#KrakenNightmare: An Australian Winter Solstice Celebration

Some places are celebrating midsummer’s arrival on June 21 with scary summer solstice events. For instance, spooky summer camps abound in the U.S., and there’s the two week-long Summer Hauntings at the Lit & Phil in the U.K.

Some say the Northern Hemisphere’s longest day of the year is also one of the thinnest between this world and the next. Which makes it a good time to try connecting with spirits –and a perfect time for some spooky fun.

But what about the other half of the world? It’s the exact opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. June 21 signals the arrival of their winter solstice, a.k.a. their longest night of the year. That also sounds like a good time for some spooky fun too, right?

Right.

And that’s why a popular Sydney hotel is being transformed into a haunted house for one night only.

The Longest Nightmare

The Longest Nightmare of the Year is a sold out event sponsored by The Kraken Black Spiced Rum. (IMO this is a marvelous advertising campaign to promote its product.)

Sydney’s Kings Cross Hotel is the scene of the event. It will be transformed into a living nightmare that will plummet attendees into an abyss of terror.

Guests will wander through interactive nightmares that bring them face to face with undead sailors, beds of terror and the enraged spirit of the Kraken.

But they’ll also get a candle –“infused with the spirit of the Kraken”– to help them navigate the longest night of the year and “ward off potential nightmares.”

After their journey through a sea of the undead, they can enjoy a buffet –featuring seafood of course!

There will also be live entertainment and “a nightmarish selection” of The Kraken Black Spiced Rum cocktails, including Spiced Night Fog, The Kraken Nightmare, Sea Beast Terror and, fan favorite, The Kraken Storm.

#KrakenNightmare

As I’ve admitted a time or two (or ten) before, I’m insanely curious about haunted attractions, but I’m an enormous bawk-bawk chicken butt.

Ghosts, aliens, even Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster…jaunting in search of them is no problemo. I can even handle Halloween fests like HAuNTcon or The Scarefest, but put someone in a mask for something like Halloween Horror Nights (or any other haunted attraction)?

Nope.

I need to keep it tame and on the level of Disney’s Haunted Mansion 50 Years of Retirement Unliving event.

But I still want to see what such events like the Longest Nightmare are all about. Thanks to their handy #KrakenNightmare hashtag, I might get to live vicariously through the brave souls attending.

And I hope people do post using it, because I’d love to see what kind of “Insta-worthy” photo ops this event produces.

Kraken Spirit

Speaking of the Kraken theme of all this, I also hope someone posts a pic of this spirit of the Kraken-infused candle. What in the world is that all about?

How exactly do you infuse a candle with Kraken spirit?

How do you even obtain Kraken spirit to infuse anything with in the first place?

And did you know the “spirit of the Kraken” had power to “ward off potential nightmares?”

I admit, I’m not up on my Kraken lore. I may have to brush up, because all this intrigues me.

For More Info

The event is sold out, but to read more about it, visit it’s Eventbrite listing: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-longest-nightmare-of-the-year-tickets-62958201676

Check-In

Will you celebrate the summer solstice? (If you’re U.S.-based. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, sub in “winter solstice” in the same question.)

Source: Hit