Features:
✓-Free Parking✓-Restrooms/Porta Potties On-Site✓-Handicap Accessible✓-Food/Concessions✓-Gift Shop/Souvenirs✓-“Old-School” (Low Tech)✓-You will NOT be touched✓-Original Characters✓-Indoor Waiting Line✓-All-Indoor Attraction
How Do We Get These Scores?
Our Rating System
UPDATE FOR 2022: Our former “Atmosphere” and “Theme” categories have now been combined and renamed “Immersion.” Our intent with this is to give more appropriate credit to attractions that have shown a clear focus on achieving and maintaining better customer experiences (both inside and outside the attractions) and developing creative storylines.
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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Final Score: 8.6
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 8.94
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 8.88
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 9.11
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 7.55
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 8.69
(5% of Final Score) Theme: 8.13
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 8.3
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 8.83
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Summary:
Sonoma County is spooky once again as Blind Scream Haunted House opens its doors in Rohnert Park, California. The brain child of Drew Dominguez and Judy Groverman Walker, Blind Scream tells the continuing story of Doc Hunter and his cannibalistic family.
This year offers two haunt mazes, Lil Horrus’ Fun House and Doc’s Horrortorium. The two mazes have different vibes, as Lil Horrus’ Fun House is more whimsical, and Doc’s Horrortorium is gorier. The majority of this haunt is homemade, as Drew Dominguez is a master prop maker. Our review team enjoyed this haunt and admired the artistic differences between the two mazes.
Cast: 8.94
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 9.5
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 9
(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 8.75
(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 8.75
(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 8.5
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Blind Scream had enough actors on the night of our visit and they were very believable. Nobody broke character. The actors in Doc’s Horrortorium were more interactive and dialogue driven, as they taunted us throughout the maze. They were quite blunt and obnoxious, but it did fit within the theme.
We must give the Horrortorium’s actors kudos for handling a bottleneck moment as, at a certain point in the maze, we were joining other guests in a ‘conga line.’ The actors tried to stand in front of the different groups of guests at various intervals in an effort to spread out the conga line, all while staying in character.
Another notable moment in the Horrortorium was when we were leaving the kitchen, we were unknowingly about to exit through an actor’s passageway. The actress yelled, ‘Wrong way, dummy!’ and we had to laugh at that. Kudos to her for keeping us on the right path and staying in character. The actors in Lil Horrus’s Fun House tended to be silent and startled us from hidden corners. There was a memorable actor in the blackout room who would stare and give us a diabolical laugh. We found the Fun House to have a wider variety of characters, as each room had a different theme. The Horrortorium tended to be similar hillbilly-cannibal types – all of them taunting us in a similar fashion.
Costuming: 8.88
How Did We Get This Score?
Costuming Scores (15% of Final Score):
(15% of Costuming Score) How complete / finished did the costumes appear to be?: 9
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 8.5
(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 8
(15% of Costuming Score) How effectively did they use masks (if used)?: 9.5
(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 9.5
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The actors of Blind Scream all had complete and finished costumes that were creative and detailed. Makeup was used well, and mostly applied in primitive styles. There were a few masks used and they were made in-house, which was effective in making the characters scarier. All of the costumes seemed to be appropriate for their respective scenes and themes.
Customer Service: 9.11
How Did We Get This Score?
Customer Service Scores (10% of Final Score):
(25% of CS Score) How easy was it to locate the attraction, park, and navigate the premises?: 7.75
(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 10
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 9.5
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 9
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Finding the building complex that houses Blind Scream was easy. The small signs along the street did help, but finding which particular building Blind Scream is at was tricky because all of the buildings look exactly alike. There were small signs (similar to street signs) pointing to the right structure, but once we saw the string lights and projected Halloween images on the wall, we knew we had arrived.
Blind Scream is a safe attraction, and we couldn’t find any trip hazards or anything dangerous. Staff and security were on site and they were friendly and helpful. Information is easy to find because they have a website and a presence on various social media.
Atmosphere: 7.55
How Did We Get This Score?
Atmosphere Scores (10% of Final Score):
(60% of Atmosphere Score) How obvious was it that you were at a haunted house before entering?: 7.25
(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 8
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From the outside of the building, it’s not completely obvious that this is a haunted house. The lighting display does hint at something unique going on inside, but it’s only once you walk inside that you can tell you’ve arrived at a professional haunt. The main concourse had energy and excitement, which contrasted with the quiet outside. We felt the atmosphere inside the building gave guests a better insight into what to expect in the haunted mazes.
Special Effects: 8.69
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 7.75
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 9
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 9
(25% of SFX Score) How well did they achieve & maintain the suspension of disbelief?: 8.75
(15% of SFX Score) How effective were the SFX at providing scares / entertainment?: 9
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The most notable special effects were in Lil Horrus’s Fun House. The vortex tunnel, claustrophobia tunnel, animatronic glowing pumpkin scarecrows and green laser light cutting through the fog were all memorable standouts. Doc’s Horrortorium had more “blood and guts” props. Its most memorable scene was the dining room where hillbillies were cutting up a live victim in the middle of the dinner table. This scene was reminiscent of the infamous dinner scene from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. In fact, most of the Horrortorium felt like the home of Leatherface from that movie franchise.
The sound effects were mostly subtle. The scenes and props were mostly made in-house, but there were antique furniture pieces in the Horrortorium which gave the impression of a poor rural home. There was plenty of attention to detail in each scene, so we were able to tell what each scene was suppose to be. Both mazes achieved and maintained the suspension of disbelief, and the only time our suspension slipped was when we experienced the bottleneck past the midpoint of Doc’s Horrortorium. The special effects were effective at providing scares and entertainment.
Theme: 8.13
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?: 8.75
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?: 9
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?: 5
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Both haunt mazes are thematically tied together as being part of the cannibal family of Doc Hunter. Doc’s Horrortorium is a much more unified theme as we saw Doc’s home and family. Lil Horrus’s Fun House is more fantasy, as each room had a different theme, from a corn maze, spider room, circus room, blackout room, swamp room and others. The website does tell the theme of each maze, but we gained more insight by talking to owner Drew Dominguez. The theme of each maze is carried out well. Sadly, we can’t say the location of the haunt authenticates the theme.
Scare Factor: 8.3
How Did We Get This Score?
Scare Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of Scare Factor Score) How scary was it?: 8
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide scares to the entire group?: 9.25
(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 8.75
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 8
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 7.5
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Blind Scream does have some good scares. Most of them came from actors startling us from hidden corners, and also from confronting and taunting us in an intimidating way. The majority of actors did have good timing, were not predictable, and used distractions well. However, we did catch some clown actors in the Fun House who were not prepared for us when we entered the circus room. Neither one of the mazes had a particularly climatic ending.
Entertainment & Value: 8.83
How Did We Get This Score?
Entertainment & Value Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment received during the main attraction/s?: 9
(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 8
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 9
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 9.5
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We were satisfied with the entertainment received by Blind Scream. At $25, we felt guests would get their money’s worth for the 17 minutes spent traversing through the mazes. The cost of admission also offers scenic pieces for photo ops, a zombie dance troupe that performs to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and access to a Last Ride coffin simulator and various vendors. There is an extra cost for The Last Ride, green screen photo booth, and vendors. Blind Scream effectively used their available space, and there were no dead zones.
How Did We Get These Scores
Our Rating System
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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