A Few Halloween Haunts

By Bixyl Shuftan

It's late October in Second Life, which means Halloween time. As the dark comes earlier in real life, in virtual life various locations are putting up some frightfully fun places. There's too many to go to or list, but I did get a chance to visit a few.

The Return of the Nightmare Walkthrough

Satisfy your hunger for terror with the Return of the Nightmare Walkthrough. Celebrate Halloween with a fresh house of horrors and a free hunt for prizes. Face your fears, hunt for pumpkins, and get lost in the maze of terrors in this October-only event! 

 Entering this place, it's recommended you have your non-music sounds turned up, and either set the region to Midnight, or have the "Advanced Lighting Model" activated. And remove any facelights or other lightup attachments. There is a lit pumpkin available for you to take to light your way.

If you see any other pumpkins as you go through this haunt, click them, At the end, there's a place to put them, promising a prize if you've found them all.

This place didn't disappoint me. It promised a scarefest, and it delivered with plenty of thrills and chills, the environment was creepy, and the monsters often popped out at just the right time to spook you. Those wanting a more relaxed Halloween thrill might want to look elsewhere.

Paradise Fails (115/134/2195)


 ZZ Studios Madhouse

Fans of Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii were a bit saddened this year when the adult media company ZZ Studios had to leave the sim of the same name and rebuild in Erotica Island. Although a fraction of the size it was, they're still continuing their annual haunt, this year offering their Madhouse.

Taking the teleport over and entering, one faces a journey through a number of dark corridors. The first part goes through the manor, then the scenery changes to a maze of abandoned mine passages, a dark spaceship with nothing aboard but a few corpses (or is there?), even a passage that resembled going down a creature's digestive gut. Should you make it to the end, if you're with a date you might want to look behind you before you teleport back down.

I found the ride *slightly* less edgy than "Return of the Nightmare," but that shouldn't steer you away from seeing it. In my opinion, it's good for taking a date who's already been through some haunts, whom won't be so scared as to run out screaming but will be clinging to you a little tighter.

There were a number of carnival games at the entrance of the Nightmare. The prizes were not for kid avatars. Remember, the sim is rated Adult, and it's not called "Erotica Island" for nothing.

The teleport to the ZZ Studios Madhouse is at Erotica Island (66, 154, 23)


Nance Clowes' 8th Annual Haunted Sim

Welcome to Nance Clowes' 8th annual free haunted sim. There's lots more to see this year than any before. Fight your way through through zombies, explore asylums, survive haunted mansions, or just relax with item hunts and thrill rides. 

FREE four MAJOR builds - 6 story Insane Asylum  1950s Thrill Ride  ZOMBIE HUNTING  tribute Disney THE HAUNTED MANSION GCS

 Nance Clowes' haunted sim was different in that there were four haunted places to see. When you get to the arrival area, the announcer greets you, "Hello! There is a lot to find here! The GREEN area is the Haunted Mansion Tribute Ride.  RED is the Zombie Domed City, WHITE is for the Asylum, and BLACK is for Bannons Vanisher." I decided to check out the Haunted Mansion Tribute.

As a tribute to a Disney ride, this one shouldn't freak you out too much. There were some interesting sights such as the stretchable room. For much of the time, you're on a car that slowly goes down a course. Go into mouselook if you don't want a big circle in the middle of your field of vision. Don't expect too many things to leap out and scream. The ghosts here would rather give you a happy wave or a song. This is a good ride if you're with a friend with a low scare tolerance.

With three others lift, I decided to give the Bannons haunt, of which the sign at it 's front called it the "Most Dangerous Ride since 1954." This one was scarrier, though slightly laggy. I was also unable to make my way thought the course, so perhaps it was just a buggy night. I have yet to explore the Asylum and Zombie haunts there.

The landing area to Nance Clowes' Haunted Sim is at LandOurs (210, 46, 601)

These are just a few of the many haunts across Second Life. Gemma Cleanslate earlier reviewed Darkwood, and the Halloween fun at Area Pines Park. The Destination Guide has it's own section of haunted areas, so you'll have no shortage of places to go for some spook-tacular fun.

Happy Halloween

Bixyl Shuftan

The International Space Museum

By Wesley Regenbogen

Spaceflight in real life has been a thing where many people have been wondering about and are interested in it. So am I. So I found this place in Second Life called the “International Spaceflight Museum.” It was created in September 2005, according to their Facebook page, and they provide full-scale models of spacecraft of 12 different countries, not just from America and the Russians. You can compare a 360-meter tall Saturn V Moon rocket with the Mercury-Atlas, which is sitting next to each other.

