Jaunted

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Snakes Have Moved Away from Planes and Into Your Rental Car

Think about picking up your rental car. You do a quick walk around the exterior to ensure that you’ve noted all the scratches, dents, and other imperfections. However, the one thing you probably don’t look for are creepy crawlies on the interior, but searching for stowaway critters might be something you need to start doing.

A family up in Canada recently had a little bit of a surprise when they picked up their rental car from the Budget counter, as a snake decided it wanted to join them on their summer vacation. Apparently the family’s daughter was the one to announce her findings, as she saw the snake slithering in the back of the SUV.

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Travel TV Shows / Travel Channel / Thanatourism / Scary Travel / Dead Files / → All Tags

The Travel Channel Will Go Deeper Into Thanatourism Territory with New Show 'The Dead Files'

Excuse us if the only upcoming show we can really focus on is ABC's Pan Am, but there are other travel-themed series scheduled to debut this fall and towards the end of this year. For example, Travel Channel has already confirmed that they're having a second helping of Anthony Bourdain with his new show, The Layover, but there's another show up their sleeves that's unlike anything they've done before: The Dead Files.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show will be like Bones and The Mentalist had a baby:

[It's] an investigative one-hour series that pairs Steve DiSchiavi, a retired Homicide Detective with the New York City Police Department with more than 21 years of active service with psychic communicator Amy Allan who has an established sixth sense and an affinity for channeling the dead. The partners explore each case on their own and then link up at the end to compare notes.

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Thanatourism / Death / Scary Travel / Historical Travel / Lists / → All Tags

Three of the Most Macabre Tourist Attractions Opening This Year

You don't need us to tell you this, but tourists really love to see some morbid things. Just think about it...the Paris Catacombs, Concentration Camps, famous graves and worse. To help sate the public's desire for the macabre, more new Thanatourism attractions open every year, but it looks like 2011 will be particularly dark. Here's the top three to look forward to:

· "Old Sparky" Electric Chair, Ohio
It was just reported that a particulary shocking exhibit will hit Columbus, Ohio's Historial Museum on April 1, and this is not an April Fool's Joke. "Controversy: Pieces You Don't Normally See" will be limited to guests 18 year old and up, because what's on display may be disturbing: Ku Klux Klan hoods, mental patient restraints, and "Old Sparky," the electric chair that brought capital punishment down on 315 inmates for over 30 years. No, you won't be allowed to sit in it. More info here.

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Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Roller Coasters / Scary Travel / → All Tags

UK Theme Park Relocates Ride Because It's Haunted by a Headless Monk Ghost

We’ve been to the Disney version of a haunted house at both Mickey’s world and his land, but the latest spooky theme park news out of the United Kingdom appears to be way more hardcore.

At Thorpe Park in England, workers were busy doing their thing getting a new ride ready for visitors come this summer season, but when the bulldozers started moving the earth around they clearly disturbed something—or someone—that wasn’t as excited about the new attraction. After starting to construct a new water ride called Storm Surge park, workers noticed that bits and pieces of the ride starting moving around the construction scene on their own.

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Worlds-Scariest-Roller-Coasters / Roller Coasters / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / → All Tags

World's Scariest Roller Coasters: Universal Orlando's Revenge of the Mummy Over Halloween

Vampires may be the cool kids now when it comes to the scary stuff, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve totally forgot about creatures like werewolves or mummies. Universal Studios in Orlando is an equal opps provider when it comes to giving attention to all kinds of creatures from beyond, but their main focus is their indoor coaster dedicated to The Mummy movie series.

The Revenge of the Mummy has been freaking out tourists for several years now, but its unique ride technology still puts it at the top of our list when it comes to scary coasters around the world. There’s quick turns, sudden stops, and of course plenty of creatures from the afterlife lurking around each turn and twist—not to mention plenty of beetles ready to attack!

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Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / Universal Studios / Roller Coasters / → All Tags

The Top Three Theme Parks Celebrating Halloween

If you’re looking for a side of spooky with your fall theme park trip, there’s plenty of ghouls and ghosts hiding at parks across the country. While many parks are quick to put scarecrows and pumpkins by the ticket gates, there are only a few that have scares that rival their roller coasters. We took a look at three of these parks, and here’s what we found:

· Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Williamsburg:
Despite the park’s big plans for the next few summer seasons, there’s still plenty of cash left over to celebrate the season. Howl-O-Scream has arrived at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and, after dark, the park transforms into a place with plenty of frightening features. Just one of six haunted houses is Hunted, and here visitors make there way through 17th century Germany to search through the remains of long lost werewolf hunters. The park rates this one as five pumpkins out of five pumpkins—so we’ll take that as a good sign.

There’s plenty of shows where you can sit down and catch you breath, but just make sure you don’t miss some of the other haunted houses like Bitten and Catacombs. Tickets for the fall fun costs $64 if you order online, and that gets you access to the park for the whole day—as the scary stuff only comes out at night. Now through Halloween the park is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, so start planning your trip.

