Audio By Carbonatix
There are many ghost stories about the desert Southwest, but none, perhaps, more chilling than the legend of Nightfall, Arizona. Back in the 1800s, this sleepy little town was the unfortunate home of the Goulliard Asylum for the Perpetually Insane. The Asylum had flourished under the direction of Doctor Jebediah Hyde, but there were some unsavory rumors associated with the place, as well.
Over the years, the simple townsfolk had learned to ignore the screams and cries that awoke them in the night, but the events of October 31, 1900, could not be ignored. Something terrible had happened at the asylum. The inmates had overrun their sadistic captors and spilled out into town. When the authorities from Tucson arrived the next day, what they found in the town and in that chamber of horrors known as the Goulliard Asylum has become one of Arizona’s most blood-curdling legends. Local myth says that the ghostly inmates are still seeking their revenge against the sadistic Dr. Hyde — who was, of course, never found.
Now, being the brave and undaunted investigator of the paranormal that I am, I wanted to investigate the legend of Nightfall, Arizona, for myself. So I made arrangements to visit Old Tucson Studios on a weekend night in October, between 5 p.m. and midnight, for the Horror of Nightfall 2000. What I found was more horrifying than I could possibly imagine. The Studios had changed itself for the month of October into this mythical haunted community, replete with crazed ghostly inmates stalking about the streets and fake blood and plastic body parts adorning every building. The pleasant Wild West family adventure of Old Tucson Studios has been transformed into Nightfall. It was a harrowing, stomach-churning nightmare, all right, but not of the kind they intended.
If you dare to go, be prepared for a horrifying shock. It won’t come from the two haunted houses, which consist of nothing more than pitch-black corridors full of choking theatrical smoke and the occasional teenager in a rubber mask. It won’t come from the rank-amateur “stunt” show, with its actors shamelessly mugging to friends in the crowd while they lip synch to a prerecorded sound track so tame it makes Disney’s Haunted Mansion seem like The Exorcist. It isn’t even the hourlong wait in line to participate in these wretched events.
No, the single crowning horror of Nightfall at Old Tucson Studios, the absolute mind-destroying terror that sent me screaming into the night, was that they are charging $14.95 for adults, $13.95 for children under 12. I’m getting the sweats just thinking about it.
For less money and far less expenditure of gasoline, you can go to any of several Valley-based haunted houses, have a better time and stand a better chance of getting groped. But if you choose to ignore my dire warning, if you insist upon experiencing the Horror of Nightfall 2000 at Old Tucson Studios for yourself, all I can say is: Bring lots of time, lots of cash, and may God have mercy on your soul.