You can also ride on a rocket and orbit the Earth and walk the platforms around it. When you walk around on the platform you will see the other planets and just right-click them and then just select “Teleport” and you will be teleported to the planet in question. When you go to the planet Mars, you can even teleport to the ( virtual ) Mars surface and look around there, it’s a small area, but you can walk and see the rovers and get more information about them.

This museum isn't sponsored by NASA or the U.S. government, but cared for by volunteers. It’s operated by the ISMuseum, a Texas non-profit corporation.Any donations you give will help keep it running.

They also have a Wiki page available with more information about the place itself : http://www.ismuseum.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page. I didn't see future events listed on the wiki, although there was the Space Week recently. The nearby Spinthrift sim hosts music performances every Sunday at 8PM, and the National Space Society holds weekly meetings every Monday at 3PM at their sim.

In my personal opinion, I think this is the best space museum in Second Life. It’s really amazing that you can really fly with a rocket into space here. It’s also quite amazing that they actually recreated it all so realistically. There are a lot of things to see, too many to list here. I suggest you check them out when you visit the place yourself.

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You can find the location in Second Life at :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Bravo/25/80/23

Wesley Regenbogen

Aero Pines Harvest Festival and Halloween Trail

From Gemma Cleanslate

Found another great Halloween place to visit ! It is also in one of my favorite set of sims and will be another place to wander following the Halloween Trails. It is in the Aero Pines Park and is great fun. The annual Harvest Festival and Halloween Trails is going on with loads of games to enjoy and right next to it a wonderful Haunted House. 

”Welcome To Morgan Mansion ! When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers,‘tis near Halloween. Gemma Cleanslate” was the greeting to me offered by Julianna, one of the Morgan chilren as I neared the mansion.  Not only can you wander through the house but you are invited to log in as a character in the family and become a part of the home. Outside the home are some fun rides and games to enjoy. Hop on the Carousel or the Sky Swatter or get dizzy on the Spider Ride. Whack a Mole , Zombie Meltdown and Ghost Busters are just a few of the games at the fair. I stopped in the Greifer Processing Center and disobeyed the rules not to touch anyone which is definitely scary. 

The trail begins nearby and will take you to various sites . The first I visited was the Witches Camp and made some potions while there .At the Spider Grove I nearly became spider food as the webs entangled me . I passed a man-eating plant by the side of the road  rapidly after that experience. The ghosts in the Haunted Prison were not friendly either. The crowd at the Guillotine was after blood .Down the road it in a field it was fun to watch a shortened version of The Birds,  the Alfred Hitchcock film, while surrounded by screaming gulls and crows. My last stop was at the pumpkin patch where I wandered through the  Corn Maze bumping into the walls for a while. As usual the entire park is full of lovely foliage of  the season which makes the visit there more of a delight. I often go there to take a horse ride when I have time. Seasons change in this Park.

Take a bike or ride a horse along the roads littered with falling leaves seeking out the Halloween sites but enjoying the always lovely terrain. There are more games to play and sites to visit than I have mentioned so plan on visiting for a while. There is a cute jack-o-lantern ride you can rezz for your tour. Watch for it.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Equus/15/207/23 Pick up the map and Landmarks here and in the folder you will find the special Halloween Trails notecard with landmarks for some scary places . All will remain until early November according to Cindy Bolero , the owner of the regions. 

Gemma Cleanslate

Darkwood

By Gemma Cleanslate

The eerily beautiful Darkwood is now open at Calas Galadhon Park sims, one of my favorite places to visit especially when the seasons change. Darkwood is a very different Halloween area with many surprises as you wander through the sim. To get an overview of the region when I arrived  I took the cuddleboat ride. It not only takes you along the waterways where you can view the woods from the edge but takes off into the sky among the vultures that soar overhead. As you hover above the Pavilion and see dragons poised you experience the surreal feeling of being back in the Hobbit’s world upon which the sim is based.  

Ty Tenk & Truck Meredith, the owners of the Park sims, as usual go all out to create an atmosphere that delights the visitors who wander through. “We took a few liberties …  some could say more than a few (grin) as we usually do with a story. But hopefully you’ll find our take with it’s mix of beauty, terror and an enjoyable one.” 

Back at the entrance after my peaceful ride, I walked into the woods with trepidation and immediately was surrounded by huge spiders. As I ran from that area, I fell through the ground to an underground pool of  water filled with hands reaching up to grab me. I could see the entwined bodies, dead I think, clinging to  vines . Making my way out of that scene I found myself surrounded by trolls that looked very like Smeagol ... Smaug. 

I kept taking routes off the path marked by lamps, so it took me a while to find the Barrel Ride that took me far into the interior, and down into underground lakes populated by bats and strange creatures that looked hungry and through beautiful iridescent foliage. After I left the barrel ride, I made my way up to the ghostly Elven Ruins, and then up the winding stone steps through the rocky overhangs to the Pavilion, which is very lovely. I sat in an elven chair to rest from the climb and gazed out over the whole scene from the comfortable overlook, believing I might be in the Hobbit lands of yore. Some of the visiting avatars blended into the scenery as if they lived there. 

