Abandoned Haunted House Complex Review (2023)

The cast does a phenomenal job playing their characters and going beyond to ensure they interact with the full group.

In Hysteria, we were met with a variety of characters, but one stood out the most. There is a new scene that is the perfect likeness to London during the Jack the Ripper era. An actor stopped us to give us directions for the way out. I don’t know how he expected us to remember the left, right, 2 lefts, 1 right, and 20 lefts, but at least we didn’t zig when we should have zagged. During this time, an old man showed up and assured us to not trust the gentleman because he had been trying to find the exit for years already.

The actors in Ambush gave more of a direct style of acting in the sense of quick pop-ups and using items to startle guests. Some notable examples of this were within the hospital scene where the patients were caged up and used the fencing to drag stuff across the fence. The same goes for the warzone scene with an actor on the turret gun, which made a quick appearance, and went back to hiding. Ambush has a great prison scene, and the first actor we come across gives a prison Cholo vibe. It was great making eye contact with them and giving them the Cholo head nod and receiving one back, and that was our whole interaction… powerful stuff. When we did get big interactions, the actor made it count. There is a stripper scene with a drag queen who told me, “I haven’t seen this much man since I got out of the shower this morning.” They have always been a highlight for each walkthrough and seriously make the room work.

The actors in Stalker are a different breed from the rest of the attractions. The trail is populated with actors roaming in the open space of the cornfield, occasionally making their way to the path, and intimidating us. They reside in cabins, trailers, and huts. The actors make the walk-through scary fun. I had one actor look at me up and down and raise their hands and say, “uppies, uppies,” to which I proceeded to lift the actor and carry them like a toddler for a little bit. There was a great scene that felt like a junkyard, and the actors here also did a great job. One, in particular, stood on top and had a menacing smile and the craziest eyes on anyone who passed by. These actors here had no issues jumping from one spot to another above head level, confusing the experience as it felt like there were more actors than actual. They worked in their area well.

The Actors overall were plentiful and worked well together and solo to provide a great experience for all to enter.

Costuming and makeup throughout abandoned were of great quality and worked well for each scene. Starting with queue costuming, Bacon wore a great costume and also had killer accessories. The mask Bacon wore was shaped like a boar but wrapped in burlap and had a fair share of blood on the tusks and snout. The clothing was army-like, with a vest with bullets, giving them a more tactical appearance. Bacon had an actual half of a pig jaw that was used for clubbing and a fun sidekick named Piggy, which was a standard dog toy, but we, of course, had the pleasure of squeaking him.

Inside Stalker, most costuming throughout the trail, happened to be hiding bush costumes for actors to hide and suddenly appear. Other great costuming we saw fit the idea behind Stalker being more farm-friendly, so actors were in overalls and flannels. Inside the butcher scene, there is a vintage Porky the Pig-looking costume that is placed inside the gory shop. It is hidden pretty well comes out with a flashing light and works as the mascot for the shop.

Hysteria had some great makeup applied throughout, which gave depth to the characters. Inside the castle walls just before the Book of the Dead is what I presume to be a witch sitting and watching guests pass by. They had a cloak, and the makeup applied gave them a paler appearance. Within the London scene, we did see what appeared to be sick towns folk as it appeared they had life drained from them due to the plague. The clothes felt appropriate for the time being portrayed as well.

Ambush had some great costuming as well that shined throughout. The opening church scene had a nun that allowed us passage into the attraction. Of course, the makeup applied made it seem as though she was far from righteous or in any good standing with God. Another stand-out costume would be the bellhop in the hotel scene. They had that classic uniform with a double button and a tiny hat. It worked well with the character and scene to provide a more immersed check-in for us.

Abandoned is located right off of I-94, just a bit north of the Illinois border. Parking is free and plentiful, and the parking guard has a really good system in place to make sure parking is seamless. Just look for the eerie, round red lights!

On the haunt grounds, there are plenty of staff around that help direct guests to the midway and help direct them to lines as well. There is a large social media presence as well that keeps followers up to date and offers deals and discount codes. On rainy nights they offer free ponchos to keep dry and enjoy the evening. Make sure to get there early as there is an opening ceremony to start the night!

Abandoned Haunted House Complex is essentially just that, a big complex. Walking on the midway allows guests to choose what attractions they would like to attend first, so options are either to start at Stalker or take on Hysteria, followed directly after Ambush. The complex area is big enough to handle lines and still be fun and has a giant screen to play movie clips and music videos (accompanied by fire). There are plenty of fire pits around to help keep warm, as well as photo opportunities. Another awesome feature is the working diner. There are plenty of options to eat that are more carnival-based foods.

The attractions don’t have a storyline, but scenes can flow from one room to the next rather than a one-and-done type situation. It gives more opportunities for enjoying details and becoming immersed for a longer time.

Abandoned gave an amazing show when it came to special effects. Having different styles from all three attractions gives us plenty to go over.

Stalker’s special effects commonly are hazed with a thick fog throughout the more common walk-through areas. We do end up in plenty of great scenes posted throughout the corn stalk. One of the new scenes we walked into was a morgue. We first walked through the office area, which appeared to be dated with old coffin advertisements on the walls as well as other typical office materials. Just beyond that, we ended up passing two embalming tables, which, of course, made sense. One of the coolest features we have seen was just beyond this scene. The team at Abandoned found a vet hospital that was retiring and purchased their cremator and added it to this scene. It is still a functioning piece of equipment, and they use it! The flames surround some of those fire pit skulls people can purchase for home use. Another favorite during the corn trail is the carnival dark ride. Traditionally, dark rides have a roller coaster seat that leads guests in; however, sticking to tradition… the ride is broken down. The dark ride adds a bit of quirky classic Halloween vibes to an otherwise frightening attraction.

