Halloween for keeps: 27 year-round worldwide haunted and horror attractions *

* (restored)

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Conjure Haunted Attraction (Birmingham, Alabama)
Founded by Mambo Baptise, Alan Waugh and Jake Higginbotham, Conjure Haunted Attraction is an upcoming haunted house open year-round. The Conjure Haunted Attraction is an immersive production that seeks to haunt, frighten, and thrill. “We have 50,000 square feet of scare,” Mambo shares. Around every terrifying corner is a new hair-raising scene to revel in or flee from. And you can go at your own pace. “The experience can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how fast you run,” Mambo jokes. Visitors begin the experience by entering a home, assuming the role of kids playing with an ouija board, and then suffering the consequences. But meddling with the Ouija board comes at a price. Visitors will make their way through room after terrifying room, doomed to suffer the horrifying events of those who died. And the best part? It’s a non-profit benefitting Andrew’s Place, an organization dedicated to helping LGBTQIA+ survivors of domestic abuse.

 

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Ghost Ship (Morey’s Piers, Wildwood)
Ghost Ship is a horror attraction on the Mariner’s Landing Pier at Morey’s Piers amusement park. It is the most recent and only attraction that uses real actors within it, has spectators walk around the attraction and ride in the cart. It is covers 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) of the pier, and lasts 15 minutes; making one of the biggest and longest running attractions in the park. The ride is intended for kids 10 and up due to its intensity ; such as grotesque medical experiments, blood, radiation scars, facial deformities, and the involvement of a claustrophobia room. While a strict no running policy is enforced, the attraction does have a series of “sissy exits” placed throughout the attraction if the ride becomes too intense.

 

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Hotel Krüeger (Parc d’attractions Tibidabo)
And we went in the Kruger Hotel which was freakin scary! There were a ton of rooms and it had real people dressed up in costume from all the major horror movies, there was freddie, chuckie, the girl from excorsist, hannibal, texas chainsaw man. I actually peed myself from fear.

 

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Hotel Gasten (Liseberg, Gothenburg)
In a small hotel, near the Liseberg Harbour, strange things are going on. Mysterious people seem to be living inside the old building. What they are doing there and why, no one seems to know. The only thing is – that those who check in at the Gasten Ghost Hotel can never be sure that they will ever check out again…

 

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Mukuro-ya (Yomiuri Land, Kanagawa)
This is the attraction that walk in the cursed inn. It seems to appear spirit of actress who died in accident at “Mukuro-ya”Inn. Occasionally it seems to hear her sad voice from phonograph. We were given the mission to stop the phonograph to release a pathetic her soul.We walked the first floor and the second floor of the long corridor in the haunted house of retro atmosphere. The inn was very warm, and the scent of cypress. Mission was successful, but it was disappointing haunted house was not very scary.

 

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Dr. Frankenstein’s Haunted Castle (Indiana Beach)
Dr. Frankenstein’s Haunted Castle was voted the world’s #1 walkthrough attraction in 2006. When it is all said and done, you will have walked through dark hallways, a scary prop around every corner. You will also see colorful and scary skeletons hanging inside of cages. The hanging skeletons, and even chests with skeletal heads that pop out at you. You will also see cages of eerier screaming going all around you. The wall are dark and painted with all types of scary figures, you will hear screams of small girls and the halls will be infest with fake rats. You can actually see rat tails protruding out from underneath the walls. They even have a skeleton band called the “Shock Rattle Band”. This ride will positively make your head spin. This ride has been at the park since 1983 (The original castle ), and as far as I know there have been no incidents or any accidents that were reported just small bumps and bruises.

 

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Spookslot (Efteling, Kaatsheuvel)
Long, long ago, when in times of storm and high water the Maas could still reach the foot of this fortress, the fourth Viscount of Kaatsheuvel Capelle lived in this castle. He collected fairy tales and legends from around the world and … practiced magic. He could make the flowers sing and the walls dance. There was only one obstacle in his life, the wicked witch Visculamia. She lived under lock and key in nearby Druinen. She wanted to take his tales away from him. One day, when the witch was on the prowl disguised as an untempered young maiden, she was caught by the gardener of castle ‘De Efteling. By the three judges of the Duchy she was condemned to the stake in the eastern wing of the palace. With her last breath she spoke a curse in which the Viscount was doomed forever to find his last story …: his daughter, Esmeralda. And every time the water of the Maas rises, the enchanted crow of Visculamia strikes the clock at twelve. Then the corpse of the gardener who betrayed her dangles from the bell cord again. The judges who condemned her, wail from the attic window and in the catacombs the count chases his daughter, without ever finding her… While the flowers sing and the walls dance. The witch’s throws her curses into the sarcophagus where the remains of the Count lie trapped. On the south hill of the yard his daughter will find no peace. And this will continue for many a year, until the song of flowers the owls’ eyes doth close, lulls the evil crow, and the curse is broken ….

