| rev:text
| - No spoilers in this review.
As I logged in to Yelp to write this, I noticed that The ScareHouse has a subcategory of "Performing Arts," & I was amused by the appropriateness of this label.
If you're looking for the same-old, same-old, run-of-the-mill haunted house in which some zombie chases you or actors scream incoherent statements in your face every time you turn a corner, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.
ScareHouse has broken the mold of the standard haunted house & embraced some innovative concepts with its four haunts this year-- The Summoning, Trick 'r Treat: Hallowed Grounds, Krampus: Come All Ye Fearful, & The Basement. (I didn't go through The Basement.)
It's $25 per person to go through the first three haunts, The Basement is a separate ticket price of $35 for one adult or $50 for two adults (no one under 18 admitted, & you have to sign a waiver, & yes, the actors in The Basement can touch you!).
As I tried to keep warm outside while I waited to get in, I was entertained by The ScareHouse Bunny & the disturbingly enchanting "Princess Holly," who did a horrifyingly funny impersonation of Princess Diana, lip-synched to Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You," & actually had some Etna P.D. involved in her schtick.
The girl in the ticket booth was professional & sweet, smiling slyly as she told me to have fun.
The Summoning has you walking through an old time-y, 1920s "members only" club in which you're not sure you WANT to be a member or not-- it's really creepy. Trick 'r Treat: Hallowed Grounds is like walking through a pop-up book which goes over "the rules" for Halloween (based on the 2007 film Trick 'r Treat)-- I felt like Dorothy walking into Oz, it was really disorienting & disturbing. Krampus: Come All Ye Fearful references a movie that's coming out in December & ScareHouse actually has some of the real props from the movie, which was cool, but not very scary-- I feel like there should have been "more" in Krampus, but I imagine it's hard to create a haunt around a movie no one's seen yet because it hasn't come out (Krampus comes out December 4, I looked it up!).
Krampus is the last haunt you walk through, & it unfortunately ends the 3-for-1 haunted house experience on a note that had me feeling more like I'd just left a museum as opposed to just leaving a haunted house.
Nonetheless, I'm giving it 5 stars because the actors were passionate, the attention to detail in the makeup & costumes was awe-striking, the sets were unique & well-crafted, & I'm impressed with ScareHouse's balls to go eclectic with their horror. I wish I had more time to walk through slowly to really look at everything, or that in certain areas there wasn't so much fog so I could've seen everything better.
I want to respond to some of the comments in other reviews because I feel like people are either lacking in common sense or perhaps they just don't take a moment to think as to how they could change how they approach things to make their experience better:
Yes, the lines can get long. Yes, sometimes you catch up to the group in front of you or the group behind you catches up to you.
If you're going to a haunted house on a weekend night in late October, what do you expect? If it's THAT much of a problem for you-- buy your tickets ahead of time, or pay the extra charge to get the V.I.P. treatment, or go in late September or early October when it's not so crowded, or go on a week night, or take a moment to consider the basic facts of reality & brace yourself to have to wait in line &/or possibly bump into strangers-- make that part of the experience! Talk to the people you're there with! Make new friends with the people behind you or in front of you!
I feel like these people who write these comments about lines and crowd control in their reviews are the same people who get in line to have their picture taken with Santa on the afternoon of December 24 & then whine & moan because they have to wait for three hours.
I went on a Friday night. I had to wait in line. I caught up to the group in front of me & the group behind me caught up to all of us. Somehow, I managed.
Halloween is always on October 31, you knew it was coming; and Christmas is always on December 25, it's coming. Be nice, because this year, Krampus is coming. He told me when I saw him at ScareHouse. :-)
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)