Holiday Hollow

Putting the "Happy" Back in
"Happy Halloween"

Reviewed October, 2004 by Debra Ross

Updated October, 2007

As publisher of this web site, I go "out and about" a lot with my kids. Very often, of course, we go for their sake; absent the kids, these are often not places I would choose to go myself. A lot of Halloween activities are like that, especially since my children are only 3 and 5.

My husband and I are used to these attractions being somewhat...well... let's just say it...cheesy. So when we took the girls to Holiday Hollow in Pembroke, NY on a sunny October Sunday, we went in with our customary grin-and-bear-it attitude. But, I'm happy to say, we came out just grinning. And I'm here to report that the art of parody is alive and well in Western New York.

Although it is billed as "America's only Halloween village," Holiday Hollow is not a scary place, not a hayride, not a farm, not a corn maze...so just what is it?

Holiday Hollow is a creation entirely of the Walkers, a family with a flair for both carpentry and comedy. Located midway between Rochester and Buffalo, just south of the Thruway and just north of Darien Lakes, it is a small version of an Elizabethan village, with a pirate ship thrown in for good measure. Four shows--the "Littlest Pumpkin Talking Pumpkins Show" in Sir Timothy's Theater, Madame Stromboli's fortune telling show, the Captain Hook Pirate Show, and the Haunted Forest Adventure--are the core entertainment at the village, with various other attractions such as games, food, and a walk through the Haunted Hotel rounding out the selections.

George and Barbara Walker came up with the idea with their then-teenagers around the dinner table. Possessed (so to speak) with the perfect plot of land along Route 5, the Walkers have created, since 1992, a place where young and old can have a wonderful time without straining the budget.

The point, it is obvious, is parody. It's to have fun. The Walkers employ a mixture of professional actors and sincere amateurs (including, of course, themselves) that have brought the place to life. Although it is possible that a small child with a vivid imagination might be afraid of, say, a college student with a pumpkin over his head, that's about as scary as it gets at Holiday Hollow. And although I say "actors," I should probably correct that to "comedians" -- because the emphasis is definitely humor.

Holiday Hollow is small in size compared with, say, the Sterling Renaissance Festival, but for us was a much better experience than Sterling. Where Sterling's focus is on spectacle and can be a bit overwhelming, Holiday Hollow's goal is parody -- actual intelligence, actual wit, and actual acting lead to a rich enjoyment of the whole experience, whether you're 5 or 75. Sterling strives to be representative of the actual Renaissance, but it seemed to me just to fall flat. Holiday Hollow strives to parody our fascination with the past, and it's perfect, and uniquely American in the bargain (despite, or perhaps partly because of, all of the foreign accents).

We seem to have lost faith in the notion that something can be funny without being offensive. Not so at Holiday Hollow. Any old place can say it has "fun for the whole family." With comedy, that often means that the "adult" part is just thinly-disguised sex or potty jokes. It's true that Holiday Hollow has its share of double entendres, but in fact, the more culturally literate you are, the more puns you'll catch. My husband and I had a blast. But our friend Tatiana, who came along, often had to ask us, between our guffaws, just what was so funny! (Not her fault, she's from Cuba.) Now, just because we adults enjoyed it so much doesn't mean it's not appropriate for kids...the place has an aura of silly magic that's wonderful for everyone.

The other important aspect of Holiday Hollow is that, unlike just about every other venue of its kind, it is not looking to suck your wallet dry. Admission (as of 2007) is only $11 for adults, $9 for kids age 3-10, and you can even get a coupon for $1 off per ticket at the Holiday Hollow web site. When we visit most other places, we sense that they are charging as much for food and fun that they can possibly get away with. I have no opposition to this in principle (I'm a good capitalist) but frankly I get tired of groaning every time I have to reach into my purse. I'll never forget the $6 for cotton candy at the circus. But Holiday Hollow is thoroughly different. It's so refreshing. We're delighted to pay $1 for that bag of popcorn, or $2 for the hot dog, or $5 for the yummy pulled pork platter, and each of us privately hopes that the Walkers are charging enough to keep the place going (see more about that in George's interview below).

One feature of Holiday Hollow that was worth the extra money for us was having my daughters' caricatures done by El Marko, the Holiday Hollow caricaturist. I can't repeat his corny remarks because they would seem odd out of context and besides I can't begin to mimic his Spanish accent, but I am still laughing days later. And as you can see, he's quite talented! (Update for 2007: El Marko has been replaced by Drawcula, who seems equally talented, although we did not have the caricature drawn this year.)