 

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Pasaje Del Terror (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)
The Pasaje Del Terror is an interactive and realistic horror experience. Interactive walk through horror show with live actors. The most famous characters from the horror genre come to life within the confides of The Pasaje Del Terror to produce a unique, terrifying venture where the public become …. THE VICTIM!

 

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Vampire Infestation (Six Flags Mexico)

 

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Fantastic Spooky House (China Dinosaurs Park)
Here is ‘walk-through’ footage of the Fantastic Spooky House, at China Dinosaurs Park, Changzhou, China. They really love their horror walk-through attractions in China! This one had the odd actor or two inside the attraction….making it extra fantastic.

 

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Mortem Manor (Kissimmee)
Orlando / Kissimmee FL’s only year-round haunted house with two floors of scares and thrills. Featuring state-of-the-art special effects, animatronics and live actors. If that’s not enough, hear the sounds, smell the scents and feel the movements of being Buried Alive in the Burial Simulator!

 

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Phobia (Mirabilandia, Savio)
Are you ready to experience absolute terror? Explore pure fear and face frightening experiences in a world inhabited by sinister entities. They will scare you beyond all limits, all along your way. You have been warned…

 

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La Maison Rouge: Labyrinthe de la terreur (La Ronde, Montreal)
La Ronde turns the fear factor up a notch by offering a new and haunting attraction. Visitors of the Maison Rouge — Labyrinth of Terror will be terrified at every turn. The sound of the terrifying laughter inside will freeze the blood of those who dare to visit, and send them running for their lives. Minimum height requirements: 1.37 meters or 54 inches. This attraction is not recommended for children under 13 years old.

 

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Ripleys Horror Hospital (Royal Garden, Pattaya)
Experience the horrors of the Haunted House, a place of terror full of disfigured characters, blood soaked corpses and blood smears on the walls. Scary, monstrous sounds emerge from everywhere. Venture into the Haunted House and expect the worst at every turn. Walk through the house surrounded by darkness, when a sudden light flash lights up the place and you see scary hands reaching for you from their dungeons. Walking through the dark corridors of the house you will see the dungeons where blood soaked creatures perish. Scary encounters with zombie like creatures and disfigured corpses await after every corner. In the darkness of the horror house you’ll meet scary figures like a man with a blood covered face carrying an axe, corpses lying in coffins, people locked up in cages and a blood-soaked man with his legs cut off. Get a real scare when walking dead rising out of their coffins attack you. Scary, loud noises come from the darkness. Get chased out of the house by a chainsaw wielding maniac.

 

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Haunted Mayfield Manor (Galveston)
Dr. Mayfield welcomes you to his home where you will meet ghosts and ghouls; you may encounter the strange shadow people that dwell in our attraction. BEWARE! The young doctor is quite insane so his actions can be unpredictable! Visits to the manor are continuous during operating hours. Upgraded tickets allow you to get to the head of the line during busy times. You may buy your tickets online or at our box office at the Manor. Haunted Mayfield Manor is located on the Strand at 23rd Street next door to its sister attraction Pirates! Legends of the Gulf Coast.

 

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Kammokuja (Linnanmäki, Helsinki)
The frightening 3D-adventure will bring you up close and personal with horrors ranging from snakes to Hannibal Lecter. Don’t get lost in the maze! Riders must be at least 120 cm tall. Kammokuja has no wheelchair access. Recommended for children over 12 years of age.

 

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Pirate’s Cove (Waldameer, Erie)
Waldameer park has announced plans to eliminate all traces of urine from the “dark ride” known as the “Pirate’s Cove” by 2017. “This is quite an ambitious project for us” said park spokesman Joey Bagadonuts. “for both time and cost, this project is the equal to the new wave pool. “Not all patrons are in favor though. “For me, it’s removing memories” said longtime park enthusiast Glen McDevers. I first urinated in the Pirate’s cove in 1974 when I was 8 years old on a school picnic”. McDevers, now living in Pittsburgh, remarked “Every summer I bring my family up to Erie and smelling that urine is like stepping in a slighty fetid time machine.”

