The Haunted Castle is a haunted attraction

Haunted attraction

A haunted attraction is a form of entertainment that simulates the experience of entering a haunted location that might be inhabited by ghosts, monsters, criminals, humorous characters, and other such creatures...

 in the amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

 Efteling

Efteling

Efteling is the largest theme park in the Netherlands, and as it opened in 1952, it is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. Efteling is located in the town of Kaatsheuvel, in the municipality of Loon op Zand, and has received over 100 million visitors....

 in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven

Ton van de Ven

Ton van de Ven is a Dutch industrial designer. He is best known as the creative director at the Efteling theme park.Van de Ven was born in Eindhoven, Netherlands, where he also studied at the Design Academy.- Work at Efteling :...

 and was the first attraction built outside the Fairy Tale Forest

Fairy Tale Forest

The Fairy Tale Forest is a wooded section of the amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands, where a number of well-known fairy tales and fairy tale figures are depicted by animated statues and buildings...

.

History and details

On July 24, 1976 the announcement on the making of the world's biggest haunted castle appeared in Brabant

North Brabant

North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...

's daily newspaper, Het Brabants Dagblad. The article mentions that the castle would be built between the Fairy Tale Forest and the rowing and canoeing pond. This was a strategic choice, because the location of the attraction would attract visitors to the normally ‘forgotten’ southern part of the park.

The main reason for this mega-attraction was declining numbers of visitors at Efteling. Aiming for a more general public, with an attraction that didn’t depend on the weather conditions, Efteling authorized their young designer Van de Ven to start designing the ride.

Van de Ven designed the castle as a walk-through attraction and, in the style of Anton Pieck

Anton Pieck

Anton Franciscus Pieck , a Dutch painter, artist and graphic artist...

, the castle was designed to look old and decayed. It is meant to look as though it was once beautiful and majestic, but is now haunted and in ruins and somewhat romantic.

The construction took about 18 months and the castle was officially opened May 10, 1978.

On May 12 a television special was broadcast with Kate Bush

Kate Bush

Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...

 singing in and around the castle. She had a big hit around the globe with "Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights (song)

"Wuthering Heights" is a song by Kate Bush released as her debut single in January 1978. It became a No.1 hit in the UK singles chart and remains her biggest-selling single. The song appears on her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside. The B-side of the single was another song by Bush named "Kite" -...

" at the time. Reportedly this was Kate Bush's first television appearance.

Ride statistics

• Ride time: 6:27 minutes
• Capacity: 800 visitors per hour (estimated)
• Cost: € 1,588,823 (40% overspent)

Ride details

Looking closely at the exterior of the Haunted Castle, a number of faces can be seen in the ruins. The largest can be seen above the main entrance: two windows are the eyes and the entrance itself is a gaping mouth, through which the visitors enter. When it rains, one window appears to be crying. Two of the tombstones outside the mansion carry the logos of the National Railway Organisation and the Rabobank

Rabobank

Rabobank is a financial services provider with offices worldwide. Their main location is in the Netherlands. They are a global leader in Food and Agri financing and in sustainability-oriented banking...

.

The waiting hall is a dimly-lit area, with several spooky items, of which an oriental ghost with a crystal looking glass is the most notable. The glass uses the pepper's ghost

Pepper's ghost

Pepper's ghost is an illusionary technique used in theatre and in some magic tricks. Using a plate glass and special lighting techniques, it can make objects seem to appear or disappear, transparent, or make one object seem to morph into another...

 technique to show a beautiful woman turning into a skull. Another famous effect, added in 1979, are dogs lying behind a door, who start to rattle their chains when someone touches the doorknob. In the tower area a hairy arm stretches from the roof, holding a big chandelier

Chandelier

A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...

. Once in a while one might have a glimpse of three horrible batlike creatures, luring down on the visitors.

Upon entering the main attraction hall, a number of scary statues and scenes prepare the audience for the main course: a look into the inner court, graveyard, and the ruins of a monastery at night. When the clock strikes twelve, a violin (also a pepper's ghost effect) starts playing the Danse Macabre

Danse Macabre

Dance of Death, also variously called Danse Macabre , Danza de la Muerte , Dansa de la Mort , Danza Macabra , Dança da Morte , Totentanz , Dodendans , is an artistic genre of late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one's...

 of Saint-Saëns and the graveyard comes to life and a number of skeletons and ghosts are visible. One tombstone is labeled in latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 "Puella Innocenta" (innocent girl). The years on her stone (in Roman numbering) reveal that she has been living backwards in time, however it is possible that it is merely a mistake of the artist who made the stone. There is also a tombstone inside the mansion with the name "Den Hegarty

Den Hegarty

Den Hegarty is a rock and roll, doo-wop and a cappella singer.-Biography:At an early age Hegarty moved to Brighton, England...

", an Irish rock singer who happened to be on the radio when the stone was made. Also, it is said that the main show's appearance was influenced by the 1971 horror film "Tombs of the Blind Dead

Tombs of the Blind Dead

Tombs of the Blind Dead is a 1971 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio. Its original Spanish title is La Noche del terror ciego, which means "The Night of the Blind Terror"....

".

Music

The maintheme of the show is a shortened version of the Dance Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...

. The movements of the animatronics

Animatronics

Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include animals , plants and even mythical creatures...

 are synchronized with the music; the violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 that opens and closes the main part of the show demonstrates this. The show itself has been adapted four times. During the opening season in 1978 the show lasted about 12 minutes. Three months later it was cut back to 8 minutes. In 1987 the show was renewed and in 1989 the final version was completed.

Ruud Bos composed the prelude

Prelude (music)

A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude can be thought of as a preface. It may stand on its own or introduce another work...

that leads to the main music.