As scare attractions continue to grow in popularity,
Moment Factory enters the market with the
transformation of a heritage attraction in a prehistoric
canyon. Producer Virginie Valastro tells Magali
Robathan about the creation of Ghost Boat
Moment Factory has
transformed a heritage attraction in a prehistoric
canyon / Dells Ghost Boat
Horror attractions have seen a huge growth in popularity over recent years, evolving beyond niche Halloween events to year-round, increasingly creative immersive experiences. From haunted houses and scream parks to escape rooms and immersive scare attractions, visitor spend has risen hugely.
As spend has risen, so has visitor expectation, meaning many operators are having to up their game. In Wisconsin, US, Dells Boat Tours – the operators of 20-year-old fright attraction Ghost Boat – decided it was time for a change.
While the attraction had the advantage of a dramatic setting in the form of narrow twisting pathways through an ancient canyon, its operators always felt that it held more potential. They called in Canadian immersive multi-media studio Moment Factory to bring the attraction up to date.
The team behind Moment Factory have been creating immersive experiences for more than two decades, with a particular expertise in creating spectacular outdoor multi-media environments that include the Lumina Night Walk Series. They had not, however, designed a scare attraction before.
“Multimedia and horror are a natural match — they heighten sensations, build tension, and turn spaces into living nightmares, “ says Virginie Valastro, producer, Moment Factory. “When the Dells team introduced us to the canyon and their original experience, we couldn’t wait to see how we could amplify it.”
Leveraging the dramatic natural setting, the revamped night-time attraction features immersive storytelling, live actors, dynamic lighting, video projections, spatialised audio and programmed scare moments. The experience takes visitors on a ‘terrifying journey’ that includes a spooky boat cruise and immersive walk along a 1.5 km path through a ‘haunted canyon filled with evil forces’, culminating at the canyon’s edge with a climactic show moment.
Here Virginie Valastro talks us through the creation of this unique attraction.
Could you sum up what makes this attraction special? What makes Ghost Boat stand out is the spooky setting of the canyon — a narrow, winding path through ancient sandstone formations. It’s eerie enough on its own, but when you layer in multimedia storytelling, immersive technology, and staging of live actors, it becomes something that hits you right in the gut.
What was your brief for this project? What was your starting point? The initial brief was to enhance some of the key zones, maintain the existing storyline, and integrate multimedia elements to reduce reliance on actors. But when the Dells Boat team introduced us to the canyon’s dramatic natural setting and their existing scare attraction, we were truly inspired. It was a real creative collaboration between our teams and theirs, and the project quickly evolved into a brand-new storyline and a complete re-imagining of the experience.
Are there any particularly imaginative parts of the attraction that you could pick out? One of the moments that really stands out for me comes just before the final scene. Without giving too much away, it features video projection directly onto the towering rock formations, showing a young character in a suspenseful moment deep in the forest, holding a flashlight. To heighten the immersive quality of the scene, we created an effect where the beam of light escapes the projection surface – breaking past the natural canvas and appearing to pierce through the real forest. It’s a simple yet powerful idea that momentarily blurs the line between fiction and reality.
Can you highlight any particularly interesting use of technology in this project? One particularly fun technological innovation we developed for this project was what we called our ‘scare kits’ – an interactive system designed to enhance the atmosphere and timing of the live performances. Since the attraction features actors, we wanted to empower them to control lighting, sound and environmental effects in real time, increasing the impact of scare moments for the audience. To achieve this, we created standalone devices triggered directly by performers to heighten the spooky ambiance. Eleven of these custom-built independent control boxes were installed throughout the experience, each programmed with distinct lighting and sound cues to support the performances.
What was the biggest challenge of this project? The biggest challenge was the exponential growth of its scope. What began as a plan for a few enhanced zones expanded into a 1.5-km-long project, requiring us to adapt on the fly and collaborate with teams who gave their all to deliver it. The installation itself was further complicated by our April delivery deadline, which meant working through icy and overflowy conditions in the canyons.
