The Nightmare
The Nightmare is on 509 E Hunter Ln Minooka, IL.
This is a free haunt
The Nightmare is a backyard haunt which was done very well. You can tell walking through this haunt they put a lot of heart into designing The Nightmare. The rooms had so much detail done to each and every room. He even had a blow up tunnel where you have to push your way through it to get to the other side. The acting was great as well. These guys put on a great show. For a backyard haunt, they did an amazing job. We really don’t want to talk about what happens inside the haunt because we would like you to go see for yourself. No, this is not a huge haunt that takes 30 mins to walk through, but not all major haunts started big. They all start small. From what we saw, it just amazed us on how much hard work they put into this haunt. We want them to continue on the path they are on because one day the whole of Chicagoland will know who they are. If you haven’t visited this haunt yet, we highly recommend it.
Statesville haunted prison
Statesville
17250 S. Weber Rd. Lockport, IL 60441
Ticket Prices: $30 general admission, $50 VIP
Time through: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Statesville, as always, was a great experience this year! Fluffy went HAM on one of our reviewers (who was there with us on his day off for fun). He stole his glasses from him and kept playing keep away with them. He then finally agreed to give them back but then stole our reviewer’s hat and disappeared to the top of the bunker. Also another one of our reviewers give fluffy a teddy bear. Unfortunately for the teddy bear fluffy rip him into pieces. When we left the dog cage to enter the haunt, we turned and noticed he had hung the hat from the barbed wire up top. (We got it back at the end, don’t worry.) From there we entered the haunt and met the Warden. He gave his big speech about how the prison had been taken over by the inmates and sent us on in. I was super excited walking into the one room where they section you off into groups when I realized they had actual mice in the walls! I don’t know how I missed this detail last year, but I thought that was super cool and I’ve never seen a haunt do this before. I also loved the clown room. A clown tried to trick me into walking into the mirror like my old co-worker did last year. They still had the clowns in harnesses, which I always think is super cool. One of them bounced almost straight down into my crewmates face.
City of the Dead (the second half of Statesville) still had their snake charmers down in the mines which I love because you are allowed to pet the snakes (WITH PERMISSION!!) if you wish. They also had the spiders still, though I know for a fact they were moved. If you are that afraid of something, you’ll remember where they are coming from!! When you walk threw this part of the haunt it really make you feel like your under ground. The scenery is really amazing to look at. In all, we had a great night at Statesville and had a lot of fun interacting with the actors. I can’t wait to come back next year and see how they change it up again! For tickets click on the picture below.
Hells Gate Review
Hells Gate. We spent a total of 40 minutes In the haunted house. General Admission is $28 but if your impatient and wanna go into the haunted house quickly there is the $40 VIP Ticket. They also have a $60 pass if your super duper impatient (like me) you practically won’t have to wait at all! A great perk that Hells Gate has is that they have a free parking lot located at 1300 south state st,Lockport Illinois 60442 which is the Metra station. Once you arrive at your destination aka the Metra Station you will wait for a bus to pick you up.
Our bus took us through the dark scary forest and drop you off where you will have to walk the rest of the way to the mansion. Be aware and keep your eyes peeled at all times all of the scary creatures will come out if they smell you. I personally got the creeps walking through the forest and I am not one to normally scare. Monsters are in every single crevice and crack. Keep your eyes open for the amazing scenery. They have props every single inch of the dark scary forest. I really felt creeped out during this walk because i felt like i was apart of a really good horror movie. The actors did a great job of finding crevices to hide in that you wouldn’t even think of. When we arrived at the mansion we were welcomed in by the gate keeper don’t open the gate unless you are told otherwise you will be doomed! Then you will walk through the gates to the mansion into what I would call a creepy horror movie/ nightmare. Be alert because not every door leads somewhere but you won’t always go through a door! A wild pig might even pop out at you if your not careful walking through the kitchen. If your creeped out by dolls, they have a room full of them every corner possible! if you don’t keep a close eye on them they might move on you or worse follow you home! Not only do pigs live there but DRAGONS do too! The dragons awake out of their slumber and get so close to you that you could almost touch them but remember not to cause they could bite! Another thing before you go if you find a key in 30 seconds you will get your money back. An ending note DON’T forget to wear appropriate shoes since you will be walking through the forest! It was such a cool experience as soon as I exited the mansion i wanted to go do it again! The acting and scenery was PHENOMENAL! Enjoy and happy hunting! For tickets click on the picture below!
