Final Scores – By Category:

Cast (20% of Final Score): 8.3

Costuming (10% of Final Score): 8.91

Customer Service (10% of Final Score): 9.1

Immersion (10% of Final Score): 8.71

Special Effects (15% of Final Score): 9.03

Scare Factor (20% of Final Score): 8.48

Entertainment & Value (15% of Final Score): 9.01

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Final Scores – By Attraction:

Attraction 1: 8.73

This year, September 13th was a Friday. Friday the 13th tends to bring some awesome traditions in Chicago, mostly themed around macabre, spooky, strange, and unusual. We spent the day getting flash tattoos which is a continuous tradition for many local tattoo shops. It comes as no surprise that many local haunted attractions used it as a reason to start the season early. Basement of the Dead (BotD), of course, jumped at the opportunity to provide guests with an early spooky and spectacular time. Our area seems to lack usually when it comes to starting dates for the season, as many of our other teams start reviews in early September while we sit around and impatiently wait. Though we failed to take full advantage of the extra weeks, we couldn’t help but make BotD one of our first stops for the season.

BotD always is an exciting time, as walking from the parking lot across the street sets the tone for the evening. Viewing guests running back to their cars, crowds of queue actors surrounding the grounds, and great music heard in the distance allows for us to take a moment of appreciation for the start of the 2024 season. Naturally, the moment of pause we had was shortly lived when Vax came from nowhere and screeched like Donald Sutherland in the Classic ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ scene… just add spit and slime.

During our visit, it seemed as though there were more actors in the queue than in the house. This did contribute to being early on in the season and the weekend of homecoming in the area as we have seen plenty of staff throughout the attractions before. The house seemed like it was full in some areas and empty in others. The actors were traveling throughout the house so that helped the flow and lessened some of the dead space. A lot of the actor’s timing was off, and they relied a lot on just screaming. Although it was early in the night, it seemed like some of the actors were not into it yet. However, the actors playing the cultists were very convincing and committed to their roles. The clowns in Shattered are always great and lead you to believe you are truly going through an actual clown house. They play the role of sarcastic and tricksters so well they make you unsettled as you’re laughing and being shocked by all the colors, props, and 3D-painted walls.

The majority of the actors did a great job using dialogue that made sense to their scenes. For those guests who are sensitive, they may not like one of the medical scenes between a doctor and a nurse. Although it is slightly interactive, it is very jarring. The cultists were so good with their quiet chanting and asking you if you’d like to join. Because they relied a lot on facial expressions and movement it was very unsettling. The makeup also highlighted that there was something very wrong with them, which added to their frightening act. The clowns in the queue and the front of the shattered are fantastic and truly embody the goofiness and terrifying nature of clowns. They get you comfortable and laughing and then immediately flip the switch.

Throughout the house, the use of dialogue when it was used made sense for the most part; the cultists utilized facial expressions, body language, chanting, and eventually, as you made your way through to the end, they asked if you were joining them. Throughout the house, the actors spoke quietly or screamed instead of speaking; the scenes that had actors in them used their dialogue efficiently. However, a lot of the actors did scream instead of utlilizing any phrases, especially in pop-outs and corners where the actor would pop out. For the number of actors in the house, there was a variety of actors that fit their scenes. They made sense to the rooms. However, due to the amount of actors some of them traveled throughout the rooms to fill the dead space.

BotD always does a fantastic job with its highly detailed costumes, airbrush makeup, and masks. We saw a few actors with full face masks that were tucked in under clothing or applied makeup to the exposed areas of skin to help complete the look.

There were diverse types of characters and costumes that fit their respective themed rooms. In the hospital scene, two actors are wearing hospital clothing such as scrubs and other medical clothing that are shown to be distressed. This makes them look like they may have stolen the clothing from unsuspecting victims. Clowns dominate the Shattered 3D, their costumes blended well with the surroundings, a little too well. The UV makeup on the actors is enhanced under the UV light, which compliments the outfit. It’s kind of fun to see how everyone is colorful but looks so malicious.

Because the Basement of the Dead is one of the main attractions in that area, it is very easy to find. There’s also a bus advertising them and plenty of actors to lure you in outside the attraction and take you towards the attraction and ticket table.

Despite the waiting queue being in a large outdoor area near bars and other popular spots, the area is very safe. There is a strong presence of security and enough staff to be able to immediately address a problem. The staff is extremely friendly and very helpful. The staff can help people navigate between the houses, the merchandise area, bathroom areas, and through the queue line. This is all fantastic as they can do this in small and much larger crowds that come closer to Halloween. The event staff was easy to find because they were wearing earpieces, radios, and Basement of the Dead sweaters and shirts. Basement of the Dead has a very large social media presence. Facebook and Instagram are constantly posting sponsored ads for the attraction. If you have previously bought tickets online and have given consent to receiving text messages from them you will get first notice on events, sales on tickets, and other special promotions.

