Second Life fashionista Rachel Price was the inspiration behind my visit to Everwinter Post Apocalyptic Theme Park. Rachel’s picture had been Second Life pic of the day back on July 3rd and the location looked interesting.

Upon visiting, I discovered that the location is interesting.

Everwinter is based on real events, as the notecard informs us :

Everwinter Is Inspired By The Abandoned Amusement Park In The Real World City Of Pripyat. The Pripyat amusement park in Pripyat, Ukraine is an abandoned amusement park. It was to be opened on May 1, 1986 in time for the May Day celebrations (decorations for this event are still in place in Pripyat today) but the plans were interrupted when on April 26 the Chernobyl disaster occurred a few kilometers away. The park was opened for a couple of hours on April 27 to keep the city people entertained before the announcement to evacuate the city was made. Today, the park, and in particular the Ferris wheel are a symbol of the Chernobyl disaster. The amusement park itself is located behind the Palace of Culture in the centre of the city.

The audio message you can hear in russian as you enter Everwinter is the actual recording of the evacuation message played to the city of pripyat following the nuclear disaster at chernobyl.

I’m not going to give everything away, but there are some interesting sound recordings being played here too.

The theme park is easy to find and despite the fact that there are signs saying that it’s closed, explorers will find that they can easily navigate the location.

Be warned though, all is not as it seems and a corpse not far from the ice cream truck made me resist the temptation to buy a cornet.

Wandering around you will find NPC’s, some alive, some not very alive, it all adds to the creepy nature of the region. There’s a certain ambience that tells a story of great woe.

There are also themes that seem related to older spooky stories about fun fairs, such as children locked in cages.

Further afield you can find gas masks adorning characters and in a break from the eerie feeling there’s a sea view restaurant which advertises lobster.

The creative mind behind this venture is Lauren Bentham, who is assisted by admins Bramble Foxdale and Lewis Halderman.

The notecard that you can pickup at landing contains some background on the region, tips on how to view the region and rules and regulations. Yes there are rules, but they not too onerous so don’t be put off by a region having rules.

Despite the dark theme that inspires this region, it is an enjoyable place to visit. The style of the build is extremely well presented and it’s an easy region to navigate.

SLURL To Everwinter : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elven%20Mist/167/122/26/