Haunted theme park goes mobile interactive

I’ve never been to Shocktoberfest in Pennsylvania, but after reading their press release, and spending a few minutes perusing the website, I quite fancy checking it out.

Anyway, back to mobile related matters. The park, which is “Pennsylvania’s Premier Haunted Theme Park”, has just unveiled their new “Text2Scream” attractions for the 2007 Halloween season.

Park visitors can interact with animated props in scare zones found throughout the park via their mobile phones and devices. The scare zones are set up where customers least expect them and are designed so that once you’ve been scared, you can join in on the fun and scare another unsuspecting soul.

Patrick Konopelski, Executive Producer of Shocktoberfest says, “The Text2Scream(TM) program is fantastic because it engages our customers in a way never done before in the entertainment industry. It puts control in the hands of our customers. There’s definitely an aspect of voyeurism here. To give a customer the ability to scare the wits out of someone else through their cell phone is almost magical.”

In addition to the scare zones, Shocktoberfest is leveraging the technology to power the video screens in their brand new attraction – Club Shock, a haunted night club. Customers can send chat messages to the screens as well as request songs from the DJ and play group-based interactive games.

The whole shebang is powered by INCLIQ Media, and works using a downloadable Java app.