Horror rises from the ashes of Conneaut Lake Park

By Guy D’Astolfo

The old amusement park has been taken over by the Canfield Scaregrounds crew.

CONNEAUT LAKE, Pa. — In August, Dom Baragona went to the ruins of Conneaut Lake Park, where he was considering holding a rib festival.

But when he got there, he realized he had found a perfect location for a haunted attraction.

Baragona, whose Mid-America Productions stages the Canfield Scaregrounds each year, got to work at Conneaut, an old amusement park that has been closed for a few years and suffered a devastating fire earlier this year.

The result is Ghost Lake, which opens Friday.

“Amusement parks are the perfect location for a haunted attraction,” said Baragona.

It’s true that horror and amusement parks have a connection, like opposite sides of the same coin. It explains the wild success of Kennywood Park and Cedar Point, which retool themselves from thrills to chills every fall.

But what Conneaut has to offer is a professional scare-monger’s dream come true: boarded-up rides in disrepair, bright paint faded to a dull pallor, and a burned-out midway with melted light fixtures. The fun is clearly over.

“It would cost millions to re-create what’s already sitting there,” said Baragona.

“It is better and scarier than the haunted versions of Kennywood and Cedar Point because it’s in disrepair. The rides don’t work. In the daytime, it’s spooky.”

The atmosphere of the lakefront park is undoubtedly priceless. But the crown jewel is the century-old Hotel Conneaut.

The massive wooden hotel oozes creepiness, from its lonely lakefront veranda to its creaky hallways and its dank basement.

“It is spooky beyond words,” said Baragona.

It’s also reputed to be haunted and has been featured on several television shows about the paranormal. Legend has it that two guests — a bride and groom on their honeymoon — were trapped inside during a 1943 fire that damaged the building. The groom survived, but the bride perished while desperately searching for her husband. Unexplained events are said to occur in the hotel, and are attributed to “Elizabeth the bride,” who still roams the hotel searching for her lost love.

Did you just get goosebumps?

Two floors are used in the Haunted Hotel, and Baragona said “you WILL see Elizabeth.”

Other attractions at Ghost Lake include:

UThe Butcher’s Basement, in the hotel’s huge basement kitchen. It’s dank, dark and inhabited by a mad butcher.

UA 600-foot-long maze in the old bumper car building, with strobes, sound and monsters.

UA midway of madness, located on the side of the midway that wasn’t destroyed by the fire.

UTwo cemeteries.

UA haunted house in one of the abandoned vacation homes on the property.

UThe Devil’s Den, in the park’s former dark ride, which will be running. “You’ll never believe what happens inside,” Baragona said.

UClown Town, in the former Kiddieland area.

There will also be a lively midway area with food and entertainment. “It’s a place to hang out and talk about the scares you just had, and recompose yourself,” said Baragona.

It will take about two hours to hit all the attractions at Ghost Lake, and fear-seekers can go in any order. Cards will be given to patrons, which will be punched upon entering an attraction. Almost everything is under roof, said Baragona, so rain won’t be a factor.

Admission is $15.

Baragona said the scare zone begins at the entrance. Fog machines, lighting, sound effects, props and scenes are used to transform the park, and close to 100 actors are in ghoul getup.