This is the first scare attraction for Moment Factory. What excited you most about entering the world of scare attractions? Stepping into a universe with its own rules, rich culture, and passionate audiences is truly thrilling for us – especially since some of our creatives are long-time fans of scare attractions. In the realm of horror, timing and atmosphere are everything. This is a true playground where our expertise in multimedia synchronisation and orchestration can make a strong impact, and push fear to new extremes by amplifying tension, setting moods, building momentum, and tightening immersion through precise choreography of multimedia elements.
Today’s thrill-seekers expect innovative immersive experiences that fully transport them to alternate realities. What makes multimedia story-worlds so powerful is their ability to create visceral emotional connections between visitors and their environment.
What elements of Moment Factory’s previous projects translate well into this type of attraction? Our experience creating immersive outdoor environments was a huge asset, especially since the canyons in this experience are central to the horrifying effect. Over the years, we’ve learned how to integrate technology into all kinds of landscapes – from forests to heritage sites – without taking away from their character, and that really came in handy here.
Also, our extensive portfolio in themed entertainment allowed us to draw from our storytelling toolkit to help develop the rich narrative behind this experience. For over 25 years, we’ve been building worlds, developing characters and creating emotionally driven stories. It’s always exciting for us to dive into the stories and local legends of a place and find creative ways to bring them to life.
That said, we did have to approach a few things differently. Horror comes with its own rules. We had to put even more focus on pacing, building tension, and delivering unexpected scares – which meant being incredibly precise with timing, lighting and sound design. It was a great challenge, and honestly, a lot of fun.
What are the most important elements of a successful scare attraction? The most important elements of a scare attraction are unpredictability, illusion, and surprise. The goal is to make guests question what’s real and what’s not, triggering strong, instinctive emotions. Timing is absolutely essential – a scare delivered too soon or too late loses its impact.
The location itself also makes a huge difference. In this case, the canyon already has a naturally spooky atmosphere. Just the idea of getting on a boat and heading into an unfamiliar, isolated site creates tension before anything even happens.
Sound design and music play an important role too. A carefully crafted soundscape can suggest things lurking just out of sight, leaving the audience’s imagination to fill in the gaps – and often, what you imagine is far scarier than what you actually see.
Did any other attractions inspire you? One of the most inspiring horror attractions is Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, an annual event hosted at Universal Studios parks around the world. Every year, the parks are transformed with terrifying haunted houses, immersive scare zones, and live shows.
What are you working on next? For us, this is really just the beginning in the world of scare attractions, and we’re excited to keep pushing that knowledge even further.
Maybe we could develop universes where visitors actively influence the story themselves, with interactive elements that turn them from passive guests into actual characters within the experience. That could be disturbingly fun, don’t you think?
In any case, we’ll definitely keep exploring this genre. After contributing to the new waterpark at Aquascope in France, creating content for Sphere Las Vegas, and rolling out our augmented games worldwide, we’ve got several new projects already in the works, with more set to be revealed this fall.
And with our 25th anniversary coming up in 2026, it’s going to be a year to watch — one where we’ll be looking back, but more importantly, looking ahead with bold new projects we can’t wait to share.
moment factory
"Timing & atmosphere are everything in the realm of horror" – Virginie Valastro
Astra Lumina’s European premiere: An enchanted night walk in Istanbul
Astra Lumina Istanbul has launched in the Turkish capital, becoming the first Astra Lumina Night Walk in Europe.
Created by Moment Factory and presented by Devin Entertainment, the experience is set in the new Istanbul Light Park within Maskak Forest and is designed to evoke a sense of wonder and connection with the stars, blending light, projection, and sound to create an enchanted journey.
Astra Lumina Istanbul is the latest addition to Moment Factory’s Lumina Night Walk series, which has welcomed more than five million visitors across 26 locations in eight countries, demonstrating a continuous demand for revenue-generating solutions for tourism and cultural attractions worldwide. Each Lumina night walk is unique, bringing to life local stories and highlighting the natural beauty of its surroundings.
