Places & Events: Model Village Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors

The Halloween flag

The Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors at Model Village in Babbacombe, Torquay,  is running this year from October 22nd - October 31st. Prepare yourselves for zombies, vampires, werewolves, witches, pumpkins, ghosts, monsters and more, all set in a miniature world!

A shot of some of the miniature models and real plant life

I didn't know quite what to expect from the evening, as the last time I visited Model Village was for school, with some German exchange students when I was about 14 and I don't remember liking the place much. However, The Evening of Mini Horrors was pretty great! I think what struck me the most about the event was how much effort was put into it. Model Village is not usually a horror attraction, and the Halloween event only lasts for 9 days, but nearly every part of the venue - inside and out - was transformed into a ghoulish spectacle, or at least decorated in a spooky way. Even the roof of the ticket booth had a giant tarantula on it, which my friend and I nicknamed "The Yeti Spider", and the woman behind the counter was wearing a ghost ring that I really wanted!

"The Yeti Spider"

So, on to the event itself...during the evening sessions, which run between dusk and 10pm (last admission at 8pm), there are various things to see and activities in which you can take part. First of all, there's the park, which covers 4 acres of land (not including the indoor areas) and has a multitude of moving model displays of varying sizes, interspersed with greenery and - at this time of year - Halloween props.

I don't want zombies on my lawn♪

It really pays to look closely at the scenes that are set up, as you often find unusual and interesting additions to seemingly everyday scenes. Even in the zombie scene above there's a random pumpkin head shambler! 

The Wicker Man display

After dark, many of the displays are illuminated and some even have pyrotechnics and sound effects going on too. The Wicker Man, The Addams Family house, (what I perceived to be a) haunted mansion, and castle with fire-breathing dragon displays were my particular favourites during the visit.

The Addams Family house

Gomez & Morticia get amorous

Pugsley & Wednesday "looking after" the baby

As we walked around the park, we ran into some of the undead staff who were floating around. They told us that although they didn't mind being photographed, the camera might not be able to see them. Luckily enough for us though, it did!

Apparently this was the first year that the park hired actors for Halloween and they really did a good job of staying in character, whilst also being amusing and entertaining. I did notice a few little children skirting around them, wide-eyed though - haha. Speaking of which...

Workshop of Horrors animatronic

The Workshop of Horrors tour is something of a cross between a haunted house and a spooky behind the scenes look at the model-making workshops. If there was one part of the evening that I thought perhaps wasn't suitable for very young children, it was the this. There are a lot of eerie sounds, life-size animatronics and models, scary stories and it's also fairly dark throughout.

A skinned dungeon dweller

That's not to say that all 6 or 7-year-olds would find it scary, but some younger, or more sensitive kids might find it a little disturbing. On the other hand, I loved being scared and creeped-out when I was a child, so it really does depend on the each individual's personality I think. 

Werewolf chained to a tree

The park does have plenty of signs warning parents about what the workshop tour entails though, and the actress leading the tour makes it very clear at the beginning that people can leave anytime they want if it's too frightening. Besides - upon exiting, this inflated cuteness (below) is just around the corner - who could be scared of that?!

Creepy-cute pumpkin ghosts

Apart from the displays and actors, there was also a 4D cinema with that showed an animated version of Dracula in the evening. What made it 4D, you ask? Well, in addition to wearing 3D glasses, the seats shook and rocked, blew jets of air at us and squirted water at opportune moments during the film. One of the moments was particularly gross, as even though I knew it was water, due to what was happening on the screen, it didn't feel like water. 

The Dracula 4D poster

Nevertheless, it was enjoyable and probably something that children over the age of 5 could watch without being frightened. It was really a light-hearted, horror-themed comedy adventure though, so it wasn't supposed to be scary.

This Dracula prop was at the door to greet us!

Overall, The Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors was enjoyable, well-put together and a lot of fun. If you're really only interested in being shocked and terrified, this isn't the place for you. As the MV website states, the Halloween event "is largely aimed at families with a light-hearted Halloween theme, it's not a scarefest". However, if you're looking for a spooky evening out - with or without children - that's a bit different, I'd definitely recommend this event!

Animatronic Uncle Fester (dressed as Dracula) in the gift shop

Location:
Babbacombe Model Village
Hampton Avenue
Babbacombe
Torquay
Devon TQ1 3LA
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1803 315315

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

↓To see more pictures, click the cut below↓

Places: Bodmin Jail

Bodmin Jail

Situated in the town of Bodmin in Cornwall, Bodmin Jail was a working Civil and Naval prison from its opening in 1779 until its closure in 1927. The buildings fell into disrepair and dereliction for many years, until it was bought by its current owners in 2004. Since then, the Jail has been undergoing extensive renovations and currently houses a 6 level museum of sorts, which allows visitors to learn about the crimes, their perpetrators - from delinquent children to serial murderers - and the punishments given to them during the prison's history. 

Victim and murderer

Whilst that might sound a little bit boring, it's actually pretty interesting - entertaining even - and many of the cells now contain models / mannequins and scenery depicting both the crimes committed and the punishments exacted, complete with explanation signs on the walls next to them. It's not a fairground haunted house, by any means, but the dark, strangely lit models and passageways coupled with the echoing sounds, low / strangely-angled ceilings and shiver-inducing temperatures give the museum portion of the building a somewhat eerie atmosphere. 

 A priest and nun with a corpse in a coffin

In addition to the museum, Bodmin Jail is said to have quite a lot of paranormal activity and also hosts ghost walks a few times a month. There were certaintly lots of deaths and executions on the grounds including a prisoner that committed suicide outside the prison gates in 1839 and the double hanging of brothers for murder, which approximately 25,000 people attended in 1840 (as a source of entertainment). The execution pit used for hanging still exists and the Jail website invites visitors to:

"Come and see the only working execution pit in the UK. Discovered during renovation works in 2005, the pit has now been restored to its’ full working order, with the able assistance of Gary Ewart, one of the UK’s leading authorities on hanging."

A hanging exhibit

In addition to the museum area and execution pit, there are also grounds (temporarily closed for renovations at the time of writing), stables artifacts, a film room and a bar / restaurant. The bar had a rather unusual, fake jackalope head adorning one of its shelves (pictured below), which along with other such amusing eccentricities like the mannequin hands in the corner of the jail ceiling (pictured after cut) and the outside door with the address "001 Cemetery Lane" (pictured after cut), make the site more fun to explore.

'Jackalope' in the bar

For more information about opening times, entry fees (for the museum) and other details you can visit the Bodmin Jail websites:

Bodmin Jail Website
Twitter

YouTube

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Places & Traditions: Madagascan 'Turning of the Bones'

Image source: Massimo Branco

Famadihana, or 'turning of the bones' is tradition of the Malagasy people in Madagascar. People remove their relatives from the family crypts, approximately every seven years, and replace their burial shrouds with fresh cloth. Then, in the embodiment of the Madagascan saying "alive, we live together in the homes; dead, we live together in the tombs", they then proceed to carry the bodies and dance around with them to live music playing near the tomb.

Image source: Joao Silva for The New York Times

They perform the ceremony to both honour and celebrate their ancestors, while also reuniting their whole family at the same time. It is also part of a belief that the dead only join the world of the ancestors after many years, when the body's decomposition is complete, and various rituals have been performed.

Sources:

BBC News

The New York Times
Environmental Graffiti
Massimo Branco on Behance