Bones' Gulch: 2022 Review
Jack Bones Equestrian Center, Castaic, CA
Last year was an interesting year for two of our favorite Santa Clarita home haunts.
Over at The Farm Haunt, it was a case of Third Time's the Charm. After an initial warm-up, yard display only season the year Tim Fowler and his family moved into the neighborhood followed by another yard display year because the Coronavirus pandemic tried to cancel Halloween, The Farm finally got to take guests through Dr. Diablo and the Curse of Castaic Creek via a full-fledged, immaculately themed, wonderfully entertaining walk-through maze.
Meanwhile, across the I-5 freeway and up the neighborhood in Santa Clarita, Beware the Dark Realm checked off a monumental milestone with its 50th anniversary of overall haunting--dating back to when creator Scott Sivley was a child--and unleashed its grandest haunted castle maze yet! But then, as the season ended, a surprise... Beware the Dark Realm was packing up those castle walls and apparently riding off into the sunset.
Tim Fowler wants YOU to come to Bones’ Gulch!
But it seems that these two haunts--along with Greg Packard's Restless Souls Manor up in Palmdale (another longstanding, classic home haunt that is less highlighted in this article because we've just never had a chance to head up that far to visit them) had a little more up their sleeves than what might meet the eye. For they were secretly planning a team-up that would create one amazing all-star haunter cast, and when the big announcement finally came via a special Parks and Cons podcast in February of this year, it was a bombshell of excitement for the haunt community. Bones’ Gulch would be a brand new, professional haunt combining talents of Beware the Dark Realm, The Farm Haunt, and Restless Souls Manor, bringing an all-new, elaborate, immersive Western-themed haunted attraction to the dusty trails of Castaic at the Jack Bones Equestrian Center, benefitting the L.A. Sheriff's Department Museum.
For the past five months, Tim, Scott, Greg, their haunter crew, and some of their haunter friends all across Southern California have braved the sweltering Santa Clarita Valley heat to construct a veritable settlement from the ground up. Meeting early in the morning while the temperatures were still cool and working until the early afternoon when the heat could no longer be bearable, this band of incredible creators has conjured up an Old West ghost town with a menagerie of businesses and scenes and curious characters. They've battled the searing heat, threats from a wildfire, and even an inconveniently-timed bout of COVID to bring this incredible production to life.
Bones’ Gulch features an eerie ghost town wrapped in cheese cloth cobwebs reminiscent of a more famous Ghost Town further south in Buena Park.
As the story goes, Peter "Jack" Ossos was a prospector in the late 1800s who headed out west in search of rumored natural riches that might be found in the hills of the Golden State. First landing in Los Angeles, Jack Ossos made his way north until he stumbled upon the town of Bones Gulch. This community seemed like a quiet little establishment, but Jack preferred the solitude of the hills, where he retreated and set upon looking for his fortune.
It seems that he was successful, because he would often come into town for supplies and pay with the precious metal. But as time passed, the townsfolk saw less and less of him. At the same time, local disappearances started to occur--usually of more forgettable folks that most wouldn't notice--but eventually, the slow regularity couldn't help but be discerned. It's said that Jack Ossos may have made some deal with the devil to keep his luck with his treasure mining, but of unsurprisingly, that deal required payment in blood.
There are sinister characters at Bones’ Gulch.
It’s best to keep a wary eye in these parts.
This October, guests are invited to Bones’ Gulch to find out for themselves what's really been happening. Upon arrival, they'll enter the town first, where a foggy pallor seems to have settled upon the environment, and shadowy and mysterious local citizens prowl the premises with sinister intent. If they can elude these eerie figures, they'll find some fun peek-in's in the vein of Knott's Berry Farm's Ghost Town, with mostly static scenes of Old West shopkeeping life. An arc around the town takes guests past that mine that some have been whispering out--its flashing, red hue taking on a warning not to enter. Those who want to see more can find a queue on the opposite side of the grounds from the entrance, leading to the main attraction of Bones’ Gulch, the actual haunted maze.
Night falls and fog billows at Bones’ Gulch.
One of the many peek-in’s at Bones’ Gulch, similar to Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Town.
If the ambiance had been a little gloomy and suggestive of something ominous before, the maze is where the spirited spooks shine brightest. It starts with an impressive two-story hotel facade that looks straight out of an old mining town, lit in a supernatural blue hue. Guests can encounter the local innkeeper before they enter the formal maze, who has plenty of tales to regale about all the strange folks and odd stories that have wafted in and out of Bones Gulch. From there, the experience takes guests through the town within the town--a collection of various less-than-classy establishments where some unknown malevolence seems to be afoot.
And here, a town within a town! Townception!
Guests passing through will find themselves touring the local saloon, patronizing the general store, visiting the local undertaker, encountering a butcher's shop with uncannily fresh meat, meeting the marshall, and even stopping by the town jail, where the local drunk might be more truthful about some disturbing tales of what's happening outside of town then one might believe from a drunk. Each of these locations has its owner or caretaker who makes up a colorful crew--and not just because the maze is bathed in ghostly hues of red and blue and green and magenta. Some are friendly and offer warnings of where to avoid straying, while others are much less so, muttering quiet threats and portents of doom. But they're all definitely intriguing fellows.
And they were doing so well with the mine deathless streak too!
Bones’ Gulch believes in fresh protein. Just don’t question where that protein came from.
The marshall has been investigating the cases of missing citizens.
A prisoner in the jail is anything but reassuring.
