Scaremare makes its return: Popular fall walk-through attraction sparks excitement

The beginning of fall marks the return of Liberty University’s popular student attraction: Scaremare. Liberty’s fall walk-through event is returning to Lynchburg this Thursday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m., and there are plenty of new tricks in store to treat people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Scaremare’s mission is to create scenes of death that invoke the question, “What happens after I die?” After passing through fun-house rooms and trails through dark woods — all full of terrifying settings of death — guests are told the gospel and what can await after accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Scaremare Director Josh Coldren claims that the attraction has a whole new look this season and that returning guests will
be surprised.

“If they’ve been through Scaremare before, there is an element of Scaremare that is not there this year; but with that missing element, there is an additional element that has been brought in,” Coldren said. “There is a complete, different layout of Scaremare — brand new stuff, brand new layout. It is a completely different Scaremare this year.”

As Scaremare enters its 51st year of operation, Coldren says his team is taking measures to ensure that even after 50 years of the same seasonal attraction, it will always be fresh and exciting.

“We do our best to try and create those scenes to get people to think about their mortality — to get people to think about what life is like after death, and I’m grateful for the team that we have. And there’s times where we pull other people in to be a part of that discussion so we can have fresh ideas,” Coldren said. “So sometimes it’s just a fresh set of ears and eyes to be able to help keep us current and help keep us effective in the greatest manner. But what I love is that the team is always focused on the mission that we are there for, and that’s to help people see there is hope after death.”

When an attraction becomes increasingly popular, there comes a desire to see bigger and better versions of it. Coldren says that Scaremare always scopes out the newest technology to bring improvements to the scenes it creates.

“Some of that is research, and as we research the technologies that are out there, we go, ‘Okay, how can we incorporate those into Scaremare?’ Whether that be theatrical lighting, whether that be animatronics,” Coldren said. “Technology changes over time, and with that, there are new elements of technology that are available each year that we try to look and figure out how we can utilize this to the best of our ability.”

Scaremare will be held Oct. 12-14, 19-21 and 26-28 at 2300 Carroll Ave. in Lynchburg. Admittance is only $5 on Thursdays for military personnel and college students with a valid college or military ID. To learn more about Scaremare’s pricing, passes or location, visit this website. 

Napier is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion