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Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

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Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

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Hollywood Sports ‘Cerritos Night’ spooks with exotic mazes, gimmicks

Hollywood+Sports+held+Cerritos+College+Night+on+Friday%2C+Oct.+3%2C+giving+students+a+50+percent+discount+on+their+tickets.+Colleges+from+around+the+area+will+have+their+own+designated+nights+for+the+month+of+October.+Photo+credit%3A+Grester+Celis-Acosta
Hollywood Sports held Cerritos College Night on Friday, Oct. 3, giving students a 50 percent discount on their tickets. Colleges from around the area will have their own designated nights for the month of October. Photo credit: Grester Celis-Acosta

“Get into the vagina!”

After, the squishing through of a birth canal and out into the fresh breeze of the world around us.

At least that’s the way it was Friday, Oct. 3, during a zombie-guided trip around “Venom.”

This, of course, refers to one of the many mazes that Hollywood Sports was offering for its Halloween-themed attraction during Cerritos College Night.

For the month of October, Hollywood Sports is offering discounts to colleges for the spooky festivities that it hosts for Halloween.

All night, people dressed up in costumes, (ranging from clowns, zombies and chainsaw-wielding psychos) roamed the park and scared and frightened anyone each monster saw fit. Some were even running across the entire park to get away.

In addition, there was rock climbing, shooting ranges and mazes.

These were not your typical spooky mazes, however.

Notorious for its paintball, Hollywood Sports now put a twist on its gimmick; grab some BB’s, make a maze and shoot up some zombies.

That, and some of the “stranger” mazes, like “Venom,” made for great fun, according to those in attendance.

Cerritos College alumni John Nguyen’s first maze when he got to the park happened to be “Venom,” and it was an unexpected experience.

“We thought it was going to be typical, you know, like Knott’s Scary Farm, but I didn’t expect that … It’s like I was being born again; squeezing through a birth canal.”

It’s not just former students, as you get current students from Cerritos College, like Maria Lorraine, being a part of it, as well.

“I think it’s really amazing because I like getting scared,” she said. “I don’t get as scared as much anymore, though. The zombies and the other costumed people scare me, but not as much as it does my friends.”

Students were about, but there were also people with their families, like Adrian Elias, who was there with his son and two daughters, describing the attraction as a nice time.

The shooting mazes at Hollywood Sports involved wearing vests, protective masks and wielding assault rifle BB-guns.

Different mazes had different objectives. One involved shooting zombies while protecting some flags around your waist, which represented your health. Have all the flags come off, and you’re “dead.”

Another maze involved trying to find four glowing, green vials that represented a cure for a supposed zombie virus.

Cal Poly Pomona student Mario Onate had a simple tactic for the shooting mazes, “Stay behind people, don’t get my tag pulled and just shoot zombies coming toward me.”

He enjoyed the shooting mazes.

“Going through it, it was just an amazing event.”

Jonathan Vanderlinden, a computer animation and business administration major at Cerritos College, was in charge of one of the shooting ranges at the park.

He is a “haunt veteran.” He worked at Knott’s Scary Farm for three years, and this was his first time manning the station for Hollywood Sports.

“It’s pretty exciting, a lot different from Knott’s; you get to shoot the monsters and have fun with it,” he said. “I tell people the rules, clean the masks and all the equipment and make sure all the monsters are taken care of.”

His positions at both parks were completely different, too.

“As a Knott’s veteran, my position was to scare the people; so that’s a lot different from here where I just give rules and make sure guests are doing their thing, shooting and having fun. But, it’s not as fun as scaring guests.”

That fun is reserved for Austin Trent Gray.

Gray is a Gahr High School student who works for a living at Hollywood Sports playing one of the aforementioned chainsaw-wielding monsters.

“I don’t play the role, I am the role.”

Gray just came to volunteer one day and he started the gig. He goes to school during the week, and then Friday’s come and he’s ready to start again.

“When I wake up in the morning, it’s one of the best feelings ever. I get to school, get it done with and I come straight here to my home. That’s the best feeling you’ll ever have; come and scare people, do it and have fun with it all night.”

Hollywood Sports is located at 9030 Somerset Blvd, Bellflower. You can buy tickets at HauntedHollywoodSports.com, or at the counter.

The “haunted” attraction happens Friday and Saturday in October, with one November date. The mentioned colleges get half-off a ticket purchase with proof of identification. Here’s what’s left of the schedule, per HauntedHollywoodSports.com:

  • October 10: USC and LMU College Night.
  • October 11: UCLA College Night.
  • October 17: Pasadena City and Glendale Community College Night.
  • October 18: Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona College Night.
  • October 24: Chapman and Saddleback College Night.
  • October 31: Concordia and UC Irvine College Night.
  • November 1: Rio Hondo Community College, Cal State LA, LA City College Night.

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Fall 2014

The Big Cheese! I am the Editor-in-Chief Denny Cristales. Just your average, mild-mannered pupusa lover who covers news. I’m not one of those jerks who would ramble on and on about what they do - such as being a former Sports and News Editor, in addition to earning third place at the CCMAs for my sports page design - no, I won’t do that (My staff also conquered the LA Times in local breaking news coverage).  What I will do is tell you to look at talonmarks.com and admire the work we do.

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Fall 2014 Hello and Good Morrow! To those of you reading this, you are most likely in the same journalism class as I, if you are not, that also works. I am Daniel Linares, a.k.a. Pterodactyl Dann, a.k.a. your Multimedia Editor for Fall 2014! I'm 25% accounting major, 30% multimedia guy, 42% numbers guy, 73% student, and 99% pirate. I'm also an accounting major.
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Hollywood Sports ‘Cerritos Night’ spooks with exotic mazes, gimmicks