Humble Beginnings
As mentioned before, the Phobia first debuted in 2018.
Being new to the park, Phobia had big shoes to fill. Its predecessor, the Voodoo Bayou Shanty, was known for being the best "house" formatted attraction in the park (Depending on who you asked). This would exclude the haunted trail as that was considered a different type of attraction. The Shanty was raw. It was gross. It was gory. It was terrifying. It was nutorious.
The Shanty ran from 2010-2017, being demolished at the end of the 2017 season due to having questionable structural integrity. (Rest in Peace)
That being said, construction for the Phobia concluded around the middle of August, 2018. Just 2 weeks before opening day. Phobia is made out of massive, stacked concrete blocks as well as numerous shipping containers. There was power, there were walls, there was a big dome covering the whole maze, and that was about it. The managers of the now defunct Voodoo Bayou Shanty, Dudley Halcomb and L.J. Parsley, were now managing this new haunt with an entirely new concept: "Phobia". Together, the two of them designed, crafted, and decorated the interior for what would be the first edition of the Phobia in just under two weeks.
In retrospect, looking at what we have now, things were pretty barren. Theres only so much you can do in two weeks. It was met with mixed reception and kind of forgotten about. Reviews were just "whatever".
Year after year, the Phobia evolved. Each year brought positive change. The countless hours spent working on the attraction in the offseason would pay off in new and updated scenes, better sound design, different characters and costuming, and more. Things were looking up and it was finally starting to look like a haunted house.
Looking Up
Fast forward a little bit, the year is 2021. Phobia is starting to make a name for itself. Reviews are much better, engagement is up, and it's become much more memorable overall. The haunt season came and went way too fast (per usual), and now it's time for the awards banquet.
As mentioned before, the "house" attractions are in a seperate bracket of consideration from the Haunted Trail. Each year, there is an award given for best zone (of the trail) and best house. When the time came for the "Best House" award, it was announced that starting that year, 2021, instead of a having a special award made for the winner, something new was in store. A big, WWE style, gold champion belt.
If you can't already tell where this story is going, when it came time for someone to claim the new "Best House" belt for the first time ever....
PHOBIA TOOK IT HOME!
The belt traveled literally hundreds of miles and took literally hundreds of pictures with us.
The Belt Travels On
Below is a randomly shuffled slideshow of the 500+ photos taken with the belt during it's time with the Phobia. Click through to see where it’s been!
Click on any photo to enlarge and see it in it's entirety.
