In which guests head out into the desert at dawn for the ultimate showdown with skeletal creatures that are far more than what they seem…
Hello all,
This year I’ll be, over the span of the next thirteen days, describing a Halloween-themed amusement park that I got to develop with Surena Marie, for fun, specifically for 13 Days.
As a big old imagineering nerd, this is a dream project and I’m so excited to share it with you all. Please excuse the shoddy sketches that accompany the overly written descriptions.
Enjoy.

Image by LoggaWiggler from Pixabay
Dust catches the morning light as hooves pound against the desert floor. Figures race through the landscape, silhouetted against the dim gold that is a day waking into existence. There’s bandits just out of reach, with nets and cages, frightened creatures inside. They’re not getting away. Not on our watch.
But perhaps… perhaps we should start at the beginning.
“Welcome to Grey’s Gulch” reads a rickety wood sign, bleached by the sun. There’s a population number there, or at least there would be if a wagon hadn’t take it clean off while riding by. Guests mosey into the western settlement just as easy as they’ll be leaving. The air is cold out here, but in a refreshing way. A welcome sense of alertness after the darkness of the Midnight Forest.
The settlement itself mostly stretches along a main street with several stops along the way. There’s a saloon, a mailing post, a carpenter’s shed, doctor’s office, even a newfangled theater proudly presenting nickelodeons and mutoscopes. But these structures are old. Worn in. They’ve seen better days. In fact, that place is practically a ghost town.
Except it’s not a town for ghosts. It’s a town of skeletons.
Which, in all fairness, will probably be the first thing guests notice as they’re welcomed by the cheerful townsfolk, who all happen to be walking skeletons. And of all kinds. Some with two legs, some with four arms, a human skull, a cow skull, maybe even a large bird— you name it!
Because, as guests will find out if they stop by the visitor center, these skeletons are not the remains of bodies fallen to the unforgiving heat. No, no. These are spirits.
That’s the thing about deserts. They’re all haunted. It’s why being outside in a desert at night just feels… different. That quiet you hear in a desert? That’s the spirits talking. That vast emptiness you feel in a desert? That’s the spirits gathering. And mirages? Don’t get us started about mirages.
Spirits flock to the desert because they can be unnoticed there. It’s a liminal space to begin with, a landscape that crosses into this realm seamlessly. It’s easy to get lost in a desert. Even easier when you’ve crossed into Grey’s Gulch without realizing.
In order to take refuge in our world, spirits take the form of bones and skeletons. Most cow skulls you see in a desert are actually spirits hiding until you turn your back. It’s why things mysteriously move in the sand in deserts. That’s how spirits travel.
Alright enough backstory, let’s talk about all the fun you can have in Grey’s Gulch! For guests can stop by Maxilla’s Saloon where they can enjoy some scapula sarsaparilla while dueling pianists tickle the ivories. There’s card games a-plenty (Tarsus Hold ‘Em) as well as vaudeville shows.
And the wild west entertainment doesn’t stop there. These spirited hosts will show guests how to fish, properly aim a slingshot, make furniture, quilt, toss horseshoes, keep bees— all the rustic leisures one could ever hope for.
But nothing compares to the stables. Here guests will not only learn how to ride a horse, they’ll be invited to build their own horse! Since spirits take the shape of skeletons in the desert, they’re not beholden to any particular anatomical structures. Which means if guests want to spend time with the horse spirits, they can add whatever bones they want! The horses love it. Add legs. Change the head. Put on wings. Add another head.
As long as guests treat their horse spirits with care and respect, the bond between riders will only grow deeper.
Which is good because once guests have chosen a horse spirit, they’ll be instantly called to action. See, the reason spirits have to sneak around the desert is because of bandits. Bone Bandits. These ghouls ride into town, scoop up spirits and race back out towards the horizon.
And it’s up to guests to stop them.
The second shouts go up and little stray skeletons are pulled into nets, tossed into cages, and rounded up. Grey’s Gulch’s town watch will hand guests wanted signs, sketches of the bandits on little scraps of brown paper, and ask the visitors to help them find the bandits. This mission, if guests accept, will have them mount their horses and chase the bandits through the stunning landscape. Past buttes and over streams, under natural bridges and through mining tunnels.
Just as the bandits look to make a break for it, guests will call upon the crafts they learned in the gulch. A perfectly timed horseshoe toss, the snaring hook of a well cast fishing line, an immaculately aimed slingshot— guests will live out their wildest wild west fantasies, and return the captured spirits to the town.
Which calls for celebration.
For it can never be stay at Grey’s Gulch without a shindig. Everyone floods into the street and skeletons fill the air with music and cheering, as guests dance the morning away.
It’s a good ol’ time down at Grey’s Gulch.
But our next stop, on the other hand, can be quite a damning experience.
This is the highlight of my day, like "It's time to go see what lovely dreamscape is going on in Pumpkin Park today!" The descriptions continue to be top-notch, and it's all just such a rollicking adventure. I really love the line "don't get me started about mirages" and the part about building your own horse skeleton, of course? Because that is just an utterly wild idea and it makes me so very happy.
Another treasure – I feel like I'm not only there in today's Grey's Gulch, but have had quite an outing in history, too!
I’m enjoying these stories so much! So creative and full of detail I feel like I’m there!