Community Corner

Sprouts & Shudders: Pirates of Emerson Open for Halloween

The devilishly popular haunted attraction opened Sept. 28

It's back...! Horror has taken up residence for a fourth year at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

The Pirates of Emerson, known throughout the Bay Area as a must-see Halloween attraction, is now open and offering spine-tingling thrills and chills. 

Halloween fanatics and fear addicts can expect six haunted attractions this season, along with other freak shows and entertainment like the "Misfortune Teller" and "Emerson's Oddities." 

The haunted house has matured from its humble beginnings in the yard of the Fields family in 1991. 

As previously reported by Pleasanton Patch, Brian, Patty and Karl Fields lived in Fremont on Emerson Street and used to charge a small admission fee to frighten and delight visitors. The family also collected canned goods and donated them to local food banks.

After a 7-year run on Emerson Street, the family moved the haunted abode to a field they leased from BART. 

In 2010, the Pirates of Emerson ghosted into the Pleasanton fairgrounds and has taken the quintessential house of horror to a whole new and terrifying level. The Pirates start recruiting employees and constructing the buildings at the end of each summer in order to fully develop and create the heart-stopping 19-night attraction in time its debut in late September.

The Pirates is staffed by a creepy crew of employees and actors. According to the POE Facebook page, the staff attend a mandatory "Monster Training" course as preparation to properly curdle the blood of those who visit the haunted enterprise.

In 2013, Hauntedhouseratings.com named the Pirates of Emerson as the "Victim's Choice for one of the Top 31 Haunted Houses in America." The Pirates of Emerson was listed by the Travel Channel as No. 2 for favorite haunted attractions in the United States based on Facebook votes. In 2006, Pirates was listed as No. 8 in the country on the AOL CityGuide's 2006 picks for the Top 13 Haunted Houses in the nation and was featured on the Discovery Channel.

According to the POE website, "Ladies Night" is half-price entrance fee for women every Thursday (except for Halloween) and Sundays are half-price for military personnel. Check the Pirates of Emerson website for hours, pricing and schedules.  Follow the Pirates of Emerson on Facebook. 

Have you ever been to the Pirates of Emerson? Tell us in the comments section below.

Previous Halloween-related Patch articles:


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