Professional
My rating system
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Frights: Did they do a good job of scaring the clients?
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Make-up/Masks: professionalism
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Set Design: did they look thrown together or well thought out?
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Atmosphere: this includes both the inside and outside of the attractions. Do the entrance and surrounding areas enhance the experience?
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Overall: Was I scared? Laughing? Disappointed? Ready to go back again?
0 skulls=Disgrace to the season
=Needs 80% improvement and makeover
=Needs work in many areas. Sporadic pleasantries-inconsistent
=Good but need to make all elements work
=Great
place! Will definitely consider returning!
= Happiness is this place. Can I just stay here? I don't want to leave!
Incredible! Unique! Fantastic! Wonderful! Stupendous!
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Niles Haunted Scream Park
Niles, MI
Only 1 1/2 hour from Chicago everyone!
Check this one out if you get a chance! I don't know where to start. . .
First of all its a Scream Park. There are booths where you can hang the
man, fry the dude and more that we missed due to lack of time. We also
missed the Hayride so I cannot review that but the other parts? Oh
yes! We loved it!!
There were three houses. The main one, Niles Haunted House, and the two
secondary ones, the Realm of Darkness and Nightmare in 3-D. The outdoor
walkways between and within the attractions set the perfect mood for the
experience
NILES HAUNTED HOUSE: This house looks, from the front, like an old mansion-
beautifully designed. The walkway to get to the place was perfectly creepy! A trail through cut out cornfields with fog (real or
staged????), a walk through mausoleum and some very
creepy bridges. As you enter the house, skeletons, complete and
incomplete, point the way to your fate. The creators of this
house were very innovative with set designs and pathways. Betelgeuse sends your group into a transport device of his choice, I
don't know how many
choices he had but we only experienced two. Once at our destination we
followed the route until a different guide sent us a different way.
We went through this house twice and each time we had a different route. I read
on the website that they have over 100 possible routes through this house!
I wonder how much cool stuff I missed??? If you're a frequent haunted houser check
this one out. There were plenty of unique sets, character placements and
entrances/exits.
REALM OF DARKNESS: As with many of the larger haunted houses I expected the secondary house to be less exciting but not this one! They put just as much creative effort and imagination into this as they did the main house. Elaborate sets, great actors-very much worth the money.
NIGHTMARE IN 3-D: First of all I was very happy they weren't playing the Insane Clown Posse! The Vortex (rotating tunnel) had a little extra to it. little glowing hanging things! cute! The artwork in this maze had some really neat effects that I had never seen before. One of the better 3-D mazes I have experienced.
Frights
Make-up/Masks
Set Design
Atmosphere
Overall 
Thursday October 11th, 2001
OSR Haunted Prison Experience
Mansfield, OH
PICTURES! (added 5-15-02)
I had to change my rating system for this one because it is incomparable! And I cheated a little on its "atmosphere" rating
I am just overwhelmed at the eeriness of this place. The website does not do it justice by any means. Driving to the entrance, seeing the enormous building with its castle-like architecture and decrepit walls just gives the visitor the sense of foreboding. Not to mention it is located next to a maximum security unit. The path to the entrance takes you through a courtyard area. One can notice the interior crumbling and the exterior discolored and eroding. The entrance is a square room, to the left the ticket office, to the right the gift shop. The walls are crumbling. Straight ahead is a hallway with a foreboding stairwell at the end where the haunt guides greet you. On the walls of this hallway entrance are articles and pictures of ghosts and ghost stories. As if the place itself hasn't creeped you out enough-they have these ghost stories! So the guide-who is also the creator, tells us to hold the handrails and don't go off the beatin path etc. So you walk up the stairway and turn to the left where there is the creepiest music playing very loudly. The ceilings seem to be at least 50' high with iron bars from floor to ceiling to the right. Its all very dark. Walk ahead to a large empty room where a stalkabout greets you. I cannot remember distinctly the pathways but I can remember certain rooms like the sweatbox that just gave me a feeling I have never experienced before. My friend said "Jill its cold over here" and we all know what that means! No I didn't see any spirits but I sure had the sense of dread. I feel its the closest I will ever be to being in a Skinny Puppy song. Many readers may not understand that but if you do you may get a feeling of just how disturbing this experience was. Just listen to "Fritter (Stella's Home)" in the dark. That's how I felt. Anyway I do remember one pathway. . . We walked down a small flight of stairs and turned 180 to our right and on the left of us was a row of prisoner cells. It was so dimly lit one could barely see the toilet and bed slab but you saw it and you knew how awful the place must have been. If you do look at the OSR website read some of the prisoner's letters. It will give you an idea of the emptiness felt there. I'm not mentioning any of the animatronics because they were just not necessary at all. Sorry to tell the creators that but that place was just perfect to scare the crap out of you without any additional stimuli. The colored lights and music were definitely a great investment. I hope this review has either peaked your interest or scared you so badly you'll never go anywhere near the place :) Thank you OSR and the creators for scaring the crap out of me! I loved every second of it!
