Fire in the Hole

I've lived around Branson, Missouri nearly all of my 32 years. My family has been here their entire lives. There are stories that have floated around this town as long as I can remember. I guess you could call them urban legends, or local folklore. Some of these stories have truth them, others are just talk… then there are those that are a combination of the two.

One of the scariest stories has been told since I was a youngster. It’s about a roller coaster at our local theme park, Silver Dollar City. Fire in the Hole is an indoor, super dark, three story roller coaster. It’s themed around the activities of the Baldknobbers, a vigilante group that terrorized the Ozarks in the late 1800’s.

The first time I rode this ride, I was so scared that I cried the entire time we waited in line. I shifted back and forth anxiously, tearfully arguing with my parents. My fear was so obvious that it quickly spread to other kids who were standing in line. At first they stared at me and then started questioning their parents. This made pretty much everyone in line annoyed with me, but my Dad insisted I suck it up and go.

Why was I so scared? Well, I was told a story that sounded something like this:

“A man was killed when he stood up on the “Fire in the Hole” and his head was chopped clean off!”

There were gruesome additions to the story. Some said the head landed in the lap of the people behind him. Others said that everyone on the ride was covered in blood. These things terrified me. As we were standing in line, my Dad assured me that the story was false. He had worked at Silver Dollar City my entire life. I assumed that he would know if it were true, but it didn’t help me to relax.

Then, as we were taking our seats, he said: “Just stay in your seat and you’ll be okay, alright?” That’s my dad. Always the jokester. As we rolled into the darkness I was holding his hand so tight that mine went numb. He jumped, right as we got into the pitch black, and I yelped. He laughed, and I don’t remember ever being so mad at him before. I alternated between periods of screaming and hyperventilating until it was over. When we rolled back into the starting area, I couldn't keep the smile from my face. I did it and I still had my head! I wanted to go again, immediately!

I remember feeling like a bad ass once I had rode the ride. I wanted to share that scary story with other kids, give them the fear! I finally believed that it wasn’t true, and eventually I forgot about the story completely. Until the other day, when a friend of mine brought it up. So, I decided to look into it.

Those of us who have rode Fire in the Hole know that before each drop, it looks as if the wall in front of you is lifting up as you drop under it. It gives the appearance that there is little (or no) clearance. One could easily imagine getting beheaded if standing at the wrong time.

I was surprised to find out that, to some extent, this is true story. On July 9th, 1980 a man was killed on the ride. His head was not chopped off, but he did sustain a serious head injury when the roller coaster was accidentally switched into service track from the actual ride track. Unfortunately he did not survive the injury. The theme park closed the ride for a few days to make changes to their maintenance area. They also changed several of their regulations.

This information was easily found through a Google search, but it seemed like the same tiny paragraph was reprinted on each site. I was unable to find any other details. I believe the lack of information on the accident it is what caused the story to reach urban legend status. Have any insight you’d like to share? Leave a comment!