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The Haunted Castle (Dutch : Spookslot) was a haunted attraction in the amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven and was the first attraction built outside the Fairy Tale Forest.
On July 24, 1976, an announcement [1] on the making of the world's biggest haunted castle appeared in Brabant's daily newspaper: Het Brabants Dagblad. The article mentioned 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 the declining numbers of visitors at Efteling. Aiming to increase attendance with an indoor attraction that did not depend on weather conditions, Efteling authorized its young designer Van de Ven to start designing the ride.
Van de Ven designed the castle as a walk-through attraction. [2] Following the style of Anton Pieck, Van de Ven designed the castle to appear old and decayed, yet somewhat romantic and haunting. Efteling chose Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Seans as the soundtrack and unifying theme for the ride.
Construction took about 18 months and the castle was officially opened May 10, 1978. On May 12, 1978, a television special was broadcast with Kate Bush singing in and around the castle. [3]
On January 24, 2022, Efteling announced the attraction would permanently close on September 4 of that year. [4] It was replaced by a new ride in the same theme, inspired by the same music of the Danse Macabre. The ride, named Danse Macabre, opened on October 31, 2024. [5] Elements of the original attraction were repurposed in its successor and the new surrounding Huyverwoud area.
Looking closely at the exterior of the Spookslot, a number of faces could be seen in the ruins. The largest was above the main entrance: two windows were the eyes and the entrance itself was a gaping mouth, through which the visitors entered. When it rained, one window appeared to cry. Two of the tombstones outside the castle carried the logos of the National Railway Organisation and the Rabobank.
The waiting hall was a dimly-lit area, with several spooky items, of which an eastern ghost with a crystal bowl was the most notable. The glass used the pepper's ghost technique to show a beautiful woman turning into a skull. Another famous effect, added in 1979, were dogs lying behind a door, who started to rattle their chains when someone pulled the doorknob. In the tower area, a hairy arm stretched from the roof, holding a large chandelier. Occasionally, three horrible demonlike creatures (vlederikken) could be seen leering down at visitors.
The waiting hall provided the attraction's backstory. The castle once belonged to the fourth viscount of Capelle van Kaatsheuvel, who collected many of the stories found within Efteling. A wicked witch named Visculamia sought to steal the viscount's stories for herself, but was caught by a gardener and sentenced to death by three judges. She laid a curse onto those that wronged her, with the count being forced to search for his missing daughter Esmeralda for eternity.
Upon entering the main attraction hall, a number of scary statues and scenes prepared the audience for the main course: a look into the inner court, graveyard, and the ruins of a monastery at night. When the clock struck twelve, a violin (a uv lighted animatronic) started playing Danse Macabre and the witch's curse brought the graveyard to life. Several skeletons and ghosts appeared along with the gardener hanging from a noose and the three judges being reduced to howling undead creatures. One tombstone was labeled in Latin "Puella Innocenta" (innocent girl). The years on her stone (in Roman numerals) revealed that she had been living backwards in time. (However, it is possible that it was merely a mistake of the artist who made the stone.) There was also a tombstone inside the mansion with the name "Den Hegarty", 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".
The main theme of the show was a shortened version of the Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns. The movements of the animatronics were synchronized with the music. 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 shortened to 8 minutes. In 1987, the show was renewed and further updated in 1989.
Leading up to the Dance Macabre was a prelude that contained - as part of the soundscape - two pieces of music: (1) "Claws" composed by Marc Rosen in the 1980s for the Stock-music-library Omnimusic; and (2) "Terza Età", from the album "Città Notte" (1972), by Egisto Macchi. "Terza Età" was already used before in the first version of the show at its premiere in 1978.
Efteling is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore.
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. The haunted house attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies", and a walk-through show is displayed to riders waiting in the queue line. Each location differs slightly in design, utilizing a range of technology from centuries-old theatrical effects to modern special effects, including spectral Audio-Animatronics. The Haunted Mansion inspired two similarly themed but distinct attractions, Phantom Manor and Mystic Manor, which exist at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, respectively.
Danse macabre, Op. 40, is a symphonic poem for orchestra, written in 1874 by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It premiered 24 January 1875. It is in the key of G minor. It started out in 1872 as an art song for voice and piano with a French text by the poet Henri Cazalis. In 1874, the composer expanded and reworked the piece into a symphonic poem, replacing the vocal line with a solo violin part.
Danse Macabre is a late-medieval allegory of the universality of death.
A haunted attraction is a form of live entertainment that simulates visiting haunted locations or experiencing horror scenarios. They usually feature fearsome sets and characters, especially demons, ghosts, skeletons, zombies, monsters, possessed people, witches, serial killers, and slashers. Humorous characters may also be included.
Ton van de Ven was a Dutch industrial designer. He is best known as the creative director at the Efteling theme park.
The Fairytale Forest is a 15-acre (61,000 m2) 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 animatronics and buildings. Most of the figures are inspired by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Perrault.
The Diorama is a miniature world in Efteling amusement park in the Netherlands. The highly detailed mountainous world, or Diorama, was designed by Anton Pieck and opened in 1971, in honour of the 20th birthday of Efteling.
Droomvlucht is a dark ride in Efteling amusement park in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven, built by Translift and opened in 1993.
Villa Volta is an attraction in the amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It is a rare type of ride known as a madhouse, a variation of a haunted house, where the visitors get the illusion that either the building, the visitors themselves or both are turned upside down. It was designed by Ton van de Ven and was built by Vekoma in 1996. At the time it was the first of its sort; nowadays the concept has been taken over by a number of other amusement parks.
The People of Laaf is an attraction in the amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven and opened its doors in 1990.
Fata Morgana, the forbidden city, also known as 1001 Arabian Nights is a dark ride in the amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. The attraction was designed by Ton van de Ven and Jan Verhoeven and opened in 1986.
Piraña is a river rapids ride in amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It was designed by Ton van de Ven, built by Intamin, and opened in 1983.
The Indian Water Lilies is an indoor automatic puppet show in Efteling amusement park in the Netherlands. It was designed by Anton Pieck and opened its doors in 1966.
Kaatsheuvel is a town in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands situated along highways N261 and N628. With a population of roughly 16,600, it is the largest town in and the capital of the municipality of Loon op Zand, which also consists of the villages of De Moer and Loon op Zand.
P&P Projects is an international company that first started as a one-man business in Asten, Netherlands making space models and that now specializes in projects for the leisure industry. The company has been constructing and decorating projects for several organisations such as theme parks, museums, visitor centres, family entertainment centres, zoos and swimming pools around the world. P&P Projects specializes in theming, scenery, props, inter-actives, exhibits, animatronics, specials, scale models, and high quality interiors.
The House at Haunted Hill is a high-tech haunted attraction at a home in Woodland Hills, California. The attraction, technically a yard haunt, showcases a mixture of age-old tricks such as Pepper's ghost, and advanced special effects and multi-channel audio.
Aquanura is the name of a fountain system in the Efteling theme park in the Netherlands. The premiere took place on 31 May 2012 on the park's 60th anniversary, and opened to the public the following day. The fountain was developed by WET Design, Efteling and Tebodin Consultants & Engineers. The fountain is the largest in Europe and the third largest in the world, after The Dubai Fountain and the Fountains of Bellagio, though it could better be compared as a smaller version of Disney's World of Color.
Baron 1898 is a Dive Coaster produced by the Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard located in the Efteling in Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands. It opened on July 1, 2015. The coaster's soundtrack was created by the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra.
Symbolica is a trackless dark ride at Efteling theme park in the Netherlands, which opened July 1, 2017.
