Tikkabik

America's Horror Themepark may be overstating things a bit, but there's no question that Spookyworld is a hell of a lot of fun if you enjoy haunted houses. The problem is, predictably, the lines.

Spookyworld, for the uninitiated, is a permanent installation -- though it's only open for a month a year. It's an amusement park of sorts that takes up the woods behind Gilette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. featuring a number of different variations on the haunted house theme, and a midway filled with the sort of amusements you'd expect to find at a carnival: Games of chance and skill, lots of unhealthy things to eat, and overpriced tchotchkes to buy.

Ever since I was a kid, I've adored haunted house attractions -- hell, I've even been in one or two. They're great, harmless fun. This one is expensive -- $23.50 to get in, and $20 more if you want to skip the hour-long (in some cases) lines by using "VIP" entrances and get free hot chocolate and refreshments -- but if you break it down by the cost of the attractions, it's not a bad value at all. There are at least six major haunted houses there -- Elvira's Haunted House, House of Fangs, 3D Haunted Disco, the Haunted Mineshaft (or some such shit), Spirits of London and Circus Macabre -- and a few more neat walkthoughs, like one that shows real-world torture implements and another one that has Hollywood monster movie memorabilia.

Given that the cost of haunted houses is usually around $5 anyway, you're at least breaking even spending the $23.50 -- but we got into Spookyworld for free, thanks to my son Bob's luck at a recent raffle at the Boys' & Girls' Club.

We ended up staying until about 11:30PM, and Bob and his friend Jeremy capped the night by going on a couple of amusement rides.

So anyway, Spookyworld -- if you like haunted houses and are near Foxborough, check it out.