Hysteria is the first indoor attraction. This one has a time travel theme, allowing us to see many different types of scenes throughout history. The jungle scene brings us way back and is the starting point. The scenes here feel fully immersed, complete with sounds and props. Going further in allows us to visit other points in history, and one of the latest additions to this is the 1800 London era. The scene looks amazing as we walk through cobblestone buildings and big wooden doors. The audio here is unusually interesting as it is a constant cough. The idea is a black plague is occurring and causing the town here to be contaminated. Further on, there is a castle that dates back even further. Walking up to this scene is amazing as the castle façade towers the room and is accompanied by snowfall. We do make our way through here and find props such as a blacksmith workshop and dungeon devices. This attraction is multi-leveled, so we can catch glimpses of below us and rooms to come.

Ambush has some new features that left us in awe. Walking in the first scene is more of a church-like setting, complete with a sermon on the speakers as well as classic church organ music. Walking through leads us to one of the coolest-looking exorcism scenes. We walk by a bed surrounded by four priests, bibles open, and crosses equipped. Hovering over the bed is a woman vomiting black sludge who is attempting to be chained down to the bed but is escaping. Thunder sounds fill the room, and lightning flashes through. There is the use of an industrial fan to help create what feels like a chaotic storm happening within this room. There are some great details throughout other areas of this attraction, such as having to enter an ambulance and then walking around it to see it crashed just outside a hospital. When walking through the hospital, there are plenty of typical items such as X-rays and jars filled with specimens. Another great addition we saw for Ambush was the hotel. The lobby area is rather big and has a bellhop that checks us in, having to walk behind the desk they encourage us to check the next guests in ourselves. Walking further in, we pass by two elevators that have their tricks in store. There is what seems like an endless hallway that’s fogged plenty and made us question just how deep this attraction is. Overall, Abandoned is a must-see and shows some of the most impressive ideas we have seen throughout all three attractions.

Time for the big question, is it scary? The many times we have gone through, we can’t help but feel overwhelmed, shaken up, and sweaty every time we exit. The intensity surpasses anything one could fathom. We did manage to attend a second time for fun after our first review day, and the group trailing behind us served as undeniable proof of the haunt’s fright factor, amplified by their chilling natural sound effects all the way through.

Hysteria is the section renowned for its intense sensory overload — the tight walkthrough amplifies the experience, creating a vivid and disorienting atmosphere, heightened by the deafening volume. The actors use this opportunity to their advantage and swiftly create scares during these distractions. It is not visibly seen but the actors have the opportunity to attack multiple times while walking around their respective area. While chaos is normal in this section, there is a new scene that took us by surprise and is unique. A replica of London is the setting, and the time is during the Black Plague. Distant cough sound effects fill the room, creating a sense of uneasiness that we couldn’t manage to hold our coughs. Though it was something so simple, it was effective enough to bring our guard down since the mention of Jack the Ripper was eventually brought up down the line.

Ambush is more actor-driven and not as tight as the earlier attraction. This still doesn’t stop the actors from being able to hide in dark corners to create effective scares. Entering a gentleman’s club is always an exciting time unless you walk into a stripper cleaning someone’s bloody face that was resting on the bar counter. As we walked in, she stopped and charged towards us while asking if the cloth smelled like chloroform while shoving it into our faces. The sewer scene was also a great scare after a huge rat animatronic charged way too close to us while we were passing by. The chainsaw wielders at the end did their job by chasing us out of the building.

Stalker consists of different scenes that create diverse types of scares. The cornfield is high enough to cover the rest of the attraction, which creates a profound sense of suspense. The dense fog combined with the use of different colored lights distorts the vision to help the actors move around unnoticed. Suspenseful music can be heard, which is very unnerving. The dark ride section is completely in the dark, where one can get lost easily until a loud animatronic flashes a blinding light. Another section that was creepy (kind of cute too) is in the pig slaughterhouse, where the brand mascot that resembled Porky Pig lurks in the dark. Don’t let that cute piggy fool you though, it is lurking in the dark for a sinister reason. While the actors did an excellent job hiding in the dark and coming out perfectly timed to execute their scares, there is the one section that trumps all while it is well-lit. The ending here is a simple path that leads to the exit, but what makes it unique is the use of dense fog and bright lights. The lights switch from white to red and occasionally it gets pitch black. A few lurkers are standing by and using the switching lights to their advantage to move closer between color switches. The times we have been here, people always get lost in the fog and it’s always comical to see stray friends waiting at the end for their lost friends. I guess it’s a fight or flight moment when you hear the chainsaws when you can’t see where they are coming from.

Overall, all the attractions efficiently place their actors to create the best scares and do so with all their passion. The immersive settings are distractions enough to keep you occupied long enough for the actors to attack. This is a highly recommended haunt to check out during the Halloween season.

Going through all 3 attractions, the total walkthrough is a whopping 60 minutes. General admission starts at $40 for general admission. This brings the MPD to 1.5 which is above average. An extra $15 gets you VIP passes, which we highly recommend since there is never a slow day here. Apart from the attractions, tickets for axe throwing can be bought for an additional $5.

The entertainment doesn’t stop after the scares. There is a photo booth op with bonus weapons to pose with. A gift shop is open for your hoodie and shirt needs and has been adding fleece sweatpants and zip-up jackets. Food and alcoholic beverage stands are available at any time. Every time we visit, we never want to leave and it’s worth the drive out from Chicago.