# Anyone else checking out haunted attractions?



## Ghastly Joker (Aug 4, 2007)

I wanted to make my own set up this year but I gleefully took an Xbox 360 over a haunt, knowing I'd have cash to build one next year. In compensation I guess, my mother is taking me to Halloweekends at Cedar Point and I couldn't be happier...well...actually I'm even happier now that she told me that we'll be going to The 7 Floors of Hell attraction in Cleveland too. I'm all halloween jazzed up for this year. Apparently it's #13 on 13 Scariest Haunted Attractions in America.

Here's their site. Sorry if it's promotion but I thought this was pretty sweet.

www.7floorsofhell.com

Anyone else going to an attraction?


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

It's a tradition!

This will be I think the 4th or 5th straight year of attending the Queen Mary's Haunted Shipwreck. The ship that is supposedly haunted (if you believe in such things, and I think I do) is turned into a haunted attraction with I think 6 mazes. Very cool.

This should also be the 9th consecutive year of the original haunted attraction, Knott's Scary Farm, the one that started the whole thing off back in 1973. With a bunch of new mazes this year, including one for the film "Quarantine," it should be a great experience as usual.

Personally, I think looking at how the pros do it can be a great source of inspiration for amateur efforts.


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## MJDEADZINES (Nov 13, 2007)

I went to one already a couple weeks ago. lol The Haunt House (Texas)
and we will be going to my all time favorite haunt Friday. Thrillvania (Terrell Texas).
If you watch the Scariest Halloween Attractions on tv it's on there. We go there every year. 

I saw Queen Mary's Haunted Shipwreck and Knotts on those shows.


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## Uruk-Hai (Nov 4, 2006)

The Ontario Haunters Club had a group trip down to Buffalo to check out House of Horrors/Haunted Catacombs/Psycho Therapy. It was a great trip and the haunt was great. 3 separate haunts with great set design. They were pretty long - 2 took over 30 mins. to get through although the House of Horrors's maze was a bit too long (there's only so long you can go around in the pitch black bumping into walls and each other before frustration sets in) but the Haunted Catacombs was the best.


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

Went to the Cutting Edge in Fort Worth. I was entertained but there was so much that could be done better. Too dark to see the scenery. Heavy metal music the entire way, which keeps you kind of jazzed so you can't be really scared....not that I am ever scared in haunted houses but head-banging my way through made for a fun night. LOL! 

There was a couple things I liked in particular that I won't talk about in case anybody here is going. Overall, I had a good time in the haunt. "let the bodies hit the floor"


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

If you are in SoCal, I can't reccomend going to Queen Mary Haunted Shipwreck this year.

It was a disaster. Ticket booth opened 45+ minutes late, the Shipwreck Productions manager was rude to me when I complained (he asked if I had been drinking, indicating he didn't care enough to even fake caring and thought my complaint was utterly without merit) and the lines were awful to get in.

The claim it was opening night problems; they been doing opening nights there for 9+ years. I've been going for 4-5 years and never had problems like this.

Beyond all this, the mazes weren't very good, some a complete rehash for several years in a row, the mechanical items weren't working, no fog machines at all and too many of the scare-actors weren't putting any real effort into it.

So for the SoCal Haunters, avoid Queen Mary Haunted Shipwreck this year. It's just not worth the ticket, the parking, the traffic or the overall effort of going.


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## mattie (Sep 16, 2008)

Going to Nightmare on 13th in Salt lake city next weekend then we will see where we will go from there, maybe to Lazarus Maze in Ogden.


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## Parabola (Jul 4, 2008)

I am hitting Spookyworld in Salem NH this Sunday. I will be in Salem MA tomorrow and Saturday so I hope to see some cool things there. I will let everyone know how Spookyworld is when I get back!


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## mattie (Sep 16, 2008)

Going to Nightmare on 13th in Salt lake city next weekend then we will see where we will go from there, maybe to Lazarus Maze in Ogden.

EDIT:
Ok...so we made it to Nightmare on 13th and we were all alittle dissapointed. To many people in the typical "cattle drive" and not very many actors.Plus the element of surprise was gone before we even got to the scare because we were moving so slow that you were able to see everything before it happened. 
On the PLUS.....since we moved so slow I was able to take in all the sights and sounds along the way and can I say I was very impressed.I really enjoyed seeing it all. Very good detail in the sets...plus the Nightmare Theater was way cool. I wont be a spoiler if anyone is going but I hope you can catch "the ring" pre show. Way freakin cool and it was so totally different of a scare it caught me off gaurd.