A journey of light,
projection, & sound
Each Astra Lumina night walk is designed to enhance its unique natural surroundings / Moment Factory Astra Lumina Istanbul
Moment Factory Astra Lumina Istanbul
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2025 issue 2
Editor's letter: Betting on horror
Year-round horror experiences are a fast-growing trend, but will the companies betting big see their investments pay off?
People: Thelma Golden
As the Studio Museum in Harlem prepares to reopen, its CEO explains why the institution is more important than ever
People: Linda Conlon
A driving force behind the creation of the International Centre for Life, CEO Linda Conlon has seen massive change over the past 25 years. So what’s next for the science centre?
People: Fiona Eastwood
With a passion for the industry, the new CEO of Merlin Entertainments says she is ready to lead the company to a new era of expansion and growth
Design & fabrication: Making a scene
As Adirondack Studios celebrates its 50th birthday, we speak to co-founders Michael Blau and Tom Lloyd, and production art director Lara Brunelle
Theme parks: Out of this world
The first major US theme park to open in almost 25 years, Universal Epic Universe is big news for the industry. We hear from the creative team that made it happen
Immersive experiences: One love
The creators of new Vegas immersive experience Hope Road have partnered with Bob Marley’s children to tell the story of his life and music
Zoos: Into the wild
Billed as Asia’s first adventure-based zoo park, Rainforest Wild Asia lets visitors experience animals in a whole new way. We find out more
Theme parks: Sleeping beauty
Fairytale magic meets traditional grand hotel at Efteling’s newest accommodation offering. Its designer shares the vision
Immersive attractions: Lost in music
As immersive music and hospitality company the Lost Estate announces its latest production, co-founder Eddy Hackett shares its global expansion plans
Immersive: Virginie Valastro
A dramatic ancient canyon made for an amazing starting place for the creation of a spectacular new scare attraction, says its creator
Museums: Roman Vinoly
The recently-opened National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, was one of architect’s Rafael Vinoly’s final projects. His son tells us what the project meant to his father, and how he intends to continue his legacy
As scare attractions continue to grow in popularity,
Moment Factory enters the market with the
transformation of a heritage attraction in a prehistoric
canyon. Producer Virginie Valastro tells Magali
Robathan about the creation of Ghost Boat
Moment Factory has
transformed a heritage attraction in a prehistoric
canyon / Dells Ghost Boat
Horror attractions have seen a huge growth in popularity over recent years, evolving beyond niche Halloween events to year-round, increasingly creative immersive experiences. From haunted houses and scream parks to escape rooms and immersive scare attractions, visitor spend has risen hugely.
As spend has risen, so has visitor expectation, meaning many operators are having to up their game. In Wisconsin, US, Dells Boat Tours – the operators of 20-year-old fright attraction Ghost Boat – decided it was time for a change.
While the attraction had the advantage of a dramatic setting in the form of narrow twisting pathways through an ancient canyon, its operators always felt that it held more potential. They called in Canadian immersive multi-media studio Moment Factory to bring the attraction up to date.
The team behind Moment Factory have been creating immersive experiences for more than two decades, with a particular expertise in creating spectacular outdoor multi-media environments that include the Lumina Night Walk Series. They had not, however, designed a scare attraction before.
“Multimedia and horror are a natural match — they heighten sensations, build tension, and turn spaces into living nightmares, “ says Virginie Valastro, producer, Moment Factory. “When the Dells team introduced us to the canyon and their original experience, we couldn’t wait to see how we could amplify it.”
Leveraging the dramatic natural setting, the revamped night-time attraction features immersive storytelling, live actors, dynamic lighting, video projections, spatialised audio and programmed scare moments. The experience takes visitors on a ‘terrifying journey’ that includes a spooky boat cruise and immersive walk along a 1.5 km path through a ‘haunted canyon filled with evil forces’, culminating at the canyon’s edge with a climactic show moment.
Here Virginie Valastro talks us through the creation of this unique attraction.
