Haunted cave coming for Halloween: Interactive haunted adventure takes place at Cumberland Caverns

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

With the Jaycees Haunted House no longer in operation, the scariest game in town this Halloween season is sure to be “The Search for Carol: a Haunted Adventure” at Cumberland Caverns.

The brainchild of tour guide Scott Vaughn, “The Search for Carol” promises to be more than an ordinary, run-of-the-mill haunted cave.

“It’s going to be an interactive adventure – a rescue mission – where people are put inside a whole different world where they’ll try to find a little girl while encountering werewolves, vampires and cannibals,” said Vaughn, noting the production will be much more elaborate than the spook caves of years’ past at Cumberland Caverns. “It will be something different and unique, like nothing people have ever seen before.”

The interactive adventure is centered around “Carol,” a 7-year-old girl who becomes lost in the cave. Participants in the adventure assume the role of members of a search party who must find the missing girl, while at the same time keeping ahead of various ghouls chasing them. The adventure will begin as soon as participants enter Cumberland Caverns property, with police and rescue squad workers in fabricated crime scenes, and end approximately 30 minutes later deep in the cave.

The candlelight tour will be guided. Along the route there will be two safety points where anyone who does not wish to continue can be taken out of the cave.

With experience in movie making, screen writing and make-up, Vaughn said he has enjoyed the chance to create “The Search for Carol.”

“It’s my first opportunity to apply the skills I’ve learned and I’m trying to make it as good as it can be for the people of Warren and surrounding counties,” he said.

“The Search for Carol: A Haunted Adventure” will be held on the evenings of Oct. 18, 19, 20 and Oct. 25, 26, 27. Tours will begin hourly between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door and will cost $10 for adults and $5 for children 6 through 12. Children 5-and-under will be admitted free. Parents are encouraged to accompany their children due to the frightening nature of the tour.

For more information, call Cumberland Caverns at 668-4396.