What Have You Got To Lose?

By now, bursting free of the horrors of Camp Knossos is now a priority, and the sudden view of the Perimeter Wall that complicates that notion is what demoralizes any Scout and guest alike. The wall scenic finished to resemble concrete slabs and a prison-style watchtower manned by a rifle-toting Counselor conveys institutionalized helplessness, and the displayed corpse of a Scout manifests the casual brutality that fuels it.

The placard on the crucified body of the Scout reads "THOUGHT WRONG." The meaning of this is up to the viewer: it could either refer to a warning to others that those who think they can escape Camp Knossos are fatally incorrect, or that the act of contemplating inappropriate ideas is a heresy warranting execution by the judgment of the Management.

A mounted searchlight sweeps the area, temporarily dazzling the guests, and point-source speakers play the sounds of rifle shots and ricochets to startle them. Ambient moonlight-blue light dappled through the boughs of a deciduous tree helps camouflage the set. You'd have to look hard to see the outline of the Lurker within the treeline. Do you see him here? If you do, it's already too late.

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Originally, I envisioned this portion of the attraction to be the camp's Athletic Field, sporting perversions of the traditional campground activities. My sketchbook ideas for gags for the Athletic Field Set include an inverted potato sack race and literal three-legged races.

A couple of these may work on the page, but it may take some explanation in a live setting which would detract from the immediacy of a walk-through spookhouse. So, these concepts did not make the final cut.
 

The showcase of this initial iteration featured a puppeteer behind the wall that would, when accompanied by the sound of the hiss of an arrow in flight, slam the shafts of arrows through the targets of an archery range as guests would walk by.

Here is a study of a Second Draft consideration of a Concrete Labyrinth Set to replace the Athletic Field Set. Although it does compliment the "Camp Knossos" theme of a sacrifice to the Minotaur, it is just too problematic to have any manner of multiple paths in such a venue for both circulation and safety concerns, even if it is such a non-maze as this is. To the cutting room floor it goes, even though I love to imagine that this would have been a key scene in the fictitious film upon which this is all based.

Tomorrow: The Canteen Kitchen