Photo/Illutration Kowagarasetai’s Drive-in Obakeyashiki haunted attraction (Natsuki Edogawa)

Getting the chills from a haunted house is a common way to cool down during Japan’s summer months, but the pandemic has made it hard for the usual bone-chilling attractions.

They traditionally rely on claustrophobic settings, in-your-face encounters and a lot of screaming.

That has led to some haunted innovations opening up, so that overheated individuals can be safely terrified--at a distance.

One such creation: the drive-in haunted house.

Drive-in Obakeyashiki opened in a car barn in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.

Visitors drive into a garage and are greeted by a menacing message played in the darkness through their car audio system. It tells a grim tale about the garage, where evil spirits are said to attack humans.

Right around the time a visitor starts to get the feeling someone is out there, they will quickly find their vehicle surrounded by bloody ghosts. Then the automobile shakes and blood spatters everywhere.

Following the 20-minute program, the actors who play the ghosts will carefully wash off the blood that was spattered over the car. Those who do not come by car can rent an automobile at the site, which have plastic-covered seats.

Kowagarasetai, which developed the attraction, began holding the frightful haunted drive-in in July, and was quickly flooded with so many requests that more than 300 groups are now on the waiting list.

“People feel guilty for having fun these days,” said Daichi Ono, a staff member of Kowagarasetai. “But our program has proven popular because it lets people scream as loud as they like without making others uncomfortable.”

If drive-ins are not your thing, you can also get a good scare without even leaving your home.

An online horror simulation service using the Zoom videoconferencing app is also attracting attention. Meeting participants, who at first appear very normal, gradually start to speak and behave in an increasingly terrifying way.

Zaunted Corp., which organizes haunted attractions for amusement parks and commercial complexes, is also creating projects with social distancing in mind.

At its events, both visitors and staff need to have their temperature taken, their hands disinfected and wear face masks.

Actors don disguises over surgical masks so they look like ghosts, while spine-tingling voices play over speakers--instead of having the actors shout.

Asked whether the new safety measures make it less of a scare, Michaelty Yamaguchi, president of Zaunted, said it actually adds to the ambience, making it more terrifying.

Yamaguchi said if, say, the famous female ghost Okiku, featured in the story “Banshu Sarayashiki,” emerges in full face protection while counting dishes, that would just look funny.

“But when an attraction is set in an abandoned hospital, people will not see wearing masks and getting disinfected as out of place, so the reality of the setting will not be undermined,” said Yamaguchi. “It is also possible to prevent droplets from leaving visitors’ mouths if they are told not to speak so they don’t attract ghosts.”

Yamaguchi said he is currently concerned about non-specialists creating haunted attractions by themselves.

“I am worried about whether such organizers can take sufficient anti-infection measures,” he said.

Yamaguchi said his company is planning more ways to entertain people later this year.

“Haunted attractions must not contribute to the spread of infections,” he said. “However, since people are now stressed out, places are needed where they can go to release their stress without feeling shame.”

Masahiko Ishida, a science writer who helped organize a special museum exhibition themed on science and haunted attractions in Tokyo in 2009, said these kinds of venues provide an important service in scary times.

“Simulated haunted facilities provide an opportunity for people to train to become accustomed to a sense of fear,” he said. “Proper countermeasures against infections will allow visitors to learn how to face their fears, while enjoying the excitement.”

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