The crescent moon shone brightly as we pulled up to The Blood Moon Haunted Scream Park on a beautiful fall Saturday night. As we approached the ticket booths, we heard screams from inside, and the anticipation was at an all-time high.
What we didn’t know when we pulled in was that this was Blood Moon’s soft opening. Some of the cast members were out on vacation, while others were still attending high school dances or football games. Blood Moon Scream Park still brought us a night that Team Brady Pack will remember for a very long time.
If you like horror movies, this walk-through is for you. We witnessed Michael Myers, Jeepers Creepers, Krampus, and even a super creepy Jackal from 13 Ghosts. We also experienced Skitzo the Clown, Otis, A Butcher, Rusty Bob, a stilt man covered in mulch, some witches, victims, and more! There were several different characters and a variety of roles played, not to mention scare tactics!
This cast didn’t only give us the typical screams and jump scares; they gave us unnaturally creepy, stalkerish, and demented moments! The staff knew how to respond to any comment we came up with. The banter was fantastic, and the fear they induced was real! Each of them played their respective roles so they would be unforgettable.
We could tell that the cast was short-staffed throughout the haunt; however, it is essential to note that the cast that were there performed so well that the lack of cast didn’t affect our review very much! They were truly just that good!
Some of the costumes that stood out were the Jackal from 13 Ghosts, Otis, Skitzo the Clown, and Krampus. The Jackal had a cage that surrounded his skull, long flowing black hair, a white face with makeup, and a suit that favored the movie well. Otis was dressed like a redneck killer, Skitzo the clown was dressed like a typical clown with typical clown makeup, but the application was far above average, shout out Hannah!
There were a few instances where we encountered actors dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt and wearing below-average masks during our walkthrough. This did take us out of the experience, leaving room for improvement in costuming and makeup overall.
This wholesome staff in Tamaroa, Illinois, was a pleasure to experience. The staff is considerably like a tight-knit family, and it warms my cold heart.
Blood Moon Scream Park can be found on Facebook, where you can find most of the information you need!
With GPS, finding the location is incredibly easy. They also have handmade wooden signs along the road that you’ll need to turn on; even at night, the sign lights up. You literally can’t miss it.
Parking is old school: pull in and find a parking spot. You don’t have people directing you at the mall, do you? However, no worries, the parking grounds are spacious, with plenty of room for you and your entire family to park, along with several other families.
At the gift shop, you can purchase a variety of homemade items, including drink tumblers, T-shirts, makeup kits, Halloween masks, and dog outfits. The gift shop has a nostalgic vibe, one that screams “Halloween,” complete with its own classic decorations and pumpkin tablecloths.
While speaking with makeup artist and scare actor, Hannah, it feels playfully mischievous to add a quote: “Be your own character and he’ll build around it.”
Don’t get it twisted by how righteous I’m making this haunt out to be, even on a soft opening, this haunt was killing it and us! I see you now, Richard- It won’t happen again.
Although Blood Moon didn’t have a specific theme, every area we walked through was filled with details, props, cast, and animations that, for the most part, kept us immersed and entertained.
From fog in the cemetery