# Pro Haunt Reviews.



## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

The last two years I haven't really been able to get to any Pro Haunts in or around my area due to the time needed to set up my own haunt but this year I have three haunts I am looking forward to checking out. The three are Blood Manor NYC, Casola Farms Haunted Hayride of Terror in Homdel NJ and the State Scare Factory in Belleville NJ.

The first review is of New York Cities Blood Manor which I visited this past Thursday night with a group of friends. I'll try to list the Good the Bad and then an overall rating out of 5. I hope you enjoy the review and if you have any questions for anything I don't answer please let me know! So here we go...

BLOOD MANOR - 

THE GOOD - Blood Manor is a decent size walkthrough. It took us about 20 minutes to go through. The entire haunt is based on 1 floor of a large city building. Each room was different yet highly detailed and the actors were top notch with great costumes and highly detailed makeup. 

Blood Manor does a great job at overloading your senses and constantly delivers the scares. They do a good job at building up the suspense to the point that you know something is about to happen but you can never pinpoint when or where the scare will come from. Actors hide themselves well in each of the various themed rooms. They scare your through drop panel and hidden doors, the come at your from the floor towards your feet and even from above. They do like to get right up in your face and make you feel uncomfortable but they know when to back off and let you keep going.

The rooms in the haunt constantly change. Each is highly detailed. The ratio of animitronic props to actors in each room is about 60/40 actors to animitronics. I though the animated props were placed well and used well, I was actually frightened by a few of the animated popup/out props. You can also tell that the guys running the haunt go to the trade shows because they had a lot of brand new animated and CG effects from this year so nothing feels dated.

A few of the rooms that stuck out were the blacked out maze room which had a lot of mini air cannons to startle you, it was totally pitch black and took some time to feel around until you got out. The bloody butcher room with at least 20 hanging pigs to push your way through, the lab where some unsavory experiments were taking place. The Freddy room with various steam pipes going off and a pretty freaky boiler that held a great scare and of course Freddy lurking in the shadows, the rotating laser hallway which gave the same effect as a vortex tunnel, and finally the 3D maze which really topped it all off, if your afraid of or even love 3D Chainsaw weilding psycho clowns, sideshow oddities and crazy zombie stripper vampires!, then this maze was awesome and definitely for you! There were a lot more rooms to talk about but these few above stuck out to me.

THE BAD - There really isn't to many bad things to say. I think the price was a bit much for just the one haunt and the time it takes to go through it but it is NYC so you have to expect that. They did try their best to separate you and let in only 6 at a time yet we still caught up to the group behind us about half way through. I don't know if they were total scaredy cats and just taking their time but it ruined some of the surprise for us and lastly, you have to walk up 7 flights of stairs to get to the top of where the haunt is, there are no elevators in this building! They don't tell you that and it was tiring getting up there. I may have been to tired to even get scared. The building was a bit hot as well so while you are waiting on the stairs I could have used a water, a fan or something.

Overall out of 5 I'd give Blood Manor a respectable 3.5. They have all the top of the line animations, detailing, sound and actors a pro haunt should have but it leaves you wanting more in the end and only another $28 will get you that.

Tonight I'm checking out Casola Farms in Homdel NJ. They have a haunted Hayride, corn field and 3D Barn all for around $20 so I'll be back with my review for that late tonight. Then finally I'll review State Scare Factory in Belleville NJ.

I hope you enjoyed this review as it was my first and hopefully you head out and visit some of your local haunts this halloween season!

Keep them scares a coming!


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## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

I think this is a great idea and appreciate you taking the time to do this even though these haunts are too far away for me to ever visit. It was enjoyable to read your descriptions of this haunt and you had me wishing I could visit it. I was surprised at your rating, but with your explanation I understood. I thought you did a good job with this and look forward to reading additional reviews by you. Also, I hope others will join in and add their own reviews of not only the haunts you visit and review, but others as well.


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## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

Thanks tot13! I haven't read many reviews of other haunts out there and I am always looking for reviews when I head to a haunt in my area just to see what the general reaction has been by other visitors of those haunts before I decide to go so I do hope to read some more posts on here about haunts everyone has visited weather Home or Pro and what you thought.

