Six Flags Great America Fright Fest Will Scare You Off Your Feet

I've made fun of the women who fall in horror movies countless times, but on Oct. 18 at Gurnee, IL's Six Flags Great America Fright Fest, I finally related to them. Six Flags Great America did an outstanding job of scaring the equilibrium out of me, but I'll get into that later. As soon as I entered Six Flags Great America, the Fright Fest got right to work with the Halloween-themed parade.

Call me paranoid, but I think somebody must've set off the alarm: EASY TARGET! 5'3 BROWN-SKINNED LADY WITH LINCOLN UNIVERSITY JACKET ON! One of the Mafia guys on the Fright Fest parade demanded money from me and the butcher stared at me the entire time the train rolled by. The Seven Deadly Sins harassed me on the way in and Anger bypassed a large group of people, came directly to me and followed me several feet once he realized I was freaked out by Envy glaring my way.

I walked through the free walkthrough, the Necropolis: Haunted City of the Dead (formerly the Picnic Grove), and realized that nature wasn't always what it appeared. After screaming and taking off, leaving my older brother behind to laugh hysterically at me, I ran into more zombies. Do you know what zombies love to see? A woman by herself who looks like a deer caught in headlights. I pretty much ran through the rest of the trail.

Of course I rode some of Six Flags Great America's popular roller coasters: The Dark Knight Coaster, Batman the Ride, the Raging Bull, the American Eagle and unfortunately the Demon temporarily broke down as soon as I got to the front of the ride. The Dark Knight Coaster was a disappointment. The build-up to the ride, including the lengthy movie, made me think The Dark Knight Coaster was going to be exciting, and although there were many twists and turns, since it was Halloween, I expected things to jump out at me or some big loopy drop. No such luck. But the rest of the rides didn't disappoint, especially the Raging Bull. As much as I love the American Eagle's 147 feet drop going 66 miles per hour (mph), the Raging Bull's 65 feet drop going 73 mph shook me so much that my scream cut off in mid-air. I could ride those roller coasters all day long.

Then off I went to the Human Freak Show that included a woman dressed up like a dead hooker, a football player carrying a foot, a mysterious looking dead director and a guy who ran around banging chains against garbage cans scaring people so much that they ran the other way. Of course he always knew who was avoiding him and purposely ran their way.

After Necropolis and the Seven Deadly Sins, I seriously considered backing out of the haunted houses. But nope, nobody was going to punk me so off I went a haunted house, yanking my brother in front of me to bury my head in his jacket. And I enjoyed Studio 13 (the haunted house), but because the area was so open, I was ready for the "surprise" moments. By the end of the haunted house, I was thinking, "Was this it? This wasn't as scary as I thought it was." And then I got to the end, saw one of the girls in our group take off running full speed, looked back at what was behind me, let out a loud shriek and took off behind her. Unfortunately, I was running so fast and passed so many people that I couldn't stop myself and down I went. Flop. Right on the ground-ripped a small hole in my jeans pocket, broke a Flirty Girl Fitness keychain, scratched up my watch lens and scraped up my left hand. And while my unsympathetic brother gave a hi-five to the reason I started screaming, I propped myself up and realized how realistic those horror movie falls are. You really can be scared off your feet.

And my brother had the audacity to ask me to go to the other haunted houses and scare-thru walk areas we had tickets to-the Mausoleum of Terror, Cell Block A and Rise of the Demon.

My response: "No! I'm going back to the roller coasters where it's safe."

Seriously though, Six Flags Great America did an outstanding job of bringing horror to an amusement park. You never knew where to look and never had the chance to get too comfortable before you heard beating, screaming, shaking or an unexpected guest right next to you, but that's the beauty of Halloween spirit. The only downside was I don't like Six Flags Great America's policy about using $1 lockers every time you get on a roller coaster to avoid loose items. I thought the bins by the roller coasters were just fine, warning people that they weren't responsible for their property. While I understand why they do it to avoid the drama of something getting stolen, $1 at every single roller coaster is a bit much, and if people have to store their stuff in these lockers, they could at least be at the front of the rides so those who want to utilize their carry-on baggage (ex. books for long lines) can do so while they wait. On the other hand, if you have time to read a book in line, it's time to find another ride or find new company to entertain you. I'm 50/50 on this decision, but I do think that the entrance fee is expensive enough. Lockers on a timely basis should be included. And $11 for the all-day lockers by the entrance is boldly money hungry.

Also, be careful about leaving the amusement park. When I walked out, one lady was giving away Six Flags Super Fan Challenge passes, but the lady with the wristbands was nowhere in sight. I thought the passes were the way to get back in, but once I'd walked out, I realized it wasn't and then the wristband lady re-appeared. Of course I had to go to Guest Services with a guy who gave me way too hard a time about getting back in even with my ticket clearly stating the date I entered. At one point, I had to argue with him about giving me my ticket back as a souvenir, never mind the fact that if I'd gotten the wristband at the exit, nobody would've taken my ticket then. Minus him, the rest of the Guest Services people were extra friendly, and I got my passes and tickets within a few reasonable minutes.

Other than those two issues, I had an excellent time. I'd recommend checking Six Flags Great America out before the end date of Nov. 1. Happy Halloween!