Haunted Castle (Efteling)

Last updated
Main show Efteling Spookslot hoofdshow.jpg
Main show
Spookslotback.jpg
Back of the castle
Spookslot4.JPG
The originally very sinister front of the castle, now virtually invisible because of the ivy
Spookslot square by night Efteling Spookslot bord.jpg
Spookslot square by night
Detail from the inside of the castle Eft Spookslot 04.jpg
Detail from the inside of the castle

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.

Contents

History and details

On July 24, 1976 the announcement [1] on the making of the world's biggest haunted castle appeared in Brabant'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 [2] and, in the style of Anton Pieck, 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 singing in and around the castle. She had a big hit around the globe with "Wuthering Heights" at the time. [3]

On January 24, 2022, Efteling announced the attraction will close permanently on September 4th of that year. [4] It will be replaced by a new ride in the same theme, inspired on the music used in the current attraction, Danse Macabre. The opening is planned for 2024. [5] Along with the closure, Efteling posted 3 videos on their YouTube channel to forever preserve the castle: [6] a walkthrough of the castle (including the queue, preshow and main show), a 360 degrees video of the main show of the castle, and a tour behind the scenes, recorded by three previous and current employees who worked on building the castle in 1978. On the 4th of September, at 9 'o clock, the queue closed for the very last time. The queue was well outside of its intended length, spanning across the square and adjacent path behind the castle. After the last visitors had left the show, the employees who worked at the castle witnessed the last show ever performed. [7] The process of the demolition of the ride started the very next day, but the building would not be torn down until all of the elements of the show had been carefully removed and preserved for the archives, and possible reuse for the new attraction. [8] [9]

Ride statistics

Ride details

Looking closely at the exterior of the Spookslot, 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.

The waiting hall is a dimly-lit area, with several spooky items, of which an eastern ghost with a crystal bowl is the most notable. The glass uses the pepper's ghost 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 pulls the doorknob. In the tower area a hairy arm stretches from the roof, holding a big chandelier. Once in a while one might have a glimpse of three horrible demonlike creatures, (vlederikken) leering down at the visitors. As told in narration, the castle once belonged to the fourth viscount of Capelle van Kaatsheuvel, who collected many of the stories found within the 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 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 (a uv lighted animatronic) starts playing the Danse Macabre of Saint-Saëns and the witch's curse brings the graveyard to life. A number of skeletons and ghosts are visible, with the gardener hanging from a noose and the three judges being reduced to howling undead creatures. One tombstone is labeled in Latin "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", 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".

Music

The main theme of the show is a shortened version of the Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns. The movements of the animatronics are synchronized with the music; the violin 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.

Leading up to the Dance Macabre is a prelude which contains - as part of the soundscape - two pieces of music: "Claws" was composed by Marc Rosen in the '80s for the Stock-music-library Omnimusic. "Terza Età", from the album "Città Notte" (1972) was composed by Egisto Macchi. "Terza Età" was already used before in the first version of the show at its premiere in 1978.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efteling</span> Amusement park in the Netherlands

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Haunted Mansion</span> Disney dark ride attraction

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 attractions, Phantom Manor and Mystic Manor, which exist at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Dungeon</span> Tourist attraction in London

The London Dungeon is a tourist attraction along London's South Bank, England, which recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a gallows humour style. It uses a mixture of live actors, special effects and rides.

Danse macabre, Op. 40, is a tone 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, based on the play Danza macàbra by Camillo Antona-Traversi. In 1874, the composer expanded and reworked the piece into a tone poem, replacing the vocal line with a solo violin part.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Splash Mountain</span> Ride at Disney theme parks

Splash Mountain is a log flume at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Magic Kingdom, based on the animated sequences of the 1946 Disney film Song of the South. Although there are variations in the story and features between the three locations, each installation begins with a peaceful outdoor float-through that leads to indoor dark ride segments, with a climactic steep drop into a "briar patch" followed by an indoor finale. The drop is 52.5 feet (16.0 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europa-Park</span> Theme park in Germany

Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Paris. Europa-Park is located in Rust, south-western Germany, between Freiburg im Breisgau and Strasbourg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haunted attraction (simulated)</span> Horror-themed recreational venue

A haunted attraction is a form of live entertainment that simulates the experience of visiting haunted locations or storylines typical of horror fiction. They usually feature fearsome sets and characters, especially demons, ghosts, monsters, possessed people, witches or wizards, serial killers, and slashers. Humorous characters may also be included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ton van de Ven</span>

Ton van de Ven was a Dutch industrial designer. He is best known as the creative director at the Efteling theme park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairytale Forest</span> Attraction at Efteling amusement park, Netherlands

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diorama (Efteling)</span> Miniature world

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreamflight</span> Dark ride in 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Volta</span> Attraction at Efteling amusement park

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 has been 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The People of Laaf</span> Attraction at Efteling

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss Bob</span> Defunct roller coaster at Efteling

Swiss Bob was a Bobsled roller coaster in amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands.

Gondoletta is a Water ride in amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands. It was developed by Intamin ; designed by Ton van de Ven and started operating in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquanura</span>

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 it 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toverland</span> Amusement park in Sevenum, The Netherlands

Attractiepark Toverland is an amusement park located in Sevenum, the Netherlands. It first opened in 2001 as an indoor family entertainment center, operated by the Gelissen Group. In recent years, Toverland has grown into a fully-fledged theme park, winning the European Star Award for the Best Theme Park in 2018. More recently, the park has shifted towards the adult demographic, partially rebranding and adding new attractions. A name change was also considered in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron 1898</span> Rollercoaster in the Efteling

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symbolica</span> Dark ride in the Efteling theme park

Symbolica is a trackless dark ride at Efteling theme park in the Netherlands, which opened July 1, 2017.

References

  1. Documentariaat de Efteling The date of announcement (July 24, 1976) also marks the official date of foundation of Documentariaat De Efteling, largest privately held collection and source of information concerning the Efteling Themepark [ citation needed ]
  2. Official site
  3. Kate Bush' television special, filmed in the Efteling
  4. "New Hotel, Indoor Attraction Coming to Efteling for 2024". Theme Park Insider. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  5. "Efteling attraction Danse Macabre will open in 2024". Efteling. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  6. "Efteling - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  7. "Video: gigantische wachtrij en joelende Efteling-fans bij afscheidsavond Spookslot". Looopings (in Dutch). 2022-09-05. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  8. "Het Spookslot in de Efteling is dicht, maar de sloop kan niet meteen beginnen". Looopings (in Dutch). 2022-09-04. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  9. "Efteling deelt bijzondere foto's van ontmanteling Spookslot". Looopings (in Dutch). 2022-09-06. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  10. Fansite (in Dutch)

Coordinates: 51°38′56″N5°02′55″E / 51.64889°N 5.04861°E / 51.64889; 5.04861