 

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Horror House (Movieland Studios Italy)
Two years ago, I was lucky enough to experience a haunted house with live actors in Tibidabo. At the time I remember thinking that actors made the attraction much more interesting, although it would be fair to say that the Tibidabo attraction wasn’t particularly frightening; rather, it was a cute attraction suitable for the entire family. Movie Park has gone for the other extreme with the Horror House, building what is without question the most terrifying walk through attraction I have ever experienced anywhere. The park brochure proudly proclaims their success; “In 2004, 33% of our visitors did not even see all of the attraction”. It is not hard to see why. Groups of eight guests at a time enter the house by descending a floor in a lift. The staff have the group forming a human chain with one lucky person leading the way through near darkness. I had strategically managed to locate myself in third place in the chain, with Gordon leading the way under serious protest. He did try to bow out of this role but I would not allow it, as the next person in line would have been eleven year old Luke and this would not have been fair at all, as he was clearly having difficulties even in second place. On more than one occasion he jumped out of his skin, and Gordon complained later that the grip on his shoulders had gotten tighter as the attraction progressed. Many of the scenes within were references to famous movies, such as Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, Psycho, Friday the 13th, and more. Actors played their part in developing the experience, with some grizzly specimens jumping out to scare the hapless victims just trying to escape. Others, including one covered in blood, chased us through some of the scenes. It is to our credit that the whole group made it to the end, but it was not easy, and some club members of more nervous dispositions elected to sit out the attraction altogether.

 

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Hocus Pocus Hall (Chessington World of Adventures)
Naughty goblins are running riot in Hocus Pocus Hall at Chessington! Put on your 3D specs and brave the haunted happenings in this crazy mansion filled with wacky magic and mischief.

 

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Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear (Fuji-Q, Japan)
A rendering of “Fear” so terrifying that those who experience it are beyond hope of being saved The longest and scariest haunted house in history. All rooms and corridors redesigned! Also with new rooms including “The Quarantine Ward,” “The CT Scan Room,” “The Diagnostic Exam Room,” “The Third Operating Room,” “The New Mortuary,” “The Second Long Corridor,” and “The Bacteria Lab.” With the longest route in history at 900 m and lasting over 60 minutes long! The level of “labyrinthine” twists increased with a complete renewal of the entire route, and you will be gripped with a terror that you’re “never going to get out alive…”

 

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Raven’s Grin Inn (Mount Carroll)
The Ravens Grin is not your typical haunted attraction; it is so much more. At this event, you won’t find the typical things that you commonly see at other October attractions like spinning vortex tunnels, chainsaws, and strobe lights. Over the years, the structure itself, which was built in 1870, has been everything from an Oldsmobile dealership to a brothel. On their trek through the Raven’s Grin, customers wind their way through coffin shaped hallways and underground passages, encountering a unique collection of interesting artwork and displays along the way. There are also a couple of fun slides inside the house, which the Ravens Grin has become famous for. The slide in the “Bad Dreams Bedroom”, which is quite an intense experience, stretches from the top floor of the house, down to the stone-walled wine cellar, 24 feet underground! It is definitely a thrilling ride and it’s worth going to the Ravens Grin just for that experience alone.

 

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Fright Walk (Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk)
Located on the Boardwalk, you can see and hear Fright Walk as you walk up walkway 2 from Beach Street. They have eerie music pulsing, red lights shining, a fog machine at full Pacifica levels, and characters roaming around in front. The Boardwalk lends itself nicely to this atmosphere, as it is a little eerie and desolate at night. It’s times like these that your really get the feeling that they chose the right location for the film Lost Boys. More than once I looked around to see if Kiefer Sutherland was lurking about, or maybe that was just wishful thinking. We entered Fright Walk in our own group and did not run into any other parties inside – which I always enjoy. Fright Walk has a fun-house feel to it as you roam through corridors and rooms, and at one point, halls of full-length mirrors. Apparently, I am very scary to look at, as I scared myself no less than five times by turning a corner and coming face to face with my reflection in the mirror. I’d step back to go the other way, only to be confronted and scared by myself again in another mirror! This is an old, standard fun-house trick, but it shows the old standards really works here. Fright Walk has lots of simple but effective scares and is more animatronic-driven than actor driven. And while the animatronics were nicely done, we would have liked to have seen less of the mechanics of them (as we’ve said about other haunts) and better timing of when they “go off” so we’re not passed them when they do their thing.