Could you sum up what makes this attraction special? What makes Ghost Boat stand out is the spooky setting of the canyon — a narrow, winding path through ancient sandstone formations. It’s eerie enough on its own, but when you layer in multimedia storytelling, immersive technology, and staging of live actors, it becomes something that hits you right in the gut.
What was your brief for this project? What was your starting point? The initial brief was to enhance some of the key zones, maintain the existing storyline, and integrate multimedia elements to reduce reliance on actors. But when the Dells Boat team introduced us to the canyon’s dramatic natural setting and their existing scare attraction, we were truly inspired. It was a real creative collaboration between our teams and theirs, and the project quickly evolved into a brand-new storyline and a complete re-imagining of the experience.
Are there any particularly imaginative parts of the attraction that you could pick out? One of the moments that really stands out for me comes just before the final scene. Without giving too much away, it features video projection directly onto the towering rock formations, showing a young character in a suspenseful moment deep in the forest, holding a flashlight. To heighten the immersive quality of the scene, we created an effect where the beam of light escapes the projection surface – breaking past the natural canvas and appearing to pierce through the real forest. It’s a simple yet powerful idea that momentarily blurs the line between fiction and reality.
Can you highlight any particularly interesting use of technology in this project? One particularly fun technological innovation we developed for this project was what we called our ‘scare kits’ – an interactive system designed to enhance the atmosphere and timing of the live performances. Since the attraction features actors, we wanted to empower them to control lighting, sound and environmental effects in real time, increasing the impact of scare moments for the audience. To achieve this, we created standalone devices triggered directly by performers to heighten the spooky ambiance. Eleven of these custom-built independent control boxes were installed throughout the experience, each programmed with distinct lighting and sound cues to support the performances.
What was the biggest challenge of this project? The biggest challenge was the exponential growth of its scope. What began as a plan for a few enhanced zones expanded into a 1.5-km-long project, requiring us to adapt on the fly and collaborate with teams who gave their all to deliver it. The installation itself was further complicated by our April delivery deadline, which meant working through icy and overflowy conditions in the canyons.
This is the first scare attraction for Moment Factory. What excited you most about entering the world of scare attractions? Stepping into a universe with its own rules, rich culture, and passionate audiences is truly thrilling for us – especially since some of our creatives are long-time fans of scare attractions. In the realm of horror, timing and atmosphere are everything. This is a true playground where our expertise in multimedia synchronisation and orchestration can make a strong impact, and push fear to new extremes by amplifying tension, setting moods, building momentum, and tightening immersion through precise choreography of multimedia elements.
Today’s thrill-seekers expect innovative immersive experiences that fully transport them to alternate realities. What makes multimedia story-worlds so powerful is their ability to create visceral emotional connections between visitors and their environment.
What elements of Moment Factory’s previous projects translate well into this type of attraction? Our experience creating immersive outdoor environments was a huge asset, especially since the canyons in this experience are central to the horrifying effect. Over the years, we’ve learned how to integrate technology into all kinds of landscapes – from forests to heritage sites – without taking away from their character, and that really came in handy here.
Also, our extensive portfolio in themed entertainment allowed us to draw from our storytelling toolkit to help develop the rich narrative behind this experience. For over 25 years, we’ve been building worlds, developing characters and creating emotionally driven stories. It’s always exciting for us to dive into the stories and local legends of a place and find creative ways to bring them to life.
That said, we did have to approach a few things differently. Horror comes with its own rules. We had to put even more focus on pacing, building tension, and delivering unexpected scares – which meant being incredibly precise with timing, lighting and sound design. It was a great challenge, and honestly, a lot of fun.
What are the most important elements of a successful scare attraction? The most important elements of a scare attraction are unpredictability, illusion, and surprise. The goal is to make guests question what’s real and what’s not, triggering strong, instinctive emotions. Timing is absolutely essential – a scare delivered too soon or too late loses its impact.
The location itself also makes a huge difference. In this case, the canyon already has a naturally spooky atmosphere. Just the idea of getting on a boat and heading into an unfamiliar, isolated site creates tension before anything even happens.
