Thanks for posting. I grew up seeing that place every summer as a child. I remember the roller coaster and the wax museum that used to be there along with the Dracula mannequin that used to come out every hour or so and address the crowd.
Dracula had satellite TV? I remember there was one female mannequin that survived the fire, unscathed, and I have pictures of it, still stuck to my bedroom wall as it was inside the dungeon. She was laying in front of a demonic head coming up out of the sand. Actually, I have dozens of pictures of all the props in that dungeon boat ride. I used to ride it several times in a row all by myself. To me, it was better than a Caribbean vacation. The last time I went through was in August 2001, five months before the bastards burned down. And I lived my 25 year fantasy-to the actors from the dungeon took me out of the boat and stuffed me inside one of the wooden caskets. I didn't want to come out. I was 32 years old. The memories of my childhood are priceless compared to the memories of adulthood. I felt like I finally achieved a 25 year dream, becoming a temporary prop inside my favorite place in the world. And five months later… Ground Zero. Best or worst timing, I don't know, but Wildwood will never be the same again without hearing toccata and fugue as I approach midway pier. I'll never forget the old grouchy guy who worked to Castle for about 10 years until the end. Former military guy. In real life, he was like the character in Bad Santa. would a grumpy bastard he was. And hearing stories of all the kids who worked there in the 70s and 80s, whose voices were totally destroyed because the owner used to give them salt pills to keep from being dehydrated wearing those hot masks inside the hot Castle. Based on the message boards for the Castle, where a lot of former employees tell all their horror stories about the working conditions, it pretty much was like the real Dracula's Castle.