At the base of the steps, I stopped to wander into Elven ruins inhabited by ghosts and more bats. I stopped to rest at one of the campfire circles and listen to the sounds of the woods.  There is so much to see and experience in the Darkwoods, it may take a month to discover all the secrets. At the entrance pick up the Lamp and set your graphics to Region windlight and have a wonderful time exploring  Stop at some of    There will be events at the Pavilion during the month . You are invited to join the group. All the Calas sims are wonderful to visit. There are pumpkins throughout the sim if you can leave a donation.  Begin your journey here at the entrance near the cuddleboat ride. I may see you there as I continue to find secrets I missed.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Breakfree/246/240/22 ( I can’t wait til Winter !)

Gemma Cleanslate

The Star Trek Museum

By Wesley Regenbogen

 Ever since the first episode of Star Trek was aired on television many people have watched the series and became a fan of the science fiction story about Captain Kirk and his crew wandering around in the Universe, “to boldly go where no man has gone before”.

After the original series ended, many other series were made and a few spin-offs too. I wasn’t a real fan myself, but the episodes that I watched were amazingly well made and you really felt like you were also in space with Captain Piccard and his crew in the “The Next Generation” series, which were aired in the 90s.

Now, in Second Life there is a Star Trek Museum in which you can all learn about the different species and also get to know more about the series and get background information as well. The Museum was created and developed by SL STARFLEET, which is the counterpart to the real life organization STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. This unique organization has over 240 chapters worldwide, which links up to 4000 members around the world.

Within the Star Trek Museum you have different areas to vist, there are too many to list here. But there is a database on the official website of Star Trek : http://www.startrek.com/database_article_navigator. There you can find more information about the characters and the crew of Star Trek and much more.

The current curators of the Star Trek Museum in Second Life are  Sabri Piccard and Wabisabi Matahari.

There are many locations you can visit : Embassies, Visitor Center ( start location ), Science Museum, and much, much , much more. There is even a balloon tour available. There are too many places to list them all here. More information about all the locations can be found on this website : http://www.sabrizain.org/startrek/

On their Facebook page I found this quote regarding the places you can visit in the Star Trek Museum “SL's best collection of Everything Star Trek - Full size USS Enterprise, dine on gagh, fly in a shuttle, visit a Vulcan town, a Klingon home, Science Museum, swim with George and Gracie. Visit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Eridani/133/80/36.

In my personal opinion the Star Trek Museum is the place for Trekkies or Trekkers to visit and enjoy their stay in the museum. It’s nice to actually wander around in the Star Trek history and get to know more about the series itself.

You can find the place in Second Life at this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Eridani/133/77/36

Wesley Regenbogen

Xoph: A Shop of the Bizarre and Macabre

by Fritter Enzyme

Xoph is not your typical jewelry store in Second Life.  The skulls, upside down crosses and pentagrams give that away very quickly.  The real fun begins once you find the hidden passages that take you to many new places filled with the Halloween type fun.  Not just for Halloween, I would think this is the norm for this place.

Tentacles seem to be the supreme nuisance here, a box of free ones are in the store. You can buy tentacle tails, tongues, spine attachments, and more.  Many things attack you with them.  Want exploding sheep or doves, this is the place.  Snow machines too, with flakes, skulls, pentagrams, and, the best, paw prints.  There are different ways to find the hidden areas, but you will succeed in finding them yourselves.

Go out the door of the main store and try the Princess pose balls, including Heroin Princess and Crack Princess.  Then out on the strangest of balconies where you will have fun with the props there.  The bizarre and macabre await you in statues, pose balls and traps everywhere you venture.  This is not like typical Second Life haunted houses, this does not try to pull that off and fail, as most of them do.  It is fun, silly and an adventure to go through.  There are tubes to fall through, walls to walk through, dropping you to new places to see.

Many of the devices are for sale, save the LL banned George Bush Tentacle Interrogator, my favorite.  When you think you have seen it all, you probably haven’t.  Click on things and see what they do.  Shoot containers of toxic waste with prim babies as ammunition.  A unique twisted treat for the mind and senses, like you have never seen before.  Pick up some of the fun to take home back at the main store.

Have a happy Second Life Halloween and skip the usual, go see Xoph.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Annapurna/200/224/777

Fritter Enzyme 

Editors Note:  At the entrance, there's a pigeon that explodes when touched, and a sign that lists just one rule, "there are no other rules." The sim is rated "Mature" and not "Adult," but do you really want to trust those tentacles?