Realm of Terror review
Realm of Terror located 421 west Rollins road , round lake beach Illinois 60073.
General admission is $25 and for $35 you can skip the line and the average wait time is less than 15 minutes but if you want to get fancy for $45 you get front of the line access and you get a drink ticket that is valid for 1 drink at the Haunt Bar but you must be 21+ and have a valid ID with you , so don’t forget it! We took 20 minutes to walk through the whole haunt.
When you first enter the haunt, you walk threw the haunt in total darkness. But be careful and remember you are in a haunted house because monsters can pop up at any given moment During the haunt we got pretty wet with a mysterious substance after one of the characters got killed They do have strobe lights so anyone’s who has epilepsy be warned. After walking through the rooms of terror you will find a dark foggy maze, it’s so foggy I could hardly see my own hand in front of me! So keep you eyes peeled for those creatures hiding and don’t get to lost or you might not get out of the haunt. For those of you who have never been to realm of terror this is targeted more toward adults so if you bring young kids,, scenes are graphic! The characters are so gory and bloody for example one guy had his teeth coming out of his stomach. Another example was in the Abortion clinic where you see all of her intestines just hanging out of her body because the doctor ripped the baby out improperly. Don’t forget to look out in front of you and remember to DUCK! There were so many tubes and wires hanging from the ceiling. This haunt had so much detail in every single room possible. I don’t recommend bringing kids at all it is really traumatic. Be aware if your smoking these creatures are hungry so they might or might not eat your cigarette! Also wear appropriate shoes because it’s a haunted house with all different types of terrain! Be ready for a scare!!! For tickets click on the picture below!!!
Catacombs review
Catacombs
6143 W. Irving Park RD. Chicago, IL 60634
Prices: $10 general admission, $18 VIP pass
Time through: about 20 minutes.
Catacombs is always one of my favorite haunts to visit for the fact that every year there is ALWAYS something new. Whether there is a change of characters, or they change the set, I know there is always a surprise waiting for me.
Starting off, we had not even gotten our tickets yet and already, there were line actors EVERYWHERE! If there is one thing I can say Catacombs has on point every year, it’s their line actors. One of them remembered me from last year and came and found me before we even hit the lines. He got right up in my face about it too. It was their Michael Myers character. I mentioned off hand last year that I had not seen any of the Halloween movies. He would not leave me alone until I told him that I had not watched them yet. We then proceeded to kind of just sit down next to each other and stare into the nothingness dejectedly until it was time for me to enter the haunt with my group. I remember one of the first things in the haunt was a pop out that got me to jump. This hillbilly character slid out of his hidey hole and into my face before the trap door had even hit the wall. I have never seen a pop out executed with such mastery. Later, we ran into a pig that came running out of a pitch black room with just its face lit up squealing like mad. That pig scared the pants off the little girl in front of us. The pig led us into the dark room and suddenly a cage door slammed shut behind us! We were locked in!! BOOM!! It gets so dark, you can’t see the bars in front of your face. Cue the strobe light and there are actors surrounding us IN THE CAGE! The little girl in front of us is grabbing my arm so hard, I thought she would leave bruises. She was so scared, she didn’t realize I wasn’t part of her group. Last but not least, I can’t leave you without mentioning the zombie decontamination chamber!!! You MUST enter the room to leave! All in all, I always have a great time visiting Catacombs Haunted House and can’t wait to return again next year and see what spooky updates they come up with next! Keep up the great work guys! See you next year! For tickets click on the picture below!!
Dungeon of Doom REVIEW
Dungeon of Doom is located at 600 29th St, Zion, IL 60099
Tickets prices are different on different days. You have the option of Killer Days and Prime
Days. Killer Days, general admission is $30, VIP is $50. Prime Days, general admission is $35,
VIP is $55. While we waited about 15-20 minutes in the VIP Line there were actors and actress
that tried to keep you entertained. One of the actresses was really cool and she could bend
backwards at such a angle that is VERY hard for most people to do! When we first got into the
haunt we basically got on a scary merry go round and they screamed, made loud noises and
tried to scare you.