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Worlds-Scariest-Roller-Coasters / Roller Coasters / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / → All Tags

World's Scariest Roller Coasters: Alton Towers' TH13TEEN During Scarefest

Last year’s winter was quite a wake up call for residents of the UK, as it was filled with record lows and record snows. In case a similar scene is on its way for this year, it might be a good idea to visit Alton Towers for a little summer fun one more time before beginning that indoor hibernation. The park has plenty of intense coasters, but only one ride had park officials consider a warning for would-be riders.

Thirteen—or TH13TEEN as they call—is new to the park this year, but even after a summer filled with terror, things look to take a turn for the worse during the park’s Scarefest. The ride is themed around the discovery of a long forgotten burial site within the Dark Forest. Good luck navigating the steel track as you are twisted, turned, and dropped through the park’s ancient crypt.

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Worlds-Scariest-Roller-Coasters / Roller Coasters / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / → All Tags

World's Scariest Roller Coasters: Knott's Berry Farm's Ghostrider During 'Scary Farm'

The fall season isn’t exactly the same in Southern California as it is across much of the country, but that doesn’t mean that theme parks in the area don’t get in on the Halloween fun. Knott’s Berry Farm is all about celebrating the season, and although it might not be as scary as some of its steel cousins, Ghostrider is the perfect coaster for this spooky season.

Ghostrider is an older wooden coaster, so expect the creeks and squeaks to send shivers down your spine. You’ll hope that all the wood has maintained its strength through the years of tourist abuse especially when you descend down the ride’s 100-foot initial drop. There’s no upside-down effects here to get you disorientated—they’re not necessary—as there are plenty of drops, turns, and hills along the almost 5,000-foot long track. Just hold on as you reach speeds of close to 60 miles per hour.

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Worlds-Scariest-Roller-Coasters / Roller Coasters / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / → All Tags

World's Scariest Roller Coasters: Six Flags New England's Bizarro, during Fright Fest

Halloween has hit theme parks across the country, but there are only a few weeks left before things go into hibernation for the winter. With zombies and werewolves lurking behind every corner, some coasters have become even scarier. We took a look around, and here’s what we found:

The leaves have started to change color in the Northeast, but there’s still a few weekends left to enjoy the summer season at Six Flags New England. Superman: Ride of Steel was always the park’s best coaster, but a couple years ago it got even better—and even scarier—as it transformed into Bizarro. It seems like pretty much every year Amusement Today picks this coaster as one of the best around, so you won’t be disappointed.

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Worlds-Scariest-Roller-Coasters / Roller Coasters / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Halloween Travel / Scary Travel / → All Tags

World's Scariest Roller Coasters: CedarPoint's Mantis, during HalloWeekends

Halloween has hit theme parks across the country, but there are only a few weeks left before all the thrills and chills go into hibernation for the winter. With zombies and werewolves lurking behind every corner, some coasters have become even scarier. We took a look around, and here’s what we found:

CedarPoint’s Mantis is a pretty intense roller coaster on a warm sunny day, but things get even more extreme as the weather turns cooler. The coaster is the park’s only stand up coaster, so even when you climb aboard you won’t have a chance to sit and relax before heading about 150-feet into the air. Don’t worry, it’ll only be a few seconds before you dive into a 119-foot loop. Be sure to hold off on the candy corns before riding this one, as we have before, and aside from your stomach dropping, your head gets banged around a tad bit too.

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Halloween / Halloween Travel / Parades / Scary Travel / Freaks / New York City Marathon / Marathons / Active Travel / → All Tags

A Hell of a Halloween Weekend in New York

Halloween is always a party in New York, but this year several forces combined to make it even wilder than usual. First of all, it happened to fall on a Saturday this year, drawing that many more people out of their apartments and into the night. Second, the Yankees played the Phillies in Game 3 of the World Series - and won! - giving the barroom crowds a grand reason to order a few ill-advised rounds of shots. And third, the New York City Marathon took place the very next morning, giving the Halloween revelers some great human drama to wake up and soothe their hangovers to. Add to that the extra hour of weekend we got because of the end of Daylight Savings Time and you've got a city with every reason to cut loose.

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Halloween / Halloween Travel / Parades / Scary Travel / Freaks / → All Tags

It's Halloween, Do You Have Your Silver Shamrock Mask Yet?

Happy Halloween 2009, everybody! I've always loved Halloween, because it's one of those all-fun, no baggage holidays where you're pretty much required to party and be ridiculous. As the Geto Boys point out, this year Halloween falls on a weekend, ramping up the crazy factor in cities around the world. I'm fortunate to live in New York, home of the legendary Village Halloween Parade, and even luckier to have a friend who lives along the parade route, so we'll be watching from above the fray. It's fun to stand along the sidewalk too, but be prepared for a crush of bodies akin to Times Square on New Years Eve.

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