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Land of Illusion starts its 12th season

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Staff photo by Pat Auckerman This year's Land of Illusion opens Friday Sept. 4, 2009.

Haunted attraction now open.

By Eric Robinette, Staff Writer Updated 5:41 PM Friday, September 4, 2009

MADISON TWP. — The Land of Illusion, the Middletown area’s haunted theme park, hasn’t quite arrived at its 13th birthday, but there are still plenty of scares and other misfortunes to go around when the park opens today, Sept. 4.

Dozens of ghouls, clowns and other terrors gathered at the attraction on Thomas Road on Thursday for a dress rehearsal for the 12th season. Some applied spooky makeup while other people headed toward the trail in shredded military fatigues, bloody clothes and the like.

The Land of Illusion consists of the Haunted Trail, plus the Temple of Terror, Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate and 3-D Killer Klowns. All the attractions, especially the trail, have new additions this year.

“About half of the trail is new. We have a new graveyard and school buses sticking up out of the ground ... there’s more detail, with more props,” said Derek Marcum, who oversees the trail.

And in this context, “props” mean things like dismembered body parts, fake of course.

“There’s more things to look at and less dead spots,” Marcum said.

Another addition this year is live music every Saturday. The band Barfly plays Saturday, Sept. 6.

Derron Oakley, one of the supervisors of the Land of Illusion, didn’t have exact attendance figures but said last year saw a decline, which he said may have been due to high gas prices and the economy. However, he promised that this year “all four shows will be the scariest we’ve ever had.”

Andy Rasnic of Dayton, who has worked at the attraction for 12 years, takes devilish pleasure in unnerving people. “There’s nothing better than someone curled up in a corner screaming and crying,” he said.

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