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## Parabola (Jul 4, 2008)

*Follow up to my trip to Salem(s)*

Well, I made it to Spookyworld in Salem NH and wanted to share a bit of it with you. I will start off by saying that I have never been to Spookyworld before but I do know that this is it's first year at Canobie Lake Park. The overall atmosphere was much more "theme park" than "scream park". The haunted attractions were spread out a bit too much throughout the park IMO. There were a few characters roaming, but mostly stuck to the queue lines. I arrived at about 8:30pm so I didn't have much time, but was able to get to the 3 main walkthroughs. Each walkthrough was in the same building, but used different entrances. Overall, the scenery was good but the scares were a bit lacking. In closing, I had a good time (got to see Ecto 1!) and was glad to have been able to stop on the way to Salem MA. Here are a few pics from Spookyworld (I did ask before taking any photos and got the ok from the staff):









































I will add another post with some more pics from Salem Mass. Hope you like them!


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## Parabola (Jul 4, 2008)

*Round 2...*

OK,
Here are a few more pics taken in Salem Mass. I don't have as many pics from the Haunted Houses as I was too busy with the video camera. While in Salem we were able to see the Nightmare Factory, Frankenstein's Lab, and The Witch's Village for Haunts. We also did the Witch's Cottage which was amazing! It is a 15 minute "play" complete with special effects and only seats about 35 people so it has a nice intimate atmosphere. Definitely a must see if you are in the area. The highlight of the trip was Count Orlock's Nightmare Gallery. This is a horror museum that boasts beautiful scenes and figures from some of the greatest horror movies of all time. The figures are absolutely stunning and you can take your time to read the displays and just soak it all in! Other than that, we did the "Night in Besieged Salem" which took place at pioneer village. It was nice as there were no electric lights, only candles and fire pits, and the acting and choreography was superb. Oh, and let's not forget that zombie walk! OK, onto the pictures!

Famous graveyard in downtown Salem









Zombie Walk!









More Zombie Walk!









My wife and I with a new friend...









Edward Scissorhands and a headless guy with an umbrella...


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## Parabola (Jul 4, 2008)

*Island Haunted Trail*

Sorry to monopolize this thread, but on Friday we were able to go the the Emmons Island Haunted Trail in South Hero, Vermont (www.ihtrail.com). This is their 8th year for the trail and has been getting bigger each year. Tickets are either $5.00 ea (money goes to cover insurance) or 3 non perishable food items which are donated to local food pantries. This place is nicely done and took about 15 minutes to go through which is pretty long compared to a lot of places. Everything there is done with heart as well as with great love for Halloween. I recommend this to anyone nearby if they get the chance as it is a great way to help out local charity and show your love for the Halloween season!


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Just went to Fields of Screams in Mountville, PA. It was the best experience in Haunts I have ever had. I was suppose to go to NY for a haunt this weekend, but didn't make reservations in time. Anyway I wasn't disappointed with this haunt and can't really expect anyone else to top it!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!
http://www.fieldofscreams.com/
DEN OF DARKNESS was the best!!!!!!!!!!


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

My wife and I hit the granddaddy of them all, Knott's Scary Farm last Thursday. I think this makes it 9 years straight for me.

Now, Knott's invented the haunted attraction as we now know it, back in 1972/1973. And it keeps getting bigger and bigger. And it's back on top this year.

With six new mazes, it was nice and new and not much seemed like a rehash. The Quarantine maze wasn't very good, but maybe that's because my wife and I hadn't seen the film and therefore didn't understand the maze. The Labyrinth, Cornstalkers, the Doll House, etc. were all good. Some excellent work by all involved.

So SoCal locals, this is a good year to try and get to the Scary Farm. I can't recommend enough though, going on a day other than Friday or Saturday AND going to one of the pre-Scare dinners. We were let in by 6:20 (normally opens at 7) and we hit all the rides we wanted and the Log Ride and Mine Car before 7. 

Go visit the Granddaddy!