OSR also hosts ghost hunts which I will definitely be attending as soon as there is an opening.
Frights
Make-up/Masks
Set Design
Atmosphere
Overall
Friday, October 5th
Lizzy Borden Bed and Breakfast
PICTURES! (added 5-15-02)
Fall River, Ma
This is not a haunted attraction per say but it was voted one of the scariest places in America by the travel channel. Located in Fall River, Ma this is the place where Lizzie allegedly murdered her step mother and father in 1892. The house is beautifully decorated on the interior. The furniture is not the original but replicas give the place an authentic look. On a table in the room with the fireplace sits a picture from the crime scene of Lizzy's dead father-kind of macabre eh? Well if you face the opposite side of the room you can see that its the exact location of his murder! EEEK! Upstairs you find the guest room and Lizzy and Emma's rooms. The guest room is where Abby, Lizzy's step-mother, got axed. There is a photo of the crime scene on the wall directly above the spot where she died. My friends Damien, Sierra, Chris and I stayed in the Lizzy and Emma Suite. Before going to bed we all watched a few tapes of Lizzy stuff including the unsolved mysteries episode and the travel channel and food network spots. So like complete fools we creeped ourselves out before going to bed. We both lay there staring at the ceiling waiting for someone's ghost to come kick our butts. No ghosts appeared but we did hear a creepy noise. . .coming from the room adjacent. After careful thought we figured it to be Damien and Sierra snoring!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! That can be awfully disturbing ;) The one crazy thing that happened to us is that in our rooms a few drawers on the dressers were open. I just figured the house persons did it to show us where things were located BUT no one claimed to have done it! So we were spooked! YAY!!! The staff was great, the breakfast delicious and the experience unforgettable! Thanks to everyone at the house!
Frights
Make-up/Masks N/A
Set Design N/A
Atmosphere
Overall
Saturday, October 10th
Dracula's Castle
Salem, Ma
I really dont have much to say about this place. Rather uneventful.
I categorized it under Professional because I believe it is open year
round. I sure doesn't appear that way! The sets looked very
temporary and the actors did not seem professional. Nothing memorable
about this place except the website where I read about it and it said it was so
wonderful :(
Frights
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Set Design
Atmosphere
Overall
Saturday, October 10th
Terror on the Wharf
Salem, MA
One of the most impressive places I visited in Salem. The entrance was a small horror museum. There were masks from all kinds of horror movies and the set up was dark maroons and browns. Beautiful decor. Inside there were some actors with very good make up. I really liked the animatronics which were the majority of attraction to this place. Each set was a story and set up very well. I wouldn't travel to Salem for this attraction but it was good and worth the admission price.
