Let’s face it: most of us have at least one friend who is a complete and total scaredy-cat. That friend can be distinguished by his or her refusal to watch horror films, complete avoidance of the outside world during Halloween, and their habit of hysterically crying upon entering haunted houses, dark spaces, or really, any place that gives them bad vibes.

That being said, I am not a scaredy-cat. If I were to classify myself, I would prove to be something much worse. I have a bold, reckless, “I’m just going to go for it” nature, and it leads me to watch many a scary movie, and visit my share of haunted houses. To be honest, I almost always regret it.

Now, I’m not saying “Bloody Chainsaw Exorcism Five” isn’t a good movie. I’m just saying that I, Linden, am a hopeless, neurotic mess when it comes to most things that could be perceived as being “scary.”   Since its “sharing time,” I suppose I’ll make two more confessions.

The first is that it was said reckless nature that recently led me, along with Jessica Rowan, Elise Echeverria, and Nicole Smith, to visit Scream Zone at the Del Mar Scaregrounds. The second confession is this: I went, I screamed, and you know what? I had a great time.

Before my visit to Scream Zone, I had no idea that spending a Thursday night with a variety of terrifyingly costumed, chainsaw-wielding actors chasing after me could be fun.  I can now say, honestly, that nothing beats spending quality time with friends while bloody demonic clowns lurk behind, giggling like patients in an insane asylum.

The Del Mar Scaregrounds can be broken down into three events: the Chamber, the House of Horrors, and the Haunted Hayride. We attempted all three, each more frighteningly fun than the previous. First we went through the House of Horrors, a maze of dark winding corridors leading to creepy rooms with themes straight out of the nightmares of someone very, very disturbed. Costumed actors such as clowns, cannibalistic hillbillies, vampires, and a plethora of monsters attempted to scare the heck out of us as we ran, screaming, from one horrific, blood-splattered chamber to another.

Pumped full of adrenaline, hearts pounding, we headed for the haunted hayride next. We hoped that perhaps it would be easier to survive something we didn’t have to use our legs for, as they were already threatening to give out. The haunted hayride proved to be my favorite attraction, and we ended up going twice. It’s almost exactly as it sounds: a hayride that is creepy.

Sun setting as we filed onto the tractor bed, darkness enveloped the fairgrounds and everything got a shade scarier. The air was cool and filled with excited whispers from other nervous Scream Zone goers as the hayride began. We drove through a variety of daunting exhibits: zombie-ridden hospitals, a voodoo village (complete with witch doctors), and what seemed to be a Chernobyl-style child’s room, with Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe through the Tulips” playing quietly in the background, for all eternity.

The strangers riding along with us definitely lightened the somewhat eerie aura, one guy consistently cracking jokes such as the well-received, “You look like my sister in the morning,” directed to a moaning, bedraggled zombie. It was little things like that that helped us to remain calm, even when the tractor bed was ambushed by a wide variety of disturbing characters. Nonetheless, the hayride ended, and we filed off in the direction of our final stop.

The Chamber is similar to the House of Horrors. It’s a shorter maze, filled with more up-close encounters of the freaky kind. First of all, this was not my favorite exhibit. In fact, it was rather painful – literally. Long story short: we fell down a flight of stairs, but we survived. It’s possible that we are unnaturally clumsy, but in our defense there was a clown chasing us. Luckily, we broke no bones, and for the most part all we bruised was our egos.

It was a little difficult to continue after that. Nicole and I were pretty frightened, mostly for what might lurk down the next darkened corridor. However, we pulled ourselves together (sort of) and made it all the way to the end. Needless to say, we were proud. I felt a sort of accomplishment reminiscent of my learning to ride a bike. Now that I think about it, that’s a little sad, but you know what? We conquered our fears, and in my opinion, that’s something to be proud of.

Scary or not, I had a really great time. The actors had a lot of character and it was terrifying in a fun way. Scream Zone is open starting now, and will continue until Nov. 2, with certain random black-outs. For exact dates, check out the calendar on their website. Tickets are $15 to $30 , depending on how many events you care to try. I would definitely suggest going, and I know that I know that I will definitely return.