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SPONSORED CONTENT is content paid for by a partner. The McClatchy Commerce Content team, which is independent from our newsroom, oversees this content.<\/p>\n
Edited By Chase Clements, McClatchy Media Commerce<\/p>\n
It makes sense that The Horrorland<\/a> emerged during one of the scariest times in recent memory \u2014 the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n The Miami haunted attraction started as a drive-thru experience that not only provided audiences with a safe way to enjoy live entertainment but also created jobs and supported the local entertainment industry.<\/p>\n Seven seasons later, the Santos family \u2014 Francisco, Lisbeth, and their 18-year-old daughter Luna \u2014 have evolved The Horrorland into one of the best haunted houses in South Florida. The Jungle Island attraction features haunted houses, scare zones, and a Circus of Terror, creating an immersive, live experience for their guests.<\/p>\n The experience also extends beyond Halloween with special seasonal productions, including Krampus during the Christmas season and Love Kills for Valentine\u2019s Day. The Horrorland also returns to Jungle Island on Sept. 10 for its seventh season, featuring six haunted houses, scare zones, the Circus of Terror, the nightly Monster Parade, and new themed experiences, including Frankenstein Bar and the Transfusion Station.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to create the kind of experience people share with their friends and family, talk about afterward, and want to come back and experience again year after year,\u201d Francisco Santos said.<\/p>\n A Miami Haunted House That\u2019s All in the Family<\/p>\n The Horrorland is a family project.<\/p>\n Francisco is a producer and director who\u2019s a Cirque du Soleil veteran with 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry. His wife, Lisbeth, is also a producer, with a background in costume, makeup, and set design.<\/p>\n Their daughter, Luna, who grew up around The Horrorland, is now the attraction\u2019s creative director and brings a fresh understanding of what her generation wants from an immersive entertainment experience.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing 18 gives me a perspective that someone who has been doing this for 30 years simply can\u2019t have,\u201d Luna said. \u201cJust like they have experience that I don\u2019t have yet.\u201d<\/p>\n As creative director, Luna has worked to make every experience interactive, not just the haunted houses. When a guest is inside The Horrorland<\/a>, they\u2019re inside a world where anything can happen, anywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want guests to feel like they\u2019re walking through a museum of scary things,\u201d Francisco said. \u201cWe want the world to react to them. A character might follow you, remember something about you, speak to you, make you uncomfortable, make you laugh, or pull you into something happening around you.\u201d<\/p>\n The evolution of The Horrorland from a drive-thru experience guests experienced from their cars to a fully immersive world is an accomplishment the Santos family is most proud of.<\/p>\n Why The Horrorland Is One of the Best Haunted Houses in Miami<\/p>\n Is The Horrorland scary? Absolutely. It\u2019s also funny, weird, and enjoyable.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to get scared,\u201d Francisco said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to scream. But you\u2019re also going to laugh \u2014 a lot. I think that\u2019s one of the things that makes us different. Horror doesn\u2019t have to be serious all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n That juxtaposition starts with the Santos family and their team, who create the attractions, costumes, lighting, and special effects.<\/p>\n The team works through the summer to get ready for opening in September, and most of the work happens at night to avoid the worst of the summer heat.<\/p>\n \u201cJungle Island can get very dark at those hours, so imagine a team building a haunted attraction in the middle of the night, surrounded by monsters, props, unfinished haunted houses,\u201d Francisco said.<\/p>\n The workers laugh, sing, dance, and joke as they work until sunrise. They also make a game of pranking and scaring one another in dark hallways.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes, we end up scaring each other more than we scare the guests,\u201d Francisco said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all part of the magic behind The Horrorland<\/a>. Everything the guests experience is the result of a diverse team of performers, technicians, builders, makeup artists, designers, operators, and producers who love what they do.<\/p>\n The Moments That Made The Horrorland More Than a Haunted Attraction<\/p>\n Looking back at the attraction\u2019s early days, Francisco said a few moments stand out that helped him realize The Horrorland could become much bigger.<\/p>\n He received a message from a guest who said this was the first time they had brought their grandmother to a haunted attraction. Because she\u2019d experienced it safely from the car, she\u2019d had an incredible time.<\/p>\n Another time, a mother brought her son who had cancer to the drive-thru experience, allowing him to safely enjoy it. She thanked them for creating such a unique, safe experience during the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think you forget something like that,\u201d Francisco said. \u201cFor us, it might be another night of performances. For somebody sitting in that car, it could be a memory with someone they love.\u201d<\/p>\n The Horrorland has come a long way since then, but what hasn\u2019t changed is the team\u2019s passion for creating an unforgettable experience for their guests.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want people to leave The Horrorland talking about what happened, laughing about who screamed the loudest, sharing the stories with their friends and family, and coming back the following year to do it all over again,\u201d Francisco said.<\/p>\n Book your exciting, immersive, unforgettable experience and learn more at The Horrorland website<\/a>.<\/p>\n