Las Vegas Weekly

October 24, 2008 · 4:22 PM

Taking Fright: Circus Circus attraction still a popular haunt

By Robin Leach

Photo: PR Plus

Lady Diabla sparks a romance.

Photo: PR Plus

A scene at Fright Dome that speaks for itself.

For the third consecutive year, the Fright Dome at Circus Circus has been named one of the top five haunted attractions in America. “Each year we go to the extreme and to make sure we are scarier and more terrifying than the year before,” said Jason Egan, founder and owner of Fright Dome. “Being recognized as one of the top haunted houses in the nation for the third consecutive year is further proof that we feature some of the most horrific and scariest attractions in the country.”

Fright Dome is a major undertaking with a total of five haunted houses and 23 rides and attractions -- with scares around every corner. Last night (Thursday) the five-acre attraction opened its expanded night hours to midnight through Oct. 31. Since opening with normal daytime hours on Oct. 3, it attracted more than 20,000 visitors in its first five weekend days and won the America On-Line award for “Top 5 Scariest.”

The attraction, now in its sixth year at Circus Circus, has added three new haunted houses – HillBilly Hell, Vampire’s Bloodfeast and The HEX-MAS Nightmare, complete with falling snow. Other new features include Scare Zones, with monsters and super creatures lurking in the dark, in addition to an off-the-wall stunt show starring the hosts of Guinea Pig, the thrill-a-minute series airing on Discovery Channel Canada that pushes human experiences to the extreme.

Other sure-to-terrify highlights include the aerial “drop demons,” one of the only female sword-swallowers in the world, Lady Diabla, and her Xtreme Sideshow Circus featuring Stigmata –- tattooed from head to toe, and Lil’ Miss Firefly -– one of the world’s smallest girls, measuring in at just above two feet.

Photo: PR Plus

Drew? That you?

Each year since 2002 over 60,000 “horrified” people visit the popular attraction and its dark, fog-filled attractions complete with ghoulish and gore-clad professional actors. It is not appropriate for children under 12 because of the roaming scare monsters, high-powered strobes, multicolored lasers and eerie sound effects.

— From Vegas Deluxe

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