Frights
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Overall
Saturday, October 13th
Creature's Crypt
Bloomington, IL
This attraction takes place at an old, mostly unused, school building. The entrance (of which I may put some pictures) is creepy with big Creature's Crypt banners as decor. After the ticket booth there is a waiting line area with a dreary set up. Great for putting the crowd in the mood. I feel obligated to explain my Frights rating for this attraction. I attend a lot of haunts. I love to take my time and appreciate the sets which, in this house, are beautiful. They have quite a few well placed animatronics. The problem I had was that I was trying to take in the whole atmosphere and appreciate the sets but they had an animatronic to the left and then an actor would jump out from some unforeseen place! So I was too distracted to appreciate the whole. Maybe we received some extra attention for my bachelorette? ;) I'm not complaining at all-this is a great effect especially for the crowds who get really scared. Anyway I'm madly in love with the Stalkabout room and the reaper looking monster there who wasn't quite as tall. I believe this haunt is on one level but they included ramps to add variety. The monsters had some great hiding places too. The adventure through the Crypt was most impressive again this year. A big hug and thanks to John, Dana, Pam, Travis and all the rest of the cast!
Frights
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Overall
Sunday, October 14th
Eleventh Hour
Orland Park, IL
I have to say I drove from Champaign to Chicagoland to go to Hades in Tinley Park first but they were CLOSED!! If you check the website it says they opened last weekend. I was rather PO'ed at this along with another car full of people who had driven from INDIANAPOLIS! Fortunately I had printed directions to the Eleventh Hour as well. Its located at the old Loews Cineplex at Orland Square Mall. Well thank goodness they were still open as it was past 10pm. We were the last group in line. The location was a good size but being next to a mall in a 70's theatre with little character the atmosphere was not ideal. However, once inside, the creep factor rose. There are two haunts here; Eleventh Hour and Intensity. Unfortunately the Eleventh Hour part had experienced some technical difficulties so it was not open this night. But we did get to attend Intensity. The lobby was decorated with about 18' banners painted with all sorts of creepy characters. Kind of like a Lovecraft book. Once in the house the actors did a great job. I think my favorite actress was, as I termed her, Resurrection Jamie. (I asked if she was Resurrection Mary and she said "No. Resurrection Jamie!") I recognized a few props from the now defunct Asylum Experience which was at an old church in Berwyn. Some of the sets were fantastic but what distracted me was the lack of ceiling on some of the sets. If they're not enclosed it can be very distracting when trying to focus on the current set-especially when I look all around the sets to try to get the full effect. I suppose the following point cannot be helped but many of the actors were rather short which makes the actors a bit less intimidating. I was told by Jim the manager/owner that the Eleventh Hour has a lot of the old props from the Asylum Experience. I may try to get up there again before the season ends but I'm not sure . . .Comparatively 11th hour was very far down my list ratings wise. Other places did so much more this year with so much less.
Frights
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Overall
Sunday, October 21st
Industrial
Nightmare
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Industrial Nightmare-it just sounds cool doesn't it? Its in an old warehouse. Well I fell in love with this place the moment I walked into the horror museum. They have goodies from movies such as Frankenstein/Bride of, Mars Attacks, Friday the 13th, Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and, my most favorite, Hellraiser ( they have a set with a bloody mattress and the rotating post and body parts and all the goodies!!!!)and more. So go just to wait in line! Oh and this year they had a monitor playing clips from all kinds of fantastic horror films :)
So the attraction itself has all kinds of expensive horrifying monsters and contraptions. This house is one of the most professional looking houses I have attended. You get squished by the Lament configuration for goodness sake! They have lasers and lots of toxic waste stuff. This is a house that has movie set themes so if you don't like that too bad because they have some of the best (see Allan-I said SOME of the best-not THE best). But they didn't have the Candyman set this year which made me very sad but oh well. They still kicked my butt! One of my favorites :) (Hey Jim O-they're nice to ME here-what did you do to piss them off? hee hee)
Frights
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Sunday, October 21st
Haunted
Hotel
Louisville, KY
Thanks to Terry for the funtastic tour of the Hotel again this year! One of this attractions best attributes is its home. It is in a big old hotel (I think-let me know if I'm wrong) that looks like an old house. There is a second floor. I always like going to old house-like places for these attractions because when you see the set up of it it looks like a scary old house like in movies and makes me feel like maybe its really haunted! Scary stuff eh? Anyway I especially like the second part of the attraction-there is a lot of blood and gore and creepy stuff including chainsaws. Hooray!!!!
