The Akron Schoolhouse and Laboratory sits on a gentle slope down Triplett Boulevard, looming above the nearby buildings and casting a long shadow over its future victims. There’s a special magic in these two houses as the authenticity of their settings blends with the special effects crafted by their team to make a truly unique and horrific experience. Climbing the stairs in both houses gives you time to build anticipation and try to be ready for what’s about to come for you out of the darkness, but we’ve learned you are never ready.
The monsters here have strong personalities, and some of them “tidy” up the place, pushing bodies out of the way of guests, while others threaten with colorful concoctions and share their cursed knowledge. If you’re a fan of high-tech horror, there are a lot of things for you to see here, and if you’re a fan of old-school haunted house scares, there’s even more. These two haunts are one of a kind and unmissable. Few haunted attractions in the country combine history, scale, and scare power the way Akron’s Schoolhouse and Laboratory do.
Both the Schoolhouse and Laboratory have their own theme, which means a variety of monsters in both houses. Before we even had a chance to see the museum in the entry lines of the Schoolhouse, we found ourselves facing several monsters, including a desperate lunatic looking for a balloon. A series of monsters disguised as students practically hunted us, taking turns to pop out from every angle, including places we thought were solid walls. In the attic, one monster slipped behind our team and spooked two of the three of us without ever making a sound (the third was too far ahead). The brides in Dracula’s castle screamed the walls down, and in the basement, we were accosted by several quick-witted and not very ethical monsters. On the way out, an alchemist gave us a vial of yellow and showed us demonic text. We’re saving it for a special occasion.
In the Laboratory, we met medical experiments, monstrous doctors, and a Bunny Man that seemed to teleport from place to place. One shuffling patient joined us for safety, but was plucked away by an orderly, never to be seen again. Mutations managed to both sneak up behind us and then come screaming out of dark holes. This cast thrives on improvisation and surprise, making every visit feel like a one-of-a-kind performance. Also, make sure you find Karl the Kustodian when you get there for your sticker, because we love Karl!!
The Schoolhouse and the Midway between feature some really standout examples of both makeup and costuming. The Headmaster’s makeup works incredibly well with the pristine and carefully curated academic robes and the less pristine academic paddle. The Alchemist had writing on his body that matched the demonic words in his book, and he added personalized touches like the pouch holding his vials, making him even more believable. Karl the Kustodian’s face is still a testament to his cleaning skills and has a mop prop that makes him seem truly kursed. We were over the moon to see a fully dressed undead Band Kid at the beginning of the Schoolhouse, which was a first for our team.
Unique and creative characters like that are dotted throughout the haunt, adding authenticity to the scenes and character to the monsters. In the Laboratory, you can see fully kitted-out psychopaths in worn and bloody strait jackets, as well as mad doctors sporting modifications of their own. We also wanted to shout out to Bunny Man, who had a wonderful combination of outfit and mask to make an otherworldly and unsettling sight.
Akron Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory never fails on customer service. The team up front has an orderly system for checking tickets and giving out wristbands, and there are security measures in place to make sure that the only danger comes from the monsters in the haunt.
Drinks are available both inside the Schoolhouse and outside in the Midway, and a food truck offers savory and sweet snacks. Make sure to check out the merch store to the side of the castle bar, as they always have something new. The Schoolhouse and Laboratory have been frightening families for over 50 years, so you can choose from a vintage design that hearkens back to its early days, or one of the brand-new Karl the Kustodian shirts. There’s also an awesome non-alcoholic blood bag drink available at the castle bar that one of our members enjoyed.
A plethora of photo opportunities start from the entrance, so you can take that last group photo, and there’s seating in the Midway in case you need to rest. Both haunts feature a lot of stairs, but they are worth every one. This is a more classic haunt with a no-touch rule, so if you’re a family or a person not fond of being grabbed, this will be an added bonus.
Most haunted houses require a little bit of suspension of disbelief for you to enjoy them. The Akron Schoolhouse and Laboratory is not one of those haunts. The two buildings are historic treasures and make a one-of-a-kind foundation to build a haunted house on. The Laboratory still has traces of the days when NASA used it to dissect monkey astronauts that had landed successfully.
The Schoolhouse was built in 1921 as an Elementary school and remained teaching students until it was converted to teach terror in 1974. There is history here, and these grand old buildings loom in the night. Some of the scenes and sights in the Laboratory cannot be seen anywhere else, including the vertical wind tunnel that was unique when it was used for its intended purpose and is now stunning in its haunted house form.
There are features of these historic haunts that cannot be seen anywhere else. Every year, we are stunned by the Tesla coil and the vertical wind tunnel in the Laboratory, but there were additions this year that were equally as stunning. Our favorite was a room that was turned into a white abyss, and the moment we entered, we were isolated from each other as the visibility dropped to nothing, and the lights added above made the room look like it stretched up infinitely. There are more animatronics in the Laboratory, and many of them are truly horrifying as they evoke natural fears of medical treatments going horribly wrong.
In the Schoolhouse, there are old-school horror tricks as well as new ones. The rooms are built to carry the smells of the places they portray, transporting you from a classroom to a stuffy attic to a swamp. There’s a rattling room in here that really tilts your perspective, and a bathroom that mixes human wit and mechanical mirth to send you along laughing. There are tricks done in the basement of the Schoolhouse that will linger with you, and every detail from the cool stone of the walls to the distant dripping of the dungeons enhances the fear.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 8.73
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9.1
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 8.75
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 8.87
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 8.72
Since we’re seasoned veterans, we often use the reactions of groups around us to determine the strength of the scares, and then we judge firsthand anything that made us jump or feel unsettled. The new room addition to the Laboratory truly terrified me and unsettled the rest of the team as it perfectly evoked feelings of isolation and being utterly lost. It was an awesome experience. A group ahead of us slowed down in trepidation to the point a butcher had to speed them along, and another group rushed past us shrieking at the exit of the Laboratory.
The monsters consistently spread the scares across groups and utilized the pass-throughs and scenes to offer jump scares on top of the existential dread. Both haunts utilize sensory triggers to put you off balance so their haunters can swoop in and take advantage of that.
On their website, the Akron Schoolhouse and Laboratory have listed out their general admission tickets at $30 and their VIP Fastpass Admission at $45. It’s better to buy them online ahead of time, as there’s a small upcharge for onsite ticket buying, and it means you can start getting scared faster. VIP Fast Pass Admission is always recommended, as the Akron Schoolhouse and Laboratory has generations of fans visiting every year. You can also spring for the $160 annual VIP pass. This gives you fast pass access to both the Akron Schoolhouse and Laboratory and its sister haunt, the Factory of Terror in Canton, as many times as you want and always skipping the line. It also lets you bring friends with you at 50% off the regular ticket price.
It took us about 20 minutes to get through Schoolhouse, 25 to traverse the Laboratory, and that was with fast passes late in the evening. For the price, the sheer scale, creativity, and legacy of these haunts make them one of the best values in Ohio, worth every step and scream.
1300 Triplett Blvd, Akron, Ohio 44306