Next it was a entertaining performance room where we were told what to do and what not to do
but beware you may or may not be pulled onto the stage to make some serious decisions.
Once you finally get into the haunted house be ready to adjust your eyes as soon as possible
because you could barely see the detail and you might want to bring ear plugs because most of
the actors/actresses just scream at you and you hardly heard any dialogue. We got bunched up
with other groups and it came to a complete stop even though it was supposed to be moving.
Another part I didn’t enjoy was where the actors and actresses had to split us up AGAIN in
groups of 8 even though we were already split up in groups of 12 wat in the beginning.
Once we got into the hospital section the pace became a little more smooth and it became a
little more enjoyable along with it the lighting getting lighter so you could see all the hard work
and detail that was put into each of the rooms. The acting also got better. A cool part was that
they added in liquid effects, like if a clip was shown and the actor got killed, they would spray
water at you from the moving video. The part we loved the most was that you actually got
BURIED ALIVE! So if you’re claustrophobic, this may not be the room for you. On the bright
side, you do have the option to tell the gravedigger you would like to sit this one out. Make sure
you wear gym shoes because you will be walking on all types of terrain. All in all, it was not a
great night due to the amount of foot traffic they had and we hope to see some improvement
next year. For tickets click on the picture below.
ABANDONED REVIEW
Location: 2825 SE Frontage Road, Mount Pleasant WI, 531777
Price:Stalker – $15.00, Ambush and Hysteria – $25.00, Combo of all THREE – $30.00
VIP is only $10 extra *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*
Hours: Fridays and Saturday’s 7:00P – 11:30P
Sunday Nov. 3rd (Last Day) 7:00 – 10:00P Blackout Night
Time to go through: about 45 minutes to go through all.
Stalker:
Do you like cats? Did you watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre and love it? This is the house for
you. It seriously feels like you are in the house of a cannibal. I hope you like gruesome body
parts smacking you in the face as you walk through, there are plenty of those. I remember
walking through the corn fields and one of the first characters I see is this birdman, and the
sound he made were so eery and life like. I had the chills! They were very good at hiding in
between the stalks and you don’t actually see them until they are on top of you. This was
probably my favorite haunt.
Ambush and Hysteria:
In Ambush, you’re in a time machine. They had this awesome cone shaped laser that combined
with the fog looked like an actual portal. All the clocks in the room are set to different times
which I thought was a cool touch. I remember going back to a time when everything was forest
and there was these Vodun priests and priestesses. They were praising some dark god and
looking for a sacrifice. Their characters were really well crafted. Hysteria I honestly didn’t care
for to much. Most of it was just loud sounds, and pop outs that didn’t have a lot of weight. I feel
like it was missing…for lack of a better term, “character”.
Overview:
Abandoned was a good experience and honestly they really focus on middle people scares! For
those of you who think the middle is safe, YOU BETTER THINK TWICE! It would have been
incredible if they got the people in the front as well! That’s where the courageous people are.
That’s your hard targets to scare!
The reason why you should buy the VIP tickets is because they reduce your wait time
significantly. In the end, you end up in the same coffin anyways. I hope to see them again next
year with a bigger team because this haunt has the capability of growing bigger. For ticket click on the picture below.
Reapers Realm
Reapers Realm is located at 626 117th St. Hammond, IN 46324. General admission for tickets is $30. VIP tickets cost $35. You can visit all 3 haunts separately if you wish, for that I recommend checking prices online at http://reapersrealm.com/admission as Reaper’s Mansion, Reaper’s Revenge, and Reaper’s Woods are different prices depending on if you choose one or two and which haunt.