Then it's time to leave town and head into a sandy canyon, barren and desolate. There is little life here, just skeletons and remnants of what couldn't survive. But here and there, some activity--odd figures who seem to drag along and ramble as though they were undead, or menacing hill dwellers who have a disquieting appetite for uncomfortable intimacy. It might seem like a retreat back to town would be in order, but the ahead only leads to those dreaded mines everyone seems to be talking about--the mines that Jack Ossos struck rich, and apparently the chambers where sacrificial ceremonies seem to take place to claim new souls to satisfy Ossos' demonic debt. And far from being barren from excavations, it seems like there are other souls within the caverns--and they don't seem friendly. Is there a way out, or are guests trapped here forever?
Out into the gulch, which is eerily colored and mysterious.
There are some ominous and shady folks out here.
And it goes even more perilous inside the mines!
Of course, since this is a haunted maze (and a relatively family-friendly one, despite the sinister storyline and cartoonishly gory decor and theming), guests do manage to escape out the red, flashing mine shaft they passed by earlier, though not before one final scare. As with most of the maze, the frights are startling but not particularly intense, and the end actually feels like a quiet parting instead of a climactic, high-adrenaline finale.
That's not the point of the Bones’ Gulch experience, though. Instead, the biggest draw of the maze--even above the incredible environment that the Bones’ Gulch crew has constructed--is the entertaining interactions that guests can have with the various characters of the story as they make their way through this lengthy and well-spaced out haunted experience. Drawing from a very evident love for Knott's Berry Farm--both its Scary Farm influence and its Ghost Town Alive! charm--Bones’ Gulch allows its scareactors to stick to their scripted lines or banter and improvise guest interactions as each one progresses, providing different and sometimes hysterical interplay between guest and talent or even each other. The improvisation is most evident in the saloon, where the two ladies play up their salacious after-hours careers. The prisoner in the jail cell also offers spirited lines. The General Store owner offers humorous anecdotes about her not-quite-pet rodents and amusingly dismissive distractions from the roachy infestation that's gotten into the store. The undertaker juxtaposes informative biology lessons while she's busy disassembling the biology of the cadaver right in front of her. This adds up to a terrific haunt experience, because even if guests aren't reactive toward a jump scare or sudden startle, they can still derive entertainment from the dark comedy unfolding before them.
Gwen from Shiver Haunt reprises the role of sassy, hilarious, inappropriate female period character that she played least year at The Farm Haunt.
The General Store does not have a problem with rats, no matter what anyone says… or sees.
The undertaker’s office apparently a hands-on learning space too!
The theming and set design of Bones’ Gulch is also quite an amazing sight to behold. The dark and umbral nature of the town around the maze might trick guests into thinking the visual appeal of Bones’ Gulch is less than what one might expect from the caliber of the Beware the Dark Realm, Farm Haunt, and Restless Souls Manor talents, but this is a red herring. The maze itself is dazzling, richly themed, beautifully lit, and sturdily constructed. Even looking at the construction joint-work detailing imparts admiration, because the flats and facades are well-braced but not obtrusively so, and the different settings crafted within the Bones’ Gulch maze create a truly immersive atmosphere that feels very much like a spooky version of Ghost Town Alive! There are also plenty of Easter eggs for fans of the individual home haunts and recognizable elements of each haunt included in the sets. Bones’ Gulch is most certainly richly layered with photogenic goodness!
Fans of Beware the Dark Realm, The Farm Haunt, and Restless Souls Manor may recognize certain repurposed sets amidst a plethora of new, custom-built facades and structures.
While the three founding home haunters might receive the spotlight as the formal creators of Bones’ Gulch, this attraction is also proof that it takes a village, and over the past half year, the team has received generous help from a variety of haunters across Southern California with assistance in construction; audio, lighting, and effects; and acting. David and Gwen from Shiver Haunt are wildly entertaining as the prisoner and one half of the saloon girls duo. Jamie from Samhain's Lot has assisted with the construction and haunts the stables. Scott Sivley's son, Christian, is one of the "street monsters" that roam the outside. Greg Packard plays the marshall inside the maze. I also saw Jacob from The Pirates Cave help with the build over the summer. And I'm sure I'm missing plenty more credits.
The results, though speak for themselves. Bones’ Gulch is a mesmerizingly themed and engagingly acted haunted attraction that mixes maze and theater and lore all into one. Its stellar pedigree has launched this first-year pro haunt immediately into the pantheon of this season's haunts, exceeding the already high expectations of an event created by the minds of three of Southern California's best home haunts. Scott, Greg, and Tim have led the creation of a deeply satisfying haunted attraction that offers its moments of scares but makes sure to accommodate the tolerance of guests of all haunt sensibilities. Simply put, it's the brilliant synergy of a passionate and immensely talented group of haunters who have come together to create something chilling and bizarre and ghoulishly wonderful for the community.
Bones’ Gulch is a can’t-miss, and we definitely hope it does well this year and returns next year!
Bones’ Gulch is located at the Jack Bones Equestrian Center, 26983 Tapia Canyon Rd, Castaic, CA 91384, in the Santa Clarita Valley. Guests coming from the LA/OC metropolitan area should take the I-5 north, exiting Parker Road / Ridge Route Road and turning right to go eastbound before making an immediate right on Castaic Road and following the street as it turns left into Tapia Canyon Road. A right turn at the first intersection to stay on Tapia Canyon Road takes them toward the parking area, which is marked by a sheriff's car parked in the middle of the road to guide guests to the dirt lot. From there, a staff member will direct guests up a dusty sloped path back up to a street intersection, and the haunt is just up the street from the dead-ending leg of the tee.
Bones’ Gulch continues its run every Saturday this month, from 6:00-10:00pm, plus one Sunday operating evening on October 30th. It is not open on Halloween night. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online or on site. There is also a free, family-friendly daytime event on Sunday, October 30th. Bones Gulch might be located more remote from the heart of Southern California than most haunts, but its quality and enjoyability make this a can't-miss haunt this season. If you can, get out there and give them plenty of support!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