 

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The Walking Dead Experience (Parque de Atracciones de Madrid)

 

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The Forbidden Caves (Bobbejaanland, Lichtaart)
Bobbejaanland Theme Park in Lichtaart, Belgium, has just premiered The Forbidden Caves, a high-tech 3D media-based thrill ride created and produced by Super 78 Studios. Only the second “Immersion Tunnel” attraction in the world, The Forbidden Caves takes guests on an action-packed subterranean adventure filled with supernatural creatures. Visitors to the Southeast Asian rainforests of Khyonesia travel deep underground to join “Jasper DuBois’ Amazing Cave Tours.” They soon discover that they are trespassing into an enchanted domain, encountering giant insects, stone statues come to life, and a colossal final “guardian” standing tall over a lava-filled chasm.

 

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Pierce County Asylum (Tacoma)
Of the haunts I’ve been to this is one of the better ones. I don’t get scared so I won’t rate it on my sense of fear. However, I had a couple of teenage boys with me & one of them screamed like a girl almost the entire time. The asylum was elaborately planned out & the rooms were theatre-worthy. Haunted hollow was also really good. There was no excessive strobe use which was great because I get migraines, & the use of animatronics was both amusing & well thought out. The intro to Haunted hollow is one of the best I’ve seen. The detail put in to each room justifies the cost you pay for the tickets.

 

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Spökhuset (Gröna Lund, Stockholm)
Situated in Gröna Lund is the Spökhuset. It is a haunted house and it is definately the scariest I have ever been in. It is very dark so you hardly see a thing. Real people come scare you from behind, and at some point it feels quite terrifying. This place is not really for chickens, since quite often people come out of the house crying!!

 

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Nightmare Chambers (OWA Parks & Resort, Alabama)
Located in Downtown OWA, Nightmare Chambers is the haunted house attraction meant to give you the spooks every time you find the courage. Nightmare Chambers includes four twisted scare zones that change every season to give you chills year-round with bloodcurdling shrieks that will leave the fearless frozen. From its early days in Fairhope, Alabama, and being voted the scariest haunted house in the region, Nightmare Chambers has found its permanent home at OWA Parks & Resort to give you endless frights and screams.

 

