Explore new haunts at Castle Dark in Riverside

RIVERSIDE IS HAUNTING: There's an atmosphere to Riverside, one that hails from its historical buildings, picturesque museums, and the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, a grand castle-like fantasia that has a long possessed a certain storybook allure. Add a few of the city's downtown ghost tours to the mix and you have a location that has a sort of velvety, throwback, semi-autumnal character, all year long. But then fall arrives and remarkable Riverside grows even more atmospheric, thanks to an assortment of seasonal attractions. One of these happenings, Castle Dark at Castle Park, returns with a number of new mazes and shows just days ahead of fall's official start.

CASTLE DARK... opens Sept. 20, ready to pay frightful homage to "16 years of screams." A quartet of creepy new mazes will debut, including one called "Seance," eek, and a "5-D Virtual Reality Maze" dubbed "Sinister Inn." A trio of fresh theatrical experiences will also weave in wicked fashion through the fun, with a tea-inspired show on the docket and one celebrating the dramatic art of sliding. Scare Zones will also be in the mix, with clowns popping up in the midway-inspired area while knights will roam "Dark Lands." Tickets are available now to the eerie event, which brings the frights every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night from Sept. 20 through Oct. 27.