As promised today I am here to write my review of Casola Farms Hayride of Terror which I visited last night. Just like in my review for Blood Manor I will list the GOOD the BAD and give a rating out of 5. Please keep in mind that no matter what the rating I do appreciate the effort given at any haunt. I know it takes a lot to put in a good night of scaring. Overall I am taking note of other patrons reactions and how they enjoyed the haunt as well as my own reactions.

So on to Casola Farms Hayride of Terror in Homdel NJ.

Casola Farms is a large 75 acre farm located in Homdel NJ. Every year my wife and I pick out pumpkins from Casola farms so we have only experienced what they offer during the daytime but have seen their advertising for their night time Hayride of Terror. This really is a great place if you have small children because they offer pony rides, lots of photo ops, musical shows and an enormous gift shop full of pies, cookies and sweets along with various halloween props which are all for sale. Their pumpkin patch is very large and there is never a shortage of pumpkins, gords, haystacks and corn stalks for sale.

So onto the Hayride of Terror! As we pulled in you can hear a loud audio track of screams and haunting sounds which helped to get you excited. Casola farms advertises 3 haunts on their website http://www.triplecnurseries.com/haunted/ I'm not sure how out to date their site is because the prices seemed to be different when we actually paid at the farm. In total it cost us $15 for all three attractions however on their website they list prices individually but since we wanted to do all three we were fine with the $15 ticket cost.

This time I will start with the BAD as unfortunately it outweighs the good.

THE BAD - When we first pulled up to Casola Farms in our car I actually thought it may be closed but I saw a few lights on and noticed the traffic cops waving people in so we continued on. It was slightly confusing to find where to actually buy our tickets, we saw a large sign pointing towards the hayride but no sign for the ticket booth. We bought our tickets in the food court area however we came to find the actual ticket booth was located at the very front of the line which seems a bit backwards to us.

We waited in line for about an hour before we entered the first attraction which was the corn maze. In most pro haunts you have a few que line actors to keep your patrons entertained but there was none. I can easily keep myself entertained but I do like the interaction with actors to help get me excited for the haunt so at least one or two actors would have been nice.

We entered the first Attraction which was the Corn Field. This was a man made field meaning it was corn stalks that were cut down and bundled and layout out into a maze. This portion was the most upsetting because there were no actors and hardly any props, maybe one or two scarecrows. There would have been so many great opportunities to scare someone but there were none and we zoomed through it in less then 3 minutes. The corn maze lead you to the Haunted Green House (which I suppose substitutes for the 3D Barn they advertised?

At the beginning of the Green house a few character actors come out to scream and yell at the crowd then they quickly head into the green house because they are the same actors who will scare you inside. You aren't split up in groups and are actually lead into the green house by someone in a large gorilla suit with a lion head, he called himself a "LiGrilla" It felt like we were pushed through this part fairly quickly. This inside was simply black wooden walls with a few decorations, some lawn ornament type animations and maybe 3 actors who scared you from a few drop panel doors but we moved so fast and were bunched in a group of at least 15 to ever really get scared.

Finally we made our way to the tractor to start the Hayride. The ride lasted about 15-20 minutes and made multiple stops along the way at various scenes where actors would talk to us or jump on the wagon to interact with us. I know there are other farms out there that do hayrides but I have no base to go on so it's hard for me to say if they could have taken better advantage of the scares or not. When you are all contained on one tractor I am sure it makes it hard on just one actor to scare someone but I am sure there are other haunts out there that know how to do it, it just seemed lacking here.

THE GOOD - The actors in the Green House did have good costumes. I can tell there were all wearing Composite Effects Mask and they made sure to get in your face to creep you out, Even the actors on the hay ride attraction had good costumes.

The hay ride itself had some nice scenes and animitronics. They had a huge cemetery with smoke fog and lighting and a few zombies that attacked the tractor, there was a nice bloody butcher shop scene with a nice illusion of a butcher chopping a screaming woman, a great T-Rex animated life size prop and a Freddy scene where Freddy comes out and chases after the tractor, his claws scraping along the sides. There was plenty to look at and it was a long trail.

