Kings Island fear

October 30, 1:38 PMCincinnati Genealogy ExaminerRuth Trusler

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  Peggy Tenkman with her new friends reminiscing over the good ole' human days.
  Prom anyone? or wedding? Photos from Peggy Tenkman.

The Kings Mills area of Cincinnati has had ghost sightings as early as the late 1800s.

The King Powder Company invented an automatic cartridge machine as well as a smokeless powder. This invention made King very successful. He placed Peters, his son-in-law, in charge of one of his ammunition mills: Peters Cartridge Company. This mill produced ammunition for the Civil War, WWI and WWII.

A year after the Peters factory opened, two train cars loaded with gunpowder collided, causing an explosion that killed 11 men instantly. In 1930 the building was sold to Reminigton. The building  and grounds are now used by the S.W.A.T and sometimes used to film horror movies.  Ghost have been spotted around the portion of the building where an artist works.

Developers followed the advice from Roy Disney when land was purchased in Warren County. The land included the King's Island Cemetery, located towards the end of the parking lot, halfway between the campground and park. A little girl who haunts the park is rumored to be buried inside the cemetery. The cemetery is fairly small, and pretty old with headstones dating back to the late 1840s.

The amusement park ground breaking was June 15, 1970. The name was developed from the Kings Mills area and the Island was from Coney Island in which some of the rides and attractions came from. Hence the name Kings Island.

Over the course of many years several fatalities occurred. It is said their ghosts frequent the park. One such ghost that frolics around the tracks of the tram after night has fallen is "Sarah". She is seen around the water works and skipping around the parking lot. She comes out of nowhere, causing patrons to slam on their brakes.

A teenage boy is sighted hanging around the Eiffel Tower area. There was a high school senior who had illegally climbed the tower and fell to his death. Johnny was often sighted haunting The Beast ride at the park.

Woody, another ghost, has frequent the White Canyon and has thrown pebbles at the observation tower at night time. There are many, many more Kings Island ghost stories.

What a perfect setting for Kings Island to celebrate Halloween. It is ingenious of them to have two separate levels of fear.  For the younger set and perhaps much older set, there is Howlofest, a day time array of attractions. This year there are programs designed for parents to be interactive with kids. Among the rides and food, there are maize pumpkins, candy, characters painting and a pumpkin patch with kid sized pumpkins, free for the pickin' - all in a safe environment during the day.

Come evening, it's showtime! As the name touts:  All you fear is here. It's definitely a Halloween haunt fright feast, with food served and chilled from a casket. There will be a seating tonight and two tomorrow for $13.99 per body which is not included in the park admission which is open for those who dare to fear here from 7 PM to 1 AM Friday, October 30th and Saturday, October 31.

Keep the Kings Island Halloween hype up online with games, ticket information, and plenty of gore! Young children online Kings Island games and ticket information available as well.

Photos are with permission by Peggy Tenkman.