Sound design and music play an important role too. A carefully crafted soundscape can suggest things lurking just out of sight, leaving the audience’s imagination to fill in the gaps – and often, what you imagine is far scarier than what you actually see.
Did any other attractions inspire you? One of the most inspiring horror attractions is Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, an annual event hosted at Universal Studios parks around the world. Every year, the parks are transformed with terrifying haunted houses, immersive scare zones, and live shows.
What are you working on next? For us, this is really just the beginning in the world of scare attractions, and we’re excited to keep pushing that knowledge even further.
Maybe we could develop universes where visitors actively influence the story themselves, with interactive elements that turn them from passive guests into actual characters within the experience. That could be disturbingly fun, don’t you think?
In any case, we’ll definitely keep exploring this genre. After contributing to the new waterpark at Aquascope in France, creating content for Sphere Las Vegas, and rolling out our augmented games worldwide, we’ve got several new projects already in the works, with more set to be revealed this fall.
And with our 25th anniversary coming up in 2026, it’s going to be a year to watch — one where we’ll be looking back, but more importantly, looking ahead with bold new projects we can’t wait to share.
moment factory
"Timing & atmosphere are everything in the realm of horror" – Virginie Valastro
Astra Lumina’s European premiere: An enchanted night walk in Istanbul
Astra Lumina Istanbul has launched in the Turkish capital, becoming the first Astra Lumina Night Walk in Europe.
Created by Moment Factory and presented by Devin Entertainment, the experience is set in the new Istanbul Light Park within Maskak Forest and is designed to evoke a sense of wonder and connection with the stars, blending light, projection, and sound to create an enchanted journey.
Astra Lumina Istanbul is the latest addition to Moment Factory’s Lumina Night Walk series, which has welcomed more than five million visitors across 26 locations in eight countries, demonstrating a continuous demand for revenue-generating solutions for tourism and cultural attractions worldwide. Each Lumina night walk is unique, bringing to life local stories and highlighting the natural beauty of its surroundings.
A journey of light,
projection, & sound
Each Astra Lumina night walk is designed to enhance its unique natural surroundings / Moment Factory Astra Lumina Istanbul
Moment Factory Astra Lumina Istanbul
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2025 issue 2
Editor's letter: Betting on horror
Year-round horror experiences are a fast-growing trend, but will the companies betting big see their investments pay off?
People: Thelma Golden
As the Studio Museum in Harlem prepares to reopen, its CEO explains why the institution is more important than ever
People: Linda Conlon
A driving force behind the creation of the International Centre for Life, CEO Linda Conlon has seen massive change over the past 25 years. So what’s next for the science centre?
People: Fiona Eastwood
With a passion for the industry, the new CEO of Merlin Entertainments says she is ready to lead the company to a new era of expansion and growth
Design & fabrication: Making a scene
As Adirondack Studios celebrates its 50th birthday, we speak to co-founders Michael Blau and Tom Lloyd, and production art director Lara Brunelle
Theme parks: Out of this world
The first major US theme park to open in almost 25 years, Universal Epic Universe is big news for the industry. We hear from the creative team that made it happen
Immersive experiences: One love
The creators of new Vegas immersive experience Hope Road have partnered with Bob Marley’s children to tell the story of his life and music
Zoos: Into the wild
Billed as Asia’s first adventure-based zoo park, Rainforest Wild Asia lets visitors experience animals in a whole new way. We find out more
Theme parks: Sleeping beauty
Fairytale magic meets traditional grand hotel at Efteling’s newest accommodation offering. Its designer shares the vision
Immersive attractions: Lost in music
As immersive music and hospitality company the Lost Estate announces its latest production, co-founder Eddy Hackett shares its global expansion plans
Immersive: Virginie Valastro
A dramatic ancient canyon made for an amazing starting place for the creation of a spectacular new scare attraction, says its creator
Museums: Roman Vinoly
The recently-opened National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, was one of architect’s Rafael Vinoly’s final projects. His son tells us what the project meant to his father, and how he intends to continue his legacy
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
+ More news
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