An Irish Fright

“You can go in groups of three.” The man says jovially, like what he is offering is just a lighthearted romp through a field of flowers. Instead though he is urging all the guests of our tour group a trip through their haunted house. Mom and I both decline the offer, the idea of going through a haunted house is not exactly our idea of fun. The three Australians in our group decide to go along with it. Two of the guys are excited at the prospect of entering a haunted house, the third however, is a little more reluctant.

So mom and I watch, laughing as the two men who are excited about entering force the third to stand in the front of the group. Our tour guide opens the door for them and explains to us that they go in groups of three because the first gets the surprise, the second can still be shocked, the third might not be as surprised but they can still get the third person. Any group larger than that then the fourth and fifth and so on won’t get scared at all. Just as he explains this we hear a bang and a roar on the other side of the wall followed by a scream and loud laughter.

I look around at the displays of the history of Ireland during the potato famine and try to concentrate on the sadness the displays attempt to convey and fail miserably. The bangs, screams, and laughter continue as the three men make their way through the haunted house. I give up and find myself staring at the black wall as mom, the tour guide and I follow the screams, groans, and hoots of laughter. We briefly discuss the woes of how early advertisers start on Christmas advertising. Our tour guide says, “They barely wait until Halloween is over before they start to stuff Christmas down your throat.” We can relate, and tell him that at least in Ireland there aren’t any major holidays between Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving is pretty much overshadowed by Christmas. The conversation quickly fades off as the three men in the haunted house suddenly get louder just before they break through a door and onto the walkway where we are. They are red-faced and guffawing as they try to convince mom and myself to complete the haunted house. We briefly argue that if the other goes first we might consider going but neither wants to give in and be the one scared first. In the end we were a couple of wimps but it sure was fun listening to those Aussies.