The popularity of Nightmare at the Rotorua Museum shone through during three dark nights of orchestrated terror.
With fully booked walks from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 August, Nightmare at the Museum returned as a sell-out success.
Rotorua Museum event coordinator Kathy Nicholls said, "the event could not have gone
any better and getting Nightmare back as an event of huge anticipation required a major effort, made that much easier by the fantastic, creative force of Layla Robinson of WildSide Promotions".
"To build anticipation a storyline was promoted on social media through the Rotorua Museum Facebook page and a dedicated Nightmare at the Museum Facebook page, which also provided a platform for participants to share their feedback."
Kathryn Bloor, commented via Facebook, wWell done all the spooks, ghouls, zombies and frighteners. I'm normally quite reserved at the Museum. Not tonight! Screamed my lungs out."
Other Facebook comments included Sally Unka, "brilliant, AMAZING, chilly, fun, scary night....fun, fun, fun thank you for an awesome night."
And Tamara Ward, "tonight was amazing. It was very well done! Thank you all very much. I was so scared. The cinema room was my favourite!"
As a joint effort between Rotorua Museum and WildSide Promotions, Nightmare at the Museum was a horror walk designed to thrill and torment. Over three nights, 567 tickets were sold for 101 horror walks, supported by 50 volunteers and $2,000 raised for two local charities - The Children's Art House and Rotorua Youth Centre.
Ally Rogers from the Children's Art House said, "we are thrilled to be one of the youth organisations who benefit from the generosity of this event. We were blown away by the dedication and commitment of the army of volunteers, who braved freezing temperatures and driving rain to put on stellar performances."
This year's Nightmare surpassed the Museums expectations with record participants, more than double the 2013 Nightmare event.
Layla Robinson of WildSide Promotions, puts part of the success of this year's event down to "the passion of the cast and crew. They were excited, and for the most part experienced, having participated in previous Nightmare at the Museum or other horror walks like Corn Evil, Spookers and House of Horrors."
Rotorua Museum director, Stewart Brown said, "our intention with Nightmare at the Museum was to engage with local youth and offer an event not usually available here in Rotorua. I think we did that. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and that's testament to the skill and passion of all our volunteers and staff."