Abattoir A Haunted Attraction Review (2020)

On any given night, about 20 cast members can be found within the walls of Abattoir. Given the current guidelines for COVID, this seemed to be a reasonable number, but we would speculate that additional monsters, particularly on the main level, may be beneficial in future seasons.

Although many of them didn’t talk to us, there were a few that did. For the most part, they interacted with us by getting as close as they could, quickly revealing themselves, or giving us some mean-mugging stare downs.

Billy Bonzo was by far the most believable of the bunch. He tried to convince us that, even though he was a serial killer – not a clown, he was a nice man. He also informed us that ‘[he] didn’t kill her, [he] just hit her’ as he showed us a bowling pin with blood and hair stuck to it. Okay, then! Moving along, now’

The monster at the top of the stairs was also verbally interactive as he maniacally counted down from 10 as we made our way down the steps. He was only giving us 10 seconds to get down there and luckily, we made it.

Abattoir totally surprised us with their costuming. Most of the monsters were outfitted from head to toe! We did, however, notice a select few that seemed incomplete, along with some that didn’t match the areas we found them in quite as well as others.

Nearly all of the monsters had masks on. They consisted of a large variety, but most were high quality selections. A handful of them were very expensive, silicone disguises. One monster donned a silicone mask with matching silicone arms, too! Wait, maybe that wasn’t fake…

When it comes to makeup, we can only think of one actress that we noticed makeup on and she was a victim in a body bag with some blood on her. From what we could see of the other characters, their extremities were covered and their masks blended in well with their natural facial features (possibly with the use of some makeup).

We encountered some utterly unexplainable creatures here! One crawled out beside a piano and we were later informed that this ‘thing’ was made years ago, in-house. Another was found in the basement. It was a straight jacket of sorts paired with an extremely freaky mask. We would not recommend staying around this patient for long. They had an ‘A.I. room’ and the two creatures within it were unlike anything we’ve seen before. Both of them featured glowing apparatuses that helped portray the idea of sucking the intelligence out of them.

Finding the attraction was easy. Google Maps led us right to the place and the bright white-illuminiated sign let us know that we’d arrived. Free parking is available in a lot to the right of the building (if you’re looking at it from the front), but we found street parking nearer to the ticket booth and queue line tents as well. A portable restroom was available near the queue area.

The queue area was roped off to guide guests through a series of tents before entering the building, which would surely be welcomed on rainy nights. We easily found the ticket booth and where to go once we arrived as they had some signs set up. We noticed a small concession area near the entrance that appeared to offer, at minimum, some hot food from a slow-cooker.

We did notice some COVID precautions being taken. They had some hand sanitizer available and social distancing marks on the ground in the waiting line every 6 feet to help keep groups separated. Staff members that were interacting with guests had PPE masks on. Inside the haunt, the monsters stayed at a safe distance and we didn’t encounter any other groups during our walkthrough.

There were two sets of stairs inside. There are also a few places outside that could – in the event of a terror-induced running spree – cause someone to trip or run through a rope, so do please watch where you’re going.

Abattoir doesn’t have a website up yet, but they do have a Facebook page where you can find a small bit of information before attending. We might recommend at least adding additional information to the ‘About’ section so guests can easily find ticket information and other common FAQ’s.

We were informed that the haunt takes place inside an old medical supply building that resides within the city’s historical district. In that regard, the haunt is limited on what they can do to the exterior of the building, but they do have some interesting plans in the works for the future!

At the very front of the building, there was a sign in a glass window and two projections; one was a large eyeball and the other was casting some ghostly figures. These definitely aided in increasing the haunted house feeling. The white-illuminated street sign also gave us a clue, along with the static-but-realistic Pennywise statue attached to it. In the queue area, there was some low, menacing music playing that helped set the tone for what we were about to experience.

Wow! We weren’t sure what to expect, but they had a lot of high-tech effects that they used especially well. Sprinkled between were some effects they had created in-house as well.

The first few sets started off modestly with a crude collection of various objects that seemed to be added to the building’s pre-existing rooms and hallways. The original flooring and walls from the building were still intact, which lent a bit to authenticity, but seemed to take away from the ‘immersion’ of the haunt for us in this application. The basement, however, was very creepy on its own with natural pipes lining the ceiling. It was definitely a ‘dark and dank’ setting down there.

As we made our way through, we came across some of the most realistic dead bodies you’ll ever see, several giant and furry creatures, wrapped up dead bodies, and a few areas where the scenes will interact with you, making you get out of your comfort zone a bit.

We must make note of the chainsaw hallway. Although we don’t want to ruin it, and you need to experience it for yourself, the owner has custom-created a hallway that utilized prop chainsaws and it’s to die for!

They also managed to get a real van inside the haunt, and this was no ordinary van’ this was one of those creeper vans where you go to get free candy to never be found again. As we made our way closer to the villainous vehicle, we noticed a partially-exposed victim in the rear cargo area and heard a news broadcast warning citizens of a serial killer by the name of Billy Bonzo. Uh, remember us talking about him above?

There were some additional sound effects that worked well with the scenes, and the sounds that were paired with the effects were especially’ well, effective! In contrast, however, we did catch the loud drone of an air compressor at one point and some areas with no soundtrack at all. Still, for a 1st-year haunt that got off to a late start with their build, we were quite impressed! We definitely can’t wait to check them out in future seasons.

One of the owners of the attraction informed us that their theme for this season is basically an abandoned asylum. The upstairs section is where the patients are freely doing as they please because there’s no longer any staff to guide them. However, in the basement, things make a turn for the worse as guests will start to experience the patients’ delusions themselves!

It was pretty easy to pick out that we were in some sort of hospital, but evidence of any sort of theme (beyond what the owner told us) didn’t make itself apparent organically. Upstairs, we encountered alien figures, a serial killer, and more, while downstairs we encountered a clown, human butcher, and large creatures.

They did inform us that, next season, the theming will be completely changed and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

We endured a fair share of quick jump scares throughout the haunt. Most of these derived from good hiding spots and the animated effects. The scenes themselves were larger upstairs, making it more difficult to spot where the scares would target us from.

There were some intimidating creatures; several of which were wielding weapons, a piano surprise, animations that jolted to life, sinister stares, and some common fears and phobias. The scares were spread out quite evenly amongst our group. One of the most effective scares made a group member feel as if they were getting ready to lose their arm!

As we made our way through this dark and decrepit basement, which was creepy all on its own, we finally reached what appeared to be the finale exit. At this point, we came face-to-face with a scary-looking creature, but all it did was slowly stalk us out the exit with its weapon. A buildup scare at the end would really help increase the Scare Factor.

General admission tickets were $15.00 per person. On the night of our visit, it took us 8 minutes to escape their delusional thoughts. This brings their MPD (minutes of entertainment received per dollar spent) to 0.53 which is quite a bit below the average of 1.3 we’ve seen most often.

In the basement, the scenes were more enclosed while the upper level felt like there was more less-densely-decorated space. In the future, we hope to see them utilizing more of that space to help add some length to the experience.

As we waited to enter, other than the low music, we didn’t notice anything else to entertain guests while they waited. They also may not have had any queue roamers interacting with the guests as their line was in a tighter area under the tents and this could have interfered with social distancing.

The owner informed us that he’s been behind the scenes of the industry for years and we could tell! We absolutely can’t wait to see where this attraction goes in the future. They have some great ideas, great props, and great costuming. If you’re looking for something fun to do in the Vincennes, Indiana area, definitely pay them a visit!