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p.s. Hey. Well, I’m back! However, I’m quite jet lagged and very sleep deprived this morning, so my half of our reunion is going to be pretty hazy, but hopefully I’ll be closer to my alert self again by Monday. ** James Bennett, Thanks, James. It was an excellent trip. I hope your October passed similarly. ** jay, Hi. Me too obviously. Oh, hm, the Flatsos … I suppose so, yeah. With a dash of cosplay, pet play, transformationalism, impact play, etc. mixed in. Assuming your birthday has passed, I hope your friends managed to infect you with their enthusiasm. I’m with you. Birthdays are just unpleasant signposts for me. Cool about Horatio. So far so good. Thanks a lot about the reading, from me and on Derek’s behalf. I usually don’t like doing readings, but that one was kind of wild and amazing. Oh, wow, your Sluts intonation! Crazy, thank you so much. I’ll go listen once I’ ve had at least some solid sleep, maybe even tomorrow. Thank you! Everyone, jay has begun a project of reading ‘The Sluts’ aloud — not an easy task — and if you want to listen it, here’s where you can do it. Great to see you! ** Dominik, Hi!!!! Thanks, pal, and awesome to see you, obviously. How was your Halloween assuming you managed to squeeze one in. The haunts were great, but I’ll wait to talk about them when I have actual brainpower. Love hoping you’ll be someone who’s as much into his scraggly little moustache as he is, G. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. It was great to get to see you, even briefly, and to meet your dude. I hope you had a blast in NYC. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, bud! Very nice about Matty, although I suppose that’s old news by now. How’s the writing class going? That’s really great news! The Dodgers won the World Series while I was in LA, and everyone there were losing their minds with joy, and that was pretty to be around. And I’m excited to have two, count ’em two PTs to help me reawaken myself into this French world! Everyone, Whilst I was away, the master of sound _Black_Acrylic launched two episodes of his crucial music-cast Play Therapy for you to catch up on (like me) if you haven’t already dug into them. First, ‘With Play Therapy v2.0, Ben ‘Jack Your Body’ Robinson brings you something for mainly futuristic and way out young people.’ And, secondly, ‘With Play Therapy v2.0, Ben ‘Jack Your Body’ Robinson brings you a creature that combines the technology of a computer, the deceit of a human and the killer instinct of a machine.’  Here. ** Bill, Hi, B. A whole month of slaves. Lots of time to get to know them. I think I might be back in LA again early-ish next year if a certain something pans out, so maybe then. It strangely was pretty temperate while I was there, weather-wise. Got really lucky. I hope you had a super sweet and strange Halloween. That’s funny, Shu Lea Cheang did an LA screening at the same venue where we held the ‘Room Temperature’ cast & crew screening on the next night, but I didn’t get to go because haunted houses called me. ** Justin D, Thanks a lot, Justin! How have you been? How was October for you? ** Chris KELSO, Howdy, Chris. That’s funny, now I’ll have to go look at ‘7th Guest’ again, huh. ‘I Have No Mouth’, no. I’ll see if I can find a remnant. I did really like Cyberdreams’s stuff. Thanks, I’ll to find your email. I got astoundingly behind on email while I was away. Excited to read it. Cool, great to see you, pal. ** Billy, Nice. Thanks, Billy. Yeah, that’s pretty spot on. How are you? What’s up? ** Tyler Ookami, Hi, Tyler. You probably wouldn’t have liked the haunted houses I spent a couple of weeks traversing. Dissected plush toys were a popular device. Happy late 29th. Did you end up scoring the Xiu Xiu tickets? They’re playing here soon, and I guess I’d better get on the ticket thing too. I’ve never been to Tucson, but horrible heat is my first association with it. Oh, wait, no tickets. Urgh, sorry. My friends are very split down the middle about ‘The Substance’, either extreme hate or thumbs very high up. Haven’t seen it (yet). Great about the return of the book club, and obviously high five about the Williams. I don’t know why it’s so funny that a Chappell Roan-alike won that contest, but it is. ** Lucas, Hey, hey Lucas! I missed talking with you too! But you’ll be here in the big P before too long, right? Berlin sounds like total fun. Awesome, you sure deserved that. Uh, NYC was pretty great. The reading went amazingly well. I was shocked. LA was packed with haunted houses, and the ‘RT’ cast & crew screening went really well, and good things seem to finally be happening for the film, which is relieving. Lots of Mexican food, old friends, … pretty solid. So nice to be back ‘in touch’! ** iwishiwasanon, Hi. If I’m meeting you, and I think I am, it’s great to meet you. Thanks a lot for the ‘Pirates’ clip. Very interesting in any case, but even more because I rode the new-fangled version last week during a daylong Disneyland jaunt. How did being Laura Palmer feel? I spent Halloween on a jet flying for 11 hours, so I sadly just dressed as comfortably and boringly as I could. Happy weekend! ** kier, Hi, k! I was in Halloween heaven at the time you wrote, and now I’m in jet lag hell. You pay for your pleasure, I guess. Those photos are fantastic! Wow, car trunk Halloween, that’s so crazy. How is it now that Halloween is defunct? ** Steve, Hi, Steve. Good to see you, buddy. Yes, RIP: Gary, KA, Paul Morrissey. I knew Gary wasn’t healthy, but his death was still a real shock. He was such a big personality (and writer) that I somehow thought he couldn’t be extinguished. I think we did about 25 haunted houses. And we still didn’t get to all the ones we’d hoped to. The film is going better at the moment. We had great cast & crew screening. We’ll see. No parties for me. I kind of hate parties. Did you hit one up? ** Måns BT, Hey, Måns! I missed talking with you too. Consider the void extinguished. Halloween time was excellent, but I’ll wait to note the highlights because my jet lag is making my brain a rock or a cloud mixed with a rock this morning. I must say that girl does sound pretty ace. I’ll use my limited brain power to hope/wish for a happy outcome on that coupledom prospect. I have seen ‘Long Days Journey Into Night’, and totally agree with you. It’s super great. Thank you about ‘Flunker’. *blush* I actually know Bob Hund a little, no doubt due to having been turned onto them by another Swedish friend. I’m so sorry to hear they bailed on the public, and on you in particular. I’m glad that ‘Papaya’ sounds to have occupied your thinking this month, at least. You know full well that imagination-dwelling phase is an important part of filmmaking. Excited for whenever! Ha, square eyes, film-related. I like that. Use that in something. Have a really swell weekend, and I’ll endeavour to be more interesting by the time Monday gets here. ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. You’re coming on Monday! I should be at least somewhat cogent by then. Great, hit me up as soon as you’re ready, and let’s hang. Love, me. ** HaRpEr, Hey, HaRpEr, really great to see you! Location is everything, they say. It isn’t, but it sure helps. I’m so happy to hear you loved the Kristof trilogy. So amazing, right? I wish she had written a lot more fiction. Yay! Pix of your Bowie costume if they’re extant and if you feel like it. See you soon! ** Wow, I made it. Seriously, my brain is toast, so I wasn’t sure. Anyway, the blog and I are clinging to Halloween and haunted houses for one more post this weekend before I let it go and move on. See you on Monday!