That Smell?

I think people know that Jason and I get a kick out of going to Spook Alleys and Haunted Houses. Utah is really big on them, in the Salt Lake valley, in October, there will be at always at 12 of them. We liked to go with friends, and take family sometimes. Our own kids are too young, and nothing hardly scares us any more. Some of these places would be so outrageous! The art, special effects, and actors would really put on a show, some were professionals straight out of Hollywood. So who cares if the lines were long, that was to be expected. I can't even count how many we went to, or tell you all that I have experienced. But one experience I could never forget, that I had when Jason and I were newlyweds, we had taken my two twelve year old cousins, Mindy and Lisa.

We went all the way to Provo, to attend the Haunted Asylum, and we stopped on the way to eat at Taco Bell. It was a really cold, dark night. The place was really located in a empty old part of a existing asylum, up on the hill. I had never been there before so I didn't know what to expect, all I knew was a rumor that I had heard, about actors working there. It was said to have had real patients working as actors! Scary! My cousins were kind of scared about that, and I told them that actors were not allowed to touch you, no matter what. So we went.

When we got there, it was like a half mile long line and about six people wide! And the worst part was, in winded up a hill side, which led to the entrance. It was really spooky, almost looked like a castle. The hillside was steep and was outlined by trees, and the other side of the line, was practically a cliff! We were really getting anxious as we got closer, and we were bored too. I had a hard time trying to keep Mindy and Lisa out of the trees. When you are standing there, there is nothing to look at or listen to but other people. It was kind of entertaining. People talked about being scared, and how cold they were. In front of us, there was a older guy, who had slicked back black hair, cowboy boots, and a greaser style black leather jacket. He thought he was cool, his date was a taller blond chick, which he kept his arm around the whole time. I was just plain freezing! Pacing back and forth, and then I suddenly smelt it! The worse, foulest, most potent smell, that just seemed to hover around us and never leave! I am not even exaggerating. I plugged my nose, looking toward the people in front of us, how disgusting, " who do you think did that?", I asked Jason. He didn't say a word. I went to go retrieve the girl's again, I made them stand right next to me. They made such a fuss, being loud, they let everyone know something smelt wrong here, and then they took off again into the trees. Then suddenly I heard the sound of someone gagging, it was the greaser guy, with one hand holding himself up on a single small tree, spitting something over the cliff, towards the crowd below.

Then it grew, the crowd behind us in line, people were horrified at the smell, it seemed to travel down the line, and I turned around to watch the people make such a big deal of it. HOW on Earth can it still be around? I heard plenty of comments from people, I couldn't smell it anymore, but I laughed, and my cousins came back, and they laughed too. I heard some dude proclaim it was him, that he just had Taco Bell, before he came! And quickly after, Mindy looked at Jason, still silent and staring ahead, keeping warm with his hood on and his hands in his pockets. She pointed and started yelling, " It was you! You did it! It was Jason!" I looked at him, and I knew then that it was, I can't believe it, is that what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? Is that what I married? Then I felt bad for him, he was trying not to pretend that he didn't know what she was talking about. I scolded her, and Lisa too, I knew the poor guy was really embarrassed. I looked around, and the greaser guy and his date were no where to be found, they must have left, even after in being in line for a hour.

As for the purpose we were there for, the first room was a wacky, foggy, hospital room, which had several clown like doctors, that you had to walk by. That wasn't scary, until one of them stabbed me in the leg with a huge fake syringe! Then I was scared! They must be real crazies! After that, we practically ran through the whole thing!

Here is proof that I was right... I found newspaper articles, written about it after I wrote this blog. One of the articles said that the actors/patients would actually grab people and lock them in a real coffin! I guess I got off, easy.

In Utah, the Daily Herald has called for resurrecting a Haunted Castle at the State Hospital, which for 26 years featured patients as "performers." The attraction ended in 1997 after NAMI Utah strongly protested the violent stereotypes associated with it as perpetuating stigma -- along with ethical issues involving treatment and exploitation of patients. Funds raised from the annual event paid for half of the hospital's recreation budget.