Evil clowns, haunted farms: DARK at Fort Edmonton Park set to welcome thrill-seeking guests

For a fourth year in a row, Fort Edmonton Park will be turning to the dark side for thrill seekers and those who crave to be scared.

DARK is set to return to the park on Thursday. The festival features three immersive haunts and a spooky Halloween festival atmosphere with food, beverages and spine-chilling entertainment.

“We know that not everybody is afraid of the same thing so we try to create different storylines to make sure we can scare everyone,” Teresa Ryan, experience development director with Fort Edmonton Management Company said.

“The first (haunt) is basically as a continuation of a storyline that we introduced in 2019. The circus rolled into town and now you get to see what happens now that the circus is in place, it’s called under the big top, I will not hide it — you will come face to face with killer clowns in that one.”

In the Core Industries haunt, explore a lab where parasites still linger and lurk from experiments gone horribly wrong.

The third is called Blood Harvest where you can head on down to a demonic family farm where you’ll try to survive frantic and possessed relatives enjoying a blood thirsty harvest.

1:49 Our YEG at Night: Dark

Ryan notes they recommend those aged 14 and up to attend the event due to its nature, however she says it’s up to each families discretion if they choose to come with younger kids.

Event organizers say they will be following Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions exemption program.

“We are doing everything that we can — the health of our guests, the health of our staff is paramount. So anything we can do above and beyond that is also in place,” Ryan said.

Actors won’t touch guests and will be using different lights and sounds effects to help with the scare instead.

The event runs Oct. 7 until 31 and tickets can be purchased on the Fort Edmonton Park website.