There are a lot of theme park haunts going on right now, and while many are enjoyable, Seaworld’s Howl-o-Scream didn’t make a splash. This event was a big disappointment, and my expectations weren’t very high to begin with. Combining the low quality of the event with Seaworld’s controversial past, it’s an event I’d suggest you all pass. 

     This was Howl-o-Scream’s second year at the San Diego location, and it’s clear the park is still working out a lot of problems with the event. The only redeeming factor of this event was the ticket price, $34.99 to be exact. Although, after experiencing the attraction, the price makes sense. Plus, even with the cheap ticket prices, it still felt like a waste of money. 

     After seeing the entrance the scare actors made into the park, I had a feeling that the rest of the event would be just as underwhelming. It looked as if the scare actors just brought whatever old costumes they had from home and threw them on, regardless of the themes for scare zones. The makeup was meager, the most dramatic being some smudges of glow in the dark face paint on the cheeks. For example, while walking through the toy themed zone, I witnessed a scare actor wearing a bright blue onesie and a brown teddy bear mask I recognized from Walmart. 

     Speaking of that actor, there were multiple instances in which a member of my party was pushed and touched by the scare actors, when most other haunts enforce a strict no touching rule for the scare actors. When the teddy bear did not succeed in scaring my mother, he instead settled on shoving his shoulder into her to get the job done. While annoying and threatening, he still didn’t manage to scare anybody. 

     This happened to her again in a maze when a man once again failed to scare her and decided that shoving into her with the side of his body was the next best thing. The training for these actors, if any even occurred, clearly did nothing to teach them that hitting guests is not the way to handle an unsuccessful scare. 

     Moving on from the poor behavior of employees, let’s discuss the quality of mazes. After entering the first one, I was shocked at the minimal amount of effort put into the design of the mazes, and the “scares” in them. Most of the decor consisted of poorly spray-painted plywood boxes, and oh, get ready for the feat of design: foam pool noodles on strings hanging from the ceiling. When it comes to scares, there were none to speak of. Walking through the maze, I wasn’t even startled once. There were just a whole lot of bad costumes, on bad actors, saying bad dialogue. 

     After exiting the mazes, nothing really improved. The scares outside, while at least attempted, were consistently ineffective. One tactic the actors seemed to resort to was screaming directly in guests’ ears. While startling at first, after that it was nothing but a nuisance and painful. It happened once to me, when a man bent down low enough that he was touching me and screamed right next to my ear. 

     The next time was even worse. My mother, already having been shoved twice, had a woman stand directly next to her, get as close to her ear as possible, and scream bloody murder. I don’t know where they even found these “actors”, but I can only guess they were the ones that good haunts (like Knott’s) refused. 

     All in all, Howl-o-Scream was just a waste of time, money, and a drive down to San Diego. I’ve seen haunts in backyards that look to be higher quality than this one. The night ended early, as we left after being at the park for less than an hour. If you are considering going, I would urge you to save the money and put it towards a different experience.  

     If you are looking for a good event that doesn’t cost as much as Knott’s or Universal, I would suggest LA’s Haunted Hayride, whose general admission tickets are only about five more dollars than Seaworld’s, and the quality is leagues better than Howl-o-Scream. As a whole, the event was a major disappointment, and left us with sore shoulders, ringing ears, and a wasted night.

 Christopher Hixson is the brand new drama teacher here at Mission Viejo High School. We are so lucky to have this MVHS alumni and University of Arizona graduate as the man teaching the future actors and actresses that will rise from the MVHS drama department. He hails from Mission Viejo, and he is really happy to be back at this school as a teacher. His passion is performing, and I trust that he is going to bring that to the classroom each and every day.

     After graduating from MVHS, Hixson received his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Musical Theater. Then he proceeded to spend some time in New York pursuing a professional acting career before returning to California and becoming a teacher. He was a teacher for nine years at Los Alisos Intermediate School. When comparing there to here he says that the biggest difference is in maturity levels and the amount of activities and events high schools have as opposed to middle schools. 

     When asked about his inspiration for becoming a teacher, Hixson told me that it was actually his experience here at MVHS that made him want to pursue this career path. His drama teacher played a large role in this decision, he explains that “I have been a performer my whole life, but I had a wonderful drama teacher at MVHS who gave us so many wonderful opportunities and created a community of friendships for me that still lasts today.” His experience then has inspired him to give his own students the same kind of memories. 

     After that I asked why he specifically chose to be a drama teacher. He told me that it was really important for him to be able to give back in a way to the subject that provided him with so much happiness in his youth and now. He also told me that drama was a really interesting subject to teach because of its lack of predictability. Every year is a new journey with new shows being put together as well as new students with new skills and dynamics. 

     I asked about his experience at MVHS so far after coming back as a teacher and he described it as a very positive one thus far, detailing the welcoming atmosphere and supportive environment. He says he feels “so welcomed by staff, students, and the community. Being a drama teacher, you are put in the spotlight because the community comes out to see shows. It’s been wonderful to feel so supported.”

     While Hixson clearly loves being a drama teacher, there are still some difficulties that come with it. Hixson told me the greatest of those difficulties is the time spent away from his wife and children. Drama is a demanding department to be a part of, and there is a large time commitment that comes with being the leader of it. While he manages to find a decent work-life balance, Hixson told me there are some nights and weekends where he doesn’t get to have much family time, and that can be hard. 

     On the other hand, his favorite part of being a drama teacher is watching students perform. He says they are incredibly talented and it’s a lot of fun to see them grow as performers. The range of activities the students perform, from improv to monologues, creates a lot of diversity, making the drama department a very fun class to teach and observe. 

     When asked about the current state of the drama department, Hixson told me everything is going great. The department is currently juggling preparations for ComedySportz and Twelfth Night. Touching on Twelfth Night, it sounds like it will be a show to remember. In case you aren’t aware, Twelfth Night is a comedy written by William Shakesphere including themes of love, mistaken identities, and foolishness. According to Hixson the drama department is “setting the show in modern times, and the students are working very hard to make it a great performance!”

     Hixson told me that the drama department this year is a very welcoming community. After spending so much time together working hard on these performances they become a family of sorts. He says they all lift one another up and support each other in all their endeavors. He says if he had to describe the drama department this year in one word he would say it’s fun. It was a pleasure learning more about Hixson, and after this interview  I would say we have a lot to look forward to from the drama department this year, and I think our new teacher Mr. Hixson is going to play a pretty big role in that.