While in the queue, BotD does a great job entertaining guests throughout the night. We mentioned before how much of a party/ celebration the whole area feels while waiting to enter the attraction. At the top of every hour is a freebee giveaway that riles up the crowd. Everyone participates in this and tends to be a crowd-pleaser. There are plenty of actors still running around in a frenzy which helps set a tone for what’s to come inside the attraction.

Inside the attraction, there were a few newly done scenes that were easy to get lost in. The first of which felt very Salem Witch/Pilgrim-like in many ways. It almost felt like being transported in time to that 1800s era. It was very dark and almost folk-horror-like, with an almost forest vibe it played well into running into a gathering of what I would believe to be a Covent of sorts. It makes for an interesting setting as later on there has been a decrease of a classic hellish scene with plenty of hanging and possessed nuns a foot. I feel like the two scenes would almost complement one another and give a good contrast between each other; however, they are separated by a few other scenes, including a hospital and a psych ward. BotD doesn’t follow a storyline, but it does launch a bunch at you relentlessly.

The Shattered 3-D portion of the attraction does have an older attraction feel and relies on the 3-D gimmick to keep things immersed and fun. Everything in here is over the top and a bit quirky with some horror sprinkled on top. I enjoy this as we have a few haunts in our area providing a more old-school experience and this is what is felt throughout.

The use of sound effects is effective here due to the low ceilings, which also help make the rooms feel complete. There are moments when the sounds can be quite deafening, especially when air cannons are used. The rooms also have color schemes, which help with the transitions.

The props used are of excellent quality, from the vintage scuba diving helmets in the nautical room on the walls to the moving barrels in the cages. Let’s not forget those oversized spiders *shudders* that lounge towards you as you walk past it.

The new scene this year includes an old American historical event. A group of mannequins forming a circle holding candles was quite unsettling since it was not the typical cult look. We were greeted with a prop mannequin dressed as a Pilgrim, positioned to look in pain. This scene was very well executed, as it is not a normal scene you would expect in a typical haunted house.

In Shattered 3D, specialty 3D glasses enhance the effects of the UV light paint. The actors wore costumes that blended well with the stationary props and executed jump scares effectively. Cotton candy cocoons draped down from the ceiling and had a soft and bouncy feeling as we moved them out of the way. The music played gives it a whimsical carnival atmosphere, but the creepy painted walls and floor give it a sinister vibe.

Overall, the attraction is not intensely scary except for pop-out jump scares and is more triggering in the sense of throwing everything at you at once, in a sensory experience. The utilization of fog machines to create startle scares and some of the dialogue used was effective. The spinning room is fantastic for startle scares and changes up the pace. Some of the actors did create tension and were able to push the groups forward. If you’re afraid of clowns, then shattered will rattle your nerves. The scares were only effective for the front of the group and started for the most part for the rest of the group. Some of the scares were efficient enough to get the rest of the group. If the group size is large, these tactics will not suffice. The back of the group did get some scares and some of the actors followed throughout the scene. The timing was off for a lot of the actors.

Due to the beautiful details of the room, the actors were able to provide scares that made sense to their scenes for the most part. Throughout the house, the actors relied heavily on screaming instead of acting or using dialogue. The scares were very predictable. A lot of actors relied on screaming and using pop-outs. Some of the rooms had great rooms for scares, but the actors did not make use of them. The actors would benefit from training on how to use their rooms effectively to create effective scares. The ending of the first house was great for a startle scare as the huge truck emits a loud honking and pushes you to the next house. Shattered is a great finale because the house is beautiful and bright and has a glow-in-the-dark vortex where an actor has to get through to escape. You are again greeted by the queue line actors and merchandise area.

Our walkthrough time for both attractions (one ticket price) was a total of just over 18 minutes. With ticket prices at $29.99 for general admission, we have a minute per dollar value of 0.6. Given the efforts of a recent change indoors including terrific new scenes, in-your-face actors, and incredible props (we wonder how they even fit in a basement), this is a great value for some horror entertainment. There were rumors of the Shattered 3-D attraction leaving to be replaced by something else. However, the word became public, and fans of BotD spoke up and insisted the classic attraction stays. Great move on listening to the public and keeping a crowd-pleaser. If there were changes and Shattered 3-D goes, I know the team here would crush any idea they had, but the people have spoken!

BotD isn’t the longest attraction we have walked through in our area; however, few others compare to the party atmosphere they provide and continue to ramp that up as well. They have ramped up their DJ booth and created something amazing with their house DJ spinning bangers inside a giant zombie head! With their countless amount of queue actors, they are constantly interacting and even scaring guests to help set the mood for the main attraction. Tis the season, and BotD knows how to celebrate night after night. It’s always amazing to see what they come up with, and they have never disappointed.