Six months after the Spookslot in Efteling closed, it is becoming clear what the new Danse Macabre attraction will look like. Designer Jeroen Verheij proudly shows a sketch of ‘the creepiest part of Efteling’. In the middle of the amusement park there is now an atmospheric construction site. “Soon as a visitor you will not be safe anywhere here. Then it becomes terrifying,” says Verheij.
One building stands out in the design: an ancient abbey that has partly collapsed. “It will be a ghostly spectacle full of dark twists.”
“At Efteling we don’t like horror and Halloween.”
The attraction is an idea of 50-year-old Jeroen Verheij. He has been working at Efteling since 1997. First as an entertainer, now as a designer. Danse Macabre is his first major project that he is doing ‘solo’ as a designer. He previously worked on a number of scenes in Symbolica and designed the new catering business at Max & Moritz.
The Huyverwoud, the name of the new theme area, is now full of building materials, a crane and construction chain. Verheij comes every day to see how ‘his’ attraction is doing. “It’s not scary at all now. But this will soon be the creepiest part of Efteling.”
You can certainly not call it horror from Jeroen. “At Efteling we don’t like horror and Halloween where zombies come out of the bushes. We do like to shudder.” The attraction will soon be accessible to anyone who is 1.20 meters or taller and Efteling recommends an age of eight years or older.
“Nowhere in this area are you really safe.”
Efteling still wants to keep the story a secret, but it is slowly becoming clear what visitors can expect from 2024. The Charlatan family plays a role in the new horror area, the family members can now also encounter visitors in the park. They open a catering business in a burnt down building. But of course everything revolves around the old abbey.
Visitors go through an overgrown herb garden and a graveyard to the entrance of Danse Macabre. “Nowhere in this area are you really safe, it is haunted everywhere. Even in the toilets”, says Verheij with a smile. “I can’t share the story yet, but we’re going to let our guests dance to the music of Danse Macabre.” More than a hundred visitors will soon be able to enjoy the horror story on a large turntable with choir stalls.
The Efteling designer is not a big fan of gory scenes and intense scares. “I don’t like horror and people with chainsaws. Atmospheric creepy, I really like that.” And that’s a good thing, that was exactly the assignment he received from the management more than three years ago.
“It will be an exciting experience.”
“Because the technology and the building of the Spookslot were very outdated, we were commissioned to come up with something new for that location. Then you sit down with a team to discuss what the attraction, the catering industry and the area could look like.” Verheij is primarily concerned with the story, which has to be perfect. “We present the story to the management and then we fine-tune it. And finally you get to work on the design.”
This year, visitors can already get a little creepy in Efteling. The catering business and the toilets will open earlier. The creepy area and the attraction itself will follow sometime in 2024. “When exactly we keep shrouded in the dark.” Verheij will be the first visitor: “I have to enter during the programming. I’m looking forward to that, but that also promises to be a challenge, because it will be an exciting experience.”
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