The very first haunt was called Reaper’s Mansion. We probably took about 20 minutes to walk through the entire thing. The rules room was so cool because when we walked in, they had a ginormous mechanical reaper that held a soul hostage! As soon as we walked in, the strobe lights drove me insane.You really had to use your arms to guide you so you didn’t run into any walls. The cool part was, they had a slide in order get to another part of the haunt! I enjoyed that a ton; I felt like a little kid again. I didn’t realize that it was a slide at first because on the way to the slide, you walked through the line with 3D glasses on and all you can see is skulls jumping out at you. During the 3D part of the haunt they gave you a pair of 3D glasses that didn’t exactly stay on your face so you had to try and make it work. You just kind of have to hold them on your face and they didn’t work very well. Another cool part of the haunted house was that while we were walking through, there was a spinning room where you walked around to the next room while the floor moves. There was a ton of mirrors in the room so I didn’t exactly get scared, more so, I was trying to figure out which part was an opening so you could continue to the next part of the haunt. The 3D part of the room was cool cause some of the writing on the wall actually jumped out at you. The last part I remember of this haunt was the short bridge over mirrors so you looked like you were walking over an abyss. I’ve never seen this done before and it was one of the coolest illusions I have ever seen!
Reaper’s Revenge is the second haunt in the 3 part haunted house. This haunt took about 8 minutes from start to finish to get through. The scenery was on point and the theme was very closely related to a prison/insane asylum. The beginning of the haunted house had a scene where an inmate was being electrocuted and if you put your hands on the window you can feel his body making the room shake.There weren’t that many actors for a lot of rooms because it was a Sunday and it’s still the early season for Reapers Realm.
Reaper’s Woods was actually pretty cool for a woods haunt. Most of the haunt was pure maze, so naturally, it took us about 7-10 minutes get though. The first thing I remember was a girl walking out from behind a car, and in the most platonic tone I’ve ever heard used in a haunted house says, “You have to run, he’s coming” and right around the corner is Michael Myers coming at me with a knife. I was like, “OK then…” and walked around another corner and there is Jason running up to me and grabs the girl from behind me (I had NO idea she was following me) and starts stabbing the heck out of this chick and she starts screaming and all I could do was stand there and laugh for a second because it was so unexpected. After that, we entered the maze section which I thought was really well done. The fences were extra high for all heights, and they were also designed so you walked into corners instead of dead end walls. The only thing I didn’t like was that the maze was full of Michael Myers and Jasons. I wish they had been a little more original with their characters. After the maze, was a bridge. As we crossed the bridge, a new age IT came running out from underneath it. He never said anything, just…ran up to the bridge. I feel that could have been a much better scare. I’m gonna chalk that one up to them drawing a blank and not wanting to break character. The last thing I remember of the haunt was another girl who also jumped from behind a parked car and hysterically screamed at us to run through a bunch of bloody sheets. I won’t spoil why. If you want to know, come check out Reapers Realm for yourself and have a blast! I guarantee it.
Dead rising review
Dead Rising Haunted House located 13624 South Cicero Avenue in Crestwood Illinois.
It’s kind of hidden so keep your eyes peeled for the car with the Dead Rising sign. Tickets for General Admission are $18 but if you wanna be a very important princess or prince (aka VIP Tickets) they are $25 which is totally worth it. If you’re worried about parking, worry be gone! A free parking lot is 5 ft from entrance!
Since we were in the VIP line we probably waited about 8 minutes before we went into the haunted house. While we waited in line we were entertained by “Not Blade” (who was the haunts “Percussive Maintenance”, do NOT ask him if he is a cop!) and a scary clown who had a huge hammer that snuck up on you and made every hair on your body stick up. Walking through the haunted house probably took about 20 minutes, maybe a little longer if you got lost in the maze (yes, we got lost too. It was kind of the point). I have been to a handful of haunted houses and the thing I love most about Dead Rising is the fact that they will make sure that when they send you in, the whole time it’s JUST you and your friends in the house. I loved how they throw popcorn at you and interact with you to make you forget how scary looking their clowns are! If you’re looking for a haunted house that has great scenery, makeup and acting, this is the best place to go! Another cool thing they have is an impressive amount of actors and actresses in each of the rooms so none of your members are left unentertained! Over all, I loved Dead Rising Haunted House! I highly recommend this haunted house! 10/10 guys, great job! We are all looking forward to next year! For tickets click on the picture below!!!!!