Overall out of 5 I have to give this a 1.7. This is a great event if you have never been to a haunt before and want to get your first taste or if you have friends who are afraid of going to haunts because the scare factor is low. There is a nice creepy sense about being out in the woods in the dark with only a few tiki torches lighting the way but if your a hardcore haunt fan who is going for the high detail sets and high scare factor this is not the place for you and you will be disappointed. The $15 dollar ticket price does get you a lot and overall we spent maybe 40 minutes going through it all but with only a few tweaks the experience could have been that much better.

Tonight I head to State Scare Factory in Belleville NJ. I am really looking forward to this second year haunt the says it has 31 rooms to explore with over 40+ actors a night so I will be back tomorrow with my review. Have a frightfully fun Halloween!


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## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

Hi all! Well Im here to quickly write my last review as promised but sadly it is not of the State Scare Factory.

About half way through the day on Halloween I got a phone call from my In-Laws asking if we were swinging by to come check out Bender Avenue in Roselle Park NJ. Now I have been to Bender Avenue once before about 4 or 5 years ago so I knew a little about it. You see they close down about 3 blocks of Bender and every house on the street puts on a display and decorates. They really go all out! Some of the houses do little theatrical displays and others are simply static displays but everyone does a GREAT JOB! 

There were hundreds of people walking up and down the block to look at the display and everyone was dressed in costume from the Tot's to the parents. Everyone was having a good time and there were even people dressed in some elaborate costumes simply there to entertain everyone.

I went to entertain as I was told they always have some insane clowns running around and playing tricks on the block so I decide to join their crew and run around and boy was it a great time! I was fortunate to learn about some new masks called Brow Raisers just in time to buy the clown version and put it to the test and I got some great reactions. For anyone who hasn't heard of these masks they are a made buy a division of the toy company Jakks Pacific. When you place them on the jaw portion of the mask fits snug to your chin and when you talk the lips of the mask and the the eye brows move, it makes for a great effect! I will post some pictures of my costume and of the mask giving a better review of it but props go to The Bloodshed Brothers because it was in one of their Vlogs that I heard about these masks and got to see the Bug version first hand.

All in all if you are looking for a great place to bring your Tots on Halloween or if you yourself simply wants to have a good time and show off your costume then Bender Ave is the place to go.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween! Looking forward to next year. Remember to support your local haunts and try to make it out to at least one every year to keep the scares alive!


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

Great reviews frightguy. Thank you for taking the time to post them for us.


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## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

No problem! I'm always looking to read or hear about reviews of haunt I plan to go to so I hope these have been enjoyable for everyone. I'm hoping to branch out and make it to either the Darkness in St Louis or Neatherworld in Atlanta next year. Hope everyone had a great season!


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## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

Hi All.

I thought this was cool so I wanted to share.

So this past weekend I was told about a Halloween Event in New York City that I had never heard of before called the St John The Divine Halloween Extravaganza. You may have heard of the Cathedral Church of St John The Divine in New York which is located at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue but if not here is a little history about it.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine holds the title of largest Cathedral and Anglican church and fourth largest Christian church in the world. The inside covers 121,000 Sq Ft with the height of the nave being 124 Ft. It's nickname is St. John the Unfinished because it was designed in 1888 and it's construction began in 1892. Through the years it has gone through various stylistic changes and to this day it's construction continues.

The Halloween extravaganza takes place every year and has become a New York institution, providing Halloween entertainment for a myriad of costume-clad New Yorkers. The evening's entertainment begins with a screening of a classic horror film such as The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney. The Cathedral Organist Timothy Brumfield provids an eerie soundtrack for the classic films which creates the perfect haunting atmosphere for watching the film.

Following the movie, The Grand Procession of Ghouls begins, again accompanied by the Cathedral's outstanding organist. The procession stages an impressive parade of ghoulish characters who slowly work their way down the center aisle, often interacting with the audience members. The costumes are impressive and the ghouls stay perfectly in character, which makes for an enjoying experience for young and old alike.

You can check out a video of the Extravaganza at my blog: http://grimlockmanor.blogspot.com/

If your in New York or happen to visit then I highly suggest going to check out the Cathedral, it's just enormous and so impressive and if your a haunter it is that much cooler!

Enjoy!


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