There are three "down sides" to Holiday Hollow, as far as I can tell. First is the presence of a single port-a-potty to serve all of the visitors. When a 3-year-old is jumping up and down with four people in front of her, the significance of this becomes obvious. (Update for 2007: Apparently real bathrooms are next on the list!) Next is that because so much is outside, it's not a great place to go in the rain. (Update for 2007: They have built a new building with a theater where the shows are held in case of rain. We didn't use it, as we went on a sunny day.) Last, it's a bit of a hike for Rochesterians on the east side or in northern Wayne county. We spent a good hour getting there from Fairport.

More 2007 Update

If you get to Holiday Hollow by noon, you can be sure of seeing all seven shows. However, if you don't get there, the show to skip is the Seance, as it isn't as good as when Madame Stromboli used to do it, and the risque humor (fortunately) went over my kids' heads. The pumpkin puppet show was particularly good for the younger kids.

What is not good for the younger kids, though, is the haunted library. 8-year-old Madison (the former 5-year-old mentioned above) enjoyed it without turning a hair, but even just the darkness scared 6-year-old Ella so much that she didn't even make it to the little scene in the library. I have a feeling that if she'd just stuck it out until the little show started that she would have been fine, but apparently she was terrified that someone would jump out from the darkness and grab at her. (No one does, it's just dark.)

The Jekyll and Hyde show/hike was hands-down the funniest this year, as it was three years ago. That George Walker (see interview below) is wonderful.

When you go, take $5 extra per child to do the games down the hill. There are three games, and they had a blast doing each one of them. “Miss Muddy,” who runs the "tests" game, is Ashley Versage, who is new this year. She’s a student at SUNY Brockport, and she was brilliant. My kids loved her.

In General

To see additional photos of Holiday Hollow (2007), click here.

Holiday Hollow is open weekends in October, including the Monday of Columbus Day. Expect to spend two to three hours enjoying yourself. In short: Perfectly worth the money, and well worth the trip. For directions, click here.

Interview with George Walker, Owner of Holiday Hollow, Corfu, New York:

KOA: Tell me a little bit about when and how you and your family first came up with the idea for Holiday Hollow.

George Walker: Having spent some time as owners of a children’s wilderness camp in Canada, my wife Barbara and I realized that we just have to be involved with kids and families. We thought about opening an alternative Halloween place – not all the horror and gore, but not a hayride farm or corn maze either. The ideas evolved slowly around the family dinner table while our now-20-something kids were in their teens. Everyone brainstormed and there were hilarious evenings of fun. We built Cricket Cottage and the Puppet Theater. I did the corniest Haunted Forest Adventure you could imagine – but people still remember some of the jokes. It was entirely different from what you see today – it was our VERY humble version of Disney World’s Jungle Cruise, where families ride a boat through very sophisticated set-ups while the guide tells terribly corny jokes. On our first “Haunted Walk,” I led guests through incredibly UNsophisticated setups – but with puns equally as bad as the Jungle Cruise. We served hot dogs out of the back of the Puppet Theater. It was humble! We have added something just about every year since then.

KOA: Is Holiday Hollow entirely funded by revenues? If so, how do you keep the prices so low?

George Walker: Yes, it is entirely funded by revenues. Right now we pour our proceeds back into “the Village.” When I retire, I do hope that we can start generating some supplement to my pension and social security...that’s the long term objective. It’s scary, because we set prices based on optimism about the weather. If we have 7 rainy days out of the 9 we’re open – as happened in 2003 – ouch! But having raised four children, and having trekked, as I know you and your husband do, to many events, we’re very sensitive to how costs can add up by the time you pay admission, buy food, etc.

One of the things we worried about when we introduced the extra games and caricature art is that people might feel that they paid admission and then saw hands out for more money at every turn. That’s why greeters at the “ticket turret” are instructed to tell guests that the games are extra, but that they’re a show in themselves – you can be entertained by just watching others play them.

Over the years, we have accumulated a bevy of young friends who also perform for meager “honorariums.” They do it, I sincerely believe, because they, too, have caught the dream of making a magical place and feeling good about it at the end of the day. We also draw performers from Genesee Community College’s theater program – and they’re delighted to be able to actually get paid to perform. Humble pay, but pay!

In short, the idea was not so much to start a business as to “make magic” for families. That’s our reward. We need to make money, but it’s not about the money.

KOA: Which family members are involved and what are their roles? Does it take up a great deal of your time through the year?

Barb designs all the buildings. We build them together. We do all our own construction (except electrical, for safety reasons). This is how we spend our vacations and weekends. (Are we CRAZY??? No, we love it! Isn’t a vacation doing what you love?)

After our eldest son, Kirk (George IV), did a Disney internship in Florida and then went on to USC film school in California, he began making very substantial contributions. He wrote the Captain Hook script and designed the pirate ship set. Kirk, back from film school and a local entrepreneur in his own right, is our operations manager and director of shows.

Our son Joshua is an attorney in NYC and now gives us legal advice. You still hear his voice on the puppet show recording. When he was at home, he cooked the hot dogs and helped us build.

Daughter Kelley (now a mom and about to present us with our second grandchild) ran the gift shop and did face painting. Barb and Kelley make all the crafts. Kelley’s husband used to run Admiral Portley’s [galley], until Dad duty took over, so he and Kelley are not as involved anymore.

Zach, who currently runs Admiral Portley’s and is also a Disney internship alum, has been a Haunted Adventure guide, puppeteer (with his mother), and helped put the roof on Sir Timothy’s theater when he was a mere 12 years old.

KOA: What's it like having a small old English village almost literally in your backyard? Do you leave the structures up all year?

George Walker: Yes, although there’s no heating or plumbing, they are otherwise permanent structures and stay up year round. Frankly, it’s awesome having Holiday Hollow in our backyard. Our granddaughter Lexie already thinks she owns the place – she was just SHOCKED to see so many strangers at “her” Holiday Hollow on Sunday. But then she got into it and went on the Haunted Adventure twice. Our kids are always telling us how much they wish we’d had the village when they were younger. It IS a lot to care for. We’re always building new things, so constant maintenance is a challenge.

KOA: Are there new shows each year?

George Walker: We try to add something new each year, but many of our shows repeat, and when we do change them, some guests wax nostalgic about the “old” puppet show or “old” Haunted Adventure. And we do have people come back year after year – as people do at Disneyworld – expecting to see again a favorite show or character. But the big goal is to live up to our name: “HOLIDAY Hollow.” Someday – perhaps it’ll have to be after I retire [George's "real" job is as Vice President for Student Services at Genesee Community College] – we hope to open for other holidays as well – Christmas would be first! We hope someday to build our first year-round building – “Holiday Hall,” and offer a Christmas show in that. Someday. We hope! We’d like to be open summers, too. I love storytelling (with an historical basis) and someday we may invite school groups for stories which we hope will be entertaining to listen to, but teach some history as well. Lots of dreams ahead!

KOA: When do you write them? How do you get the ideas for them?

George Walker: We’re SUPPOSED to write our new scripts in the winter. This year’s all new Haunted Adventure was written Labor Day, with revisions being written a week ago. That was a lot of memorization for a grandpa! Ideas? Still around the dinner table. It’s fun!

KOA: How do you find the actors for Holiday Hollow?

George Walker: Finding performers is difficult. We are constantly on the lookout. Genesee Community College is certainly a help, but sometimes GCC shows conflict with our schedule and I obviously must give precedence to the college’s program needs. If you know any actors – especially more mature ones who are perhaps settled and not leaving the area soon (as our GCC actors always are), we’d love to know about them. My Scottish foil on the Haunted Adventure is such a person – a local community theater actor. He’s great – and has been with us for years, which helps a lot. The knife wielding evil Jack on the Forest Adventure actually started coming to Holiday Hollow when he was 8. He won a screaming contest we had back then and he remembers me saying, “You’re great! You could come to work for us someday!”

KOA: It seems to me that your goal, from the outsider's perspective, is parody. Any thoughts about that, or about parody or humor in general?

George Walker: My family heritage is English. We love “the Brits” but we love to make fun of ourselves. The British stereotype is of people a bit stuffy, very understated in their speech, and yet great fun and loveable. At my childhood dinner table, we would have “pun wars,” seeing how long we could last milking the same root pun. My father always held that the pun is not the lowest form of humor – it requires a quick wit and a good vocabulary. But even more important, once in a while Barb and I will catch a Lucy or Dick Van Dyke rerun and say, “Isn’t it interesting that we’re still laughing out loud at these reruns – and there isn’t one obscene word or one blatant sex reference." We just want everyone to be comfortable – the kids are enjoying it but once in a while the parents get to wink at each other and snicker!

© Debra Ross, 2004
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