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## Brad Green (Jul 29, 2004)

Got to go to Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights this year, and for once, really got to enjoy it. The folk's at Universal seem to have finally gotten a handle on moving the lines and getting everyone through the Houses in record time. We saw all the events in just over three hours and were able to walk around the 'scare zones' without being herded like cattle. Everything opened earlier than promised and they did an excellent job.


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## InfernoFudd (Aug 26, 2008)

I'm planning on going to Hangman's House of Horrors in Fort Worth sometime this week. It's been rated the best HH in America by the Travel Channel. We'll see...


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

As much talk as we had about not doin Lake Compounce again, we went again. Bigger haunt but same boring style. The actors just hide in dark corners pretending to be props then jumping out, growling, snarling, or just bang on a wall for a quick startle. Only ONE actor attempted actually be an interactive part of a set by pretending to be locked up and asking for help. Then there was the ever dreaded, boring chainsaw guys. I'm still astounded that some people get disappointed in there's no chainsaw guy - he's sooooo overdone.

The only reason we choose Compounce again was that it's like 10 mins outside of Plainville where my sister-in-law lives so we had a convenient sitter drop-off for our daughter. We only had time for one haunt this year and I'm wishing we had choosen Graveside Manor instead which I keep hearing good stuff about.


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## Fiend4Halloween (Aug 28, 2008)

Offwhiteknight said:


> My wife and I hit the granddaddy of them all, Knott's Scary Farm last Thursday. I think this makes it 9 years straight for me.
> 
> I'll have to interupt on this one, I think that Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights has to be the Granddaddy of 'em all. I went on opening night, as well as the following Friday, and it rocked both times! A front of the line pass is a must when visiting these venues, we did the park twice over on both days, and still had time to goof around after doing everything. The mazes, the monsters, rides, they even pump smells into the attractions, giving them an even more scent of reality! Went to Toxic Terrors in Lake Elsinore, the Haunted Hotel & Frightmare on Market St, in San Diego, the Del Mar Scaregrounds, and the Haunted Trail in Balboa Park. Hit up Hollywood and went to the Museum of Death and went walking the graveyards in Hollywood as well to see the graves of the stars...it's been a great October so far !! :voorhees:


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

We go to Cedar Point's Halloweekends every year! It's our big annual family vacation, and I couldn't imagine the season without it! I highly recommend going if you're able to get out there!


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

Fiend4Halloween said:


> I'll have to interupt on this one, I think that Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights has to be the Granddaddy of 'em all.
> 
> 
> > Um, no.
> ...


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

What better way to get fired up for the holiday than a visit to a commercial haunt.

Well last Friday we hit *Doomsday Asylum* at the Bowie Baysox stadium in Bowie, MD. We were able to score discounted tickets and we did have fun. They have lots of great props and animated effects, but seemed to be lacking in actors. No drop down panels and only a couple of grabbers. To be honest I was a little disappointed.

Planning to hit *Vampire Manor* in Bel Alton, MD. We've been the past 2 years and its been great. This haunt is inside a 1960's 2-story brick house and is owned and operated by the Charles County Dive and Rescue Team. They put on a great show and all proceeds go to funding their equipment and operations.

Has anyone been to *Paxton Manor* in Leesburg, VA? Just heard about it this year... its inside an 1800's Victorian mansion which looks pretty creepy even without the props and decor. Apparently they began preparations last February and have lots of trained actors this year.


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## ATLfun (Oct 12, 2012)

My wife and I have Saturday speed passes for Atlanta's Netherworld (http://fearworld.com/ ). This will be our fourth year in a row visiting Netherworld. I just cannot imagine any haunted house putting this place to shame. According to their website, they have been voted the number one haunted house in America by several sources including USA Today.

We started buying speed passes (used to be called VIP), about three years ago. The line is a solid two hour wait the closer you get to Halloween. The older I get, the less patience I have for lines, and the extra $25 per ticket is worth every penny.

There is a real cheesy Halloween Parade in Little Five Points, an eclectic section of downtown Atlanta. The parade starts at 4pm this Saturday and we will catch Netherworld afterwards.

Here is a video link to Halloween Parade which is more of a free spirit parade.

http://l5phalloween.com/?page_id=21

.


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