Frights
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Overall
Sunday, October 21st
Nightmare
Forest
Otter Creek Park (near Louisville) KY
Oh this is my favorite place! Since the first day I visited to each time since then (I believe five or six times to date) I love this place. This year they didn't miss a beat by the way. Well, to get there, you drive deeper and deeper into wooded areas and finally find the place. Its so scary! And you walk through a pathway of trees to get to the entrance. Then there's a big line of people in an open area facing a huge screen that plays horror movies. Joy! This night they were playing Halloween! How appropriate. At the entrance you walk under the movie screen to the one mile trek through your favorite movie sets through the woods. New this year was Green Mile, Deliverance and Evil Dead. OHHHH YES!! these were awesome! The Evil Dead one was my least favorite if I have to judge them. Why? Because it was not as similar to the movie cabin as I thought it might be. Put the swing out front :)!!!! Anyway the multiple Jasons hee hee and the cemetery was beautiful. Oh boy how exciting! So how do you readers like my discombobulated review? Stream of consciousness :) Umm the "Wild Bill" character from the Green Mile set was perfect! One of my favorite movies. The sets were fantastic! Very! They have a Matrix set too and it is soooo cool! I was going to try to stay-just hide in the woods-but I didn't want my friends to miss me too much and I didn't want Allan and company to turn me into a prop ;) This place is definitely worth a mini road trip. Plus there are at least 3 other haunted attractions in the area to visit if you don't feel fulfilled by Nightmare Forest (which is just ludicrous). Just go there next year! I LOVE NIGHTMARE FOREST!!!!
Frights
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Sunday, October 21st
Gates of Madness
near Louisville, KY
This attraction was similar to Nightmare Forest in that it is a walk through the woods with sets along the way. The sets here were not movie themed though. They had a really nice set up and pathway. Good atmosphere. I don't necessarily remember much detail. The entrance where you get the lowdown was pitch black and that's rather frightening in a strange place. Other than the above I don't remember much detail about the place. I do know that it was a nice walk-good looking sets and pathways including a few bridges. Oh-I think some cannibals tried to get us! That was fun :)
Frights
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Sunday, October 28th
Statesville
Crest Hill, IL
Statesville kicked some major
butt! I had some great luck this year finding mainly awesome haunted
attractions. The theme of this place is "haunted prison".
So when I read about it I thought it might be like OSR (see above) but it wasn't
at all. So I was a little disappointed at the arrival. The set up of
the place was Halloweeny-they had a petting zoo and pumpkins and Halloween
goodies for sale. The attraction is located on a farm. The
distraction from the Halloween mood of the place was the annoying music that the
sponsoring radio station was blaring. yuk. The crowd was a bit young
and very suburbian-that can be scary in itself! Anyway we were feeling a
little apprehensive because of the crowd, music and setting but once we were
herded in we were very impressed. The entrance with the typical "don't
do this blah blah" stuff was preached to us by a very creepy Satan looking
beast who flew over our heads when finished with his speech. THAT was
totally unexpected and welcomed! The next cattle herding area had these
mean guys telling us to stand single file row by row including "this isn't
the mall people" (chuckle). The crowds went though just in a
line-I thought that would never work but with the already chaotic feeling it
only added to the attraction. My group was scared numerous times even
though we had people both in front of us and behind us. The boys in my
group wanted to stick around the insane asylum part because they thought the
chicks were cute ;) This attraction worked well because of its chaotic
atmosphere, actors and set-up. I was very impressed and pleased with my
visit! Might even go back next year!
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