The Lewes Historical Society and Delmarva Historic Haunts invite the public to investigate four of the Lewes Historical Society's historic buildings including the Cannonball House, Burton-Ingram House, Rabbit's Ferry House, and Old Doctor's Office for ghostly beings.

In this three-hour program, participants will learn about ghosts and the tools used to explore paranormal activity, view firsthand live data as it is being collected and go into buildings to investigate for themselves. Reservations are now being accepted for Friday, Oct. 7, 21 and 28, and for Saturday, Oct. 22 and 29.

There are two sessions per night, the first from 7 to 10 p.m. and the second from 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. There is a 50-person maximum for each time slot. The cost is $25 per person.

This program is for ages 13 and above only; space is limited and reservations are required on a first-come, first-served basis. Call 302-645-7670 or email cassandra@historiclewes.org to book a spot.

Delmarva Historic Haunts has researched paranormal activity throughout the region, at locations such as Gettysburg, Pa., Fort Delaware, Fort Mifflin on the Delaware, the Parson Thorne Mansion and more. Now the group is curious to see what activity investigators find in the first town in the First State, historic Lewes. "Delmarva Historic Haunts is thrilled to have the opportunity to connect the past and present in Lewes, a town that continues to flourish in both.

“We use some of today's technology to try to answer questions about yesterday and tomorrow,” says project manager Wendy Robinson.

For many summers, locals and visitors alike have flocked to Funland, the popular amusement park on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk, for games, rides, and naturally, fun.

The Rehoboth Beach Museum is now celebrating Funland’s 50th year in business with a display of photographs in the museum’s main corridor. The snapshots illustrate the fascinating history of the popular destination, which was originally an amusement park called the Sport Center before it was bought by the Fasnacht family in 1961.

After refurbishing the building and rides in the aftermath of the devastating Storm of 1962, the Fasnachts opened Funland to the public, and since then, it has become one of the city’s treasured pastimes.

In addition to the photographs of Funland in the museum, the main gallery includes displays on the history of the City of Rehoboth Beach.

They tell the story of decades of having fun in the sun, from arcade games to fancy hotels. The museum’s exhibit “Skimming the Surface,” a display of vintage surf and skimboards, continues through March 2012.

The Rehoboth Beach Museum is the home of the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society. The society’s mission is to preserve and showcase artifacts that illustrate the development of the community.

Society members receive free museum admission, newsletters, free admission to lectures and other activities, and notice of ticketed events.

The museum is located at 511 Rehoboth Ave. Winter museum hours are Monday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Regular admission is $5 for adults; $3 for seniors, college students and military; $2 for children ages 13-17.

Members and children 12 and under are free. Memberships are available. Call 302-227-7310 for information.

The Rehoboth Beach Museum will provide a guided tour of the museum and the Anna Hazzard Tent House Friday, Oct. 7.

Built in 1895 for use as housing during religious camp meetings, the Anna Hazzard Tent House is located at 17 Christian Street. It was originally located on Baltimore Avenue, and moved to its current location in 1975 and opened as the first historical society museum in 1977.

The tour will begin at 9 a.m. at the Anna Hazzard Tent House. Docent Natalie Becker will be the host.

Tour goers will then drive to the Rehoboth Beach Museum at 511 Rehoboth Ave.. The museum, formerly the town’s ice house, is currently hosting two exhibits. “Rehoboth Speaks: The Story Nation’s Summer Capital” tells the story of the founding and growth of Rehoboth Beach. Items on display include a stone from the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse, the engine car from the outdoor train ride at Funland, and vintage bathing suits and post cards. The tour will be conducted by longtime visitor and resident Harvey Waltersdorf, who shares facts and personal recollections

“Skimming the Surface: Surfing, Skimboarding and Floating off the Delmarva Coast” features vintage surfboards, skimboards and a surf mat.

The exhibit celebrates the active surfing community that thrived in the 1960s and 1970s on coastal Delmarva. Also on display are memorabilia, photos and videos.

All tours start at the Anna Hazzard Tent House at 9 a.m. The tours are free of charge but space is limited so register by calling 302-227-7310 to reserve a space.

The museum is located at 511 Rehoboth Ave. near the traffic circle with the lighthouse and the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center. Museum hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Regular admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, college students and military, $2 for children ages 13 to 17.

Children 12 and younger are free. Members of the historical society are free.

General George Patton once said “All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are the more they are frightened. The courageous man is the man who forces himself in spite of his fear to carry on.”

If Patton were alive today and looking to fill the ranks of his next army, he may want to sort through 380 names that make up the Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts (DAFE) organization whose members are fright aficionados.

Every year for the past six years, DAFE (pronounced “daffy”) has listed its top ten “darkrides” from across the country, and for the sixth straight year, Funland’s own “The Haunted Mansion” has landed in the top ten.

So strong is the ride’s appeal among the group, it even ranked ahead of Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion (as well as rides at Universal and MGM Studios in Orlando).

“We held an event in Rehoboth Beach last year, and it was the first time some of our members ever had a chance to ride it,” said DAFE co-founder Rick Davis. “I think that is what led to its surge in popularity this year.”

But the Haunted Mansion’s online appeal creeps beyond the DAFE group, as George LaCross, editor of the eight-year-old site Laff In the Dark (laffinthedark.com), will quickly attest.

“It’s a traditional dark ride and (I like) that the original stunts, installed with the ride in the 1970s, were designed by Jim Melonic. Jim is a disciple of the late Bill Tracy of Cape May, New Jersey, a legendary dark ride designer who designed the Haunted House dark ride at Trimper Rides (in Ocean City, Maryland).”

LaCross added that the Mansion “has no apparent storyline, and that actually makes for a better dark ride as you never get into a comfort zone and never know what to expect.”

Wedged within the humble walls of Funland amusement park on the boardwalk, the Haunted Mansion ride certainly does not have the glitz, glamour and ghouls of some of the other big-budget rides located in the Sunshine State, but Davis said that is exactly one of the appealing aspects of the seaside attraction.

“I think that most people (in DAFE) lean toward the more traditional funhouse rides,” he said. “They appreciate them for the nostalgic factor.”

A DAFE beginning, a sad ending

The organization, which formed, fittingly, on Halloween in 2000, was the brainchild of Davis and his wife Sue, of Vienna, Ohio, and Joel Styer of Reading, Pennsylvania, who operated the ridezone.com website. “I met Joel online years back, and after exchanging emails and information and we decided there has to be more people who share our interests out there,” Davis said.

“A lot of attention was given to the carousels and roller coasters, but we felt that this segment of amusement parks was sadly underserved,” Davis added. But DAFE is not limited merely to rides designed to shock and scare. Attractions on DAFE’s list include funhouses, glass houses (mirror mazes), mazes, Old Mill rides (a.k.a. tunnels of love), Noah’s Ark rides (of which there is only one still in existence), mystery shacks (tilted houses) and other illusion attractions.

Since its inception, DAFE boasts a membership of about 640, including national and international thrill-seekers.

Davis said his own funhouse fanaticism stemmed from childhood, when he was taken by his father to Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio. “I could not tell you one detail of what was inside it, because my eyes were closed the entire time,” Davis said.

Idora heard its last patrons’ amused screams in 1984, when the 68-acre park shuttered its doors. Sadly, its fate would be echoed by similar attractions across the country, as major theme parks began to pop up. “A lot of it is insurance purposes,” Davis said of the closings. “It just got to be too costly for the smaller ones to operate with the fear of being sued.” A ride mentioned in a recent AP article on DAFE mentioned the group’s restoration efforts of a park in Conneaut Lake Park in Pennsylvania. It was recently announced that it will not open this year. “Another darkride is lost,” Davis said. “Sadly, these types are becoming things of the past.”

It’s Alive!!!!
But even as the fates of other rides of its kind remain bleak or questionable, Funland’s Haunted Mansion is open to send chills up the spine of yet another generation of beachgoers. The creaky, blood-red doors first opened to the public in 1978, after years of painstaking behind-the-scenes labor.

Even though shattered windows, cobwebbed interior and overall appearance of decay may suggest otherwise, the Haunted Mansion is build to withstand a pummeling from storms off the neighboring Atlantic Ocean. In its first year, fearless fright-finders wound through such displays as a talking three-dimensional head, a graveyard, a Gothic living room scene that features a mind-numbing amount of activity, hidden entrances, and various ghouls and goblins (including a rather unfortunate kitty cat), inspired by the Disney ride that shares its name.

Occasionally, and tauntingly, the ride will allow visitors to catch their breath as it sends them outside (one time to look out over the Atlantic, another to view the Teacup ride), before plunging them back in the mansion of the macabre.

The ride is maintained by Brad Ginder, Funland’s vice president of Operations and Maintenance. His personal touches over the years can be seen in such Mansion sets as the “Mad Scientist room, the Haunted Morgue, the clattering bats and Frankenstein’s Monster.

“People know it’s a great, well-maintained ride and keep coming back for more,” LaCross said.  “Plus, it delivers some good, old-fashioned scares without the benefit of sophisticated animatronics. The public is now embracing these traditional dark rides for the classics that they are – no longer seeing the low-tech stunts as ‘cheesy.’”

And as the summer sun sets, the Haunted Mansion’s guardian buzzard sits perched above, ominously inviting a new generation of victims, er… riders to test their terror threshold, and perhaps welcoming back older “survivors” for the chance to add just a few more gray hairs on their heads.