The Pirates Cave - The Curse of Calico Jack: 2021 Review
The Pirates Cave, Orange, CA
In relation to its overall lifetime as a haunt, I haven't really been following The Pirates Cave for that long--only three years. It was three years ago that I first visited this home haunt on Halloween night after having found it on the SoCal Haunt List. Three years is less than the number of years of high school, the length of a presidential term, the time between two Olympics, and even the average lifespan of all but the least successful Knott's Scary Farm maze. While it's not an insignificant amount of time, it's also not a tremendously long passage either.
Welcome to Larson & Son Mining Co. Pay attention to the spiel before entering. Not only are there important rules, but it’s also really entertaining!
Prior to my first Pirates Cave visit in 2018, I had never even heard of this Orange County spooky production--located so close to my own house--even though the Larsons had been putting up a pirates-themed Halloween display at their residence since they moved in, back in 1999. That initial visit left me impressed enough to visit again the following year. And then again last year. With each year's improvements and innovations, The Pirates Cave quickly shot up the ranks of my favorite home haunts to entrench itself as a must-visit destination each Halloween season. And to trace its meteoric rise from a very solid, intimate home haunt into one of the very best residential haunted houses in all of Southern California is to look back on how far it's come in just the past three years.
Three years ago, Westcoaster's first article on the Pirates Cave focused on creator Dave Larson and how his passion for Halloween and a timely buccaneer present from his wife led to a pirates-themed Halloween creation that slowly grew from humble yard display into full-fledged haunted maze walkthrough. "Back then" (in 2018), the Pirates' Cave was an elaborately done, cozy haunt spanning the front yard, providing a short and sweet and relatively family-friendly scare experience that delighted the neighborhood over Halloween weekend. The endeavor was a close-knit family affair, involving Dave, his wife, some dear friends and neighbors, and Dave's two children--including his son, Jacob.
Both inside and out, the undead pirates of the Pirates Cave roam.
This year’s maze has taken on a distinct mining feel.
2018 Jacob Larson was a freshman at nearby Villa Park High School, helping his dad build the haunt and scareacting in it, but generally playing a supporting role, because, frankly, that's what most fourteen year-old haunters do. They help. But the story of the Pirates Cave's evolution and all this exposition about three years' time is really a story about young Jacob Larson's evolution as a haunted house designer. In just three short years, Jacob--now a senior at VPHS--has seen his Halloween passion grow leaps and bounds, leading him to learn and embrace graphic design, visual media and technology integration, theatrical sound and lighting programming, and dynamic set element construction. Jacob's prodigious mastery of these elements of modern-day haunting have rocketed him right among the very top list of pre-eminent young haunters in Southern California, joining other names we've mentioned in the past like Sam Kellman, Ben Conway, Aurora Persichetti and Kyle Warner, Zion Fenwick, and David Coleman.
Complete with a convincing mining elevator that goes 400 ft into the depths of the sea!
The 2021 Pirates Cave Haunt is a culmination and manifestation of everything that Jacob and his dad, Dave, have learned and implemented over the past few seasons. Entitled "The Curse of Calico Jack," this year's haunt combines the theatrical show moments using digital / projected media and live actors (introduced in last year's haunted show) with the traditional walk-through maze elements of prior years. It’s an integration of haunted show with haunted house. And the result crafts an incredible production of mind-blowing sophistication, complexity, narrative richness, detail, and immersion. Here is a level of quality that would be awe-inspiring at any commercial haunt, let alone an "amateur" residential spook place.
There, at the ocean floor, excavators have uncovered a mysterious chest said to be full of treasure… or cursed!
After taking up only the front yard and garage in previous years and being limited to its really well put-together haunted show last year, the Pirates Cave has elevated its footprint around three sides of the Larson property. This year, guests are taken into the depths of an undersea excavation operation run by Larson & Son Mining Co., where they uncover a mysterious chest and discover the horrific curse of the dreaded pirate, Calico Jack. Along the way, guests tour an extensive mine shaft, go down a bumpy and rocky mine elevator, and flee the fiery wrath of the undead pirate.
The integration of technology, theatrics, lighting, sound, physical sets, and scareactor timing is absolutely superb and legitimately rivals and even surpasses the caliber of many professional haunts. The growth of the haunt, the lessons learned from last year's haunted show, and the expanded embrace of more technical mechanical fabrications all combine to enhance the haunt experience. The mine elevator is a prominent highlight, convincingly simulating a jostling descent into the depths of the ocean via the use of pneumatics and airbags for the elevator carriage and a large flat screen with custom animation for the illusion of movement. But there are other surprises within the maze that also make use of moving parts and call to mind inspiration from professional mazes like The Depths at Knott's Scary Farm and the Miner's Revenge component of Reign of Terror.
Welp, looks like we’re going with cursed.
The fiery effects of the mine in the second half of the maze are incredible.
The way the Larsons make use of their maze footprint is ingenious, controlling the lighting and setting their maze environments to different programmed theatrical functions to make an semi-out-and-back layout seem twice the length that it actually is. Subtle draping and furnishing, expert control of illumination through DMX lighting, and the incorporation of an enveloping soundscape carefully choreographed to the pre-planned walking course all work together to transform the Larson home in typical, suburban Orange County into a thoroughly convincing underwater mine.
There are also plenty of wonderful details to enjoy throughout the maze, even if the frenetic pace of the second half makes that challenging! The mining signage is copied from a real mine that the Larsons explored during a summer road trip, with Jacob recreating the signs in Photoshop. Authentic old artifacts from Jacob’s late grandmother add to the lost-in-time feel of the mine. Elements like a mine signal bell and the mine shaft posts and various mining tools and bins are all custom fabricated, not purchased.
Just when you think you’ve escaped, Calico Jack releases the Kraken!!
Of course, all the eye candy and impressive sets don't help a haunt if it can't deliver on the scares, and The Pirates Cave shines well in this category too. This maze is still somewhat family friendly, refraining from the hard scares or the graphic gore prominent at a Halloween Horror Nights or Knott's Scary Farm. But there are plenty of startle moments cleverly built into the maze. Although the initial foray into the mine and down the mining elevator is relatively uneventful--aside from the lightly turbulent elevator ride--the action starts to pick up once guests encounter the undersea miners who have discovered a mysterious chest. Unfazed by lessons promoted in movies such as SE7EN, the miners decide to uncover what's in the box, only to be set upon by Calico Jack and his spirited swashbuckling army.
The ghoulish pursuit just doesn’t end.
From there, it's a frantic race to escape the fearsome ghost pirate. Undead pirates and sea creatures seem to strike from every corner and hidden crevice, popping out for light startles. The energy and timing of the scareactors helps reinforce the excitement of the second half. In addition, the hit Kraken scene from 2019 makes its return as a false climax before the actual last room unveils a fantastic final scare utilizing a laser vortex tunnel and some conveniently placed lighting. By the time guests have made their way back outside to the safe surroundings of the city of Orange, their exhilaration at both their escape and the fantastic experience is evident in their smiling and laughing faces.
In the end, the lesson is clear: don’t even look like you might be stealing cursed treasure from an evil, supernatural pirate!
The Pirates Cave is a spectacular force of a home haunt that showcases the fruits of copious behind-the-scenes planning, learning, testing, and execution. Some of the best moving props and effects are surprisingly simple, and the complicated effects are wonderfully well crafted. The high level that this home haunt has achieved in a very short amount of time is a testament to the efforts of the Larsons. But the professional level polish that this haunted has elevated itself to is particularly thanks to Jacob's dive into understanding and executing the elements related to lighting, sound, media, and theatrical programming. This is a maze that would feel completely at home at Knott's or Universal and even exceeds the production values of Fright Fest or Dark Harbor. And as sensationalist and outlandish as that may sound, it's the honest truth.
Dave and Jacob Larson have a ton to be proud of, especially after this year’s masterpiece!
We still have a fair number of home haunts still to visit this year, but we can already say without a doubt that the Pirates Cave Haunt is among the very best of them. The excellence in all categories, put forth by Dave and Jacob and supported by a fantastic network of helpful family members, friends, and neighbors, makes this haunted attraction shine brightly as a beacon among this season's best haunts.
The Pirates Cave is located at 2548 E Garfield Ave, Orange, CA 92867 and continues its run these next two weekends, October 22-24 and 29-31, running 6:30 - 10:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 6:30 - 9:00pm on Sundays. Admission is free (they do accept donations on site and donations via Venmo), and no advanced reservations are required. Guests who want to skip the line can make an $8 donation to access the Express Queue. The Pirates Cave is also featuring a no-scare, lights-on Kids Candy Hunt from 5:00 - 6:00pm on the same nights of their regular operation.
Regardless of how or which date you come, definitely make it a point to visit. This haunt is worth the drive from anywhere in SoCal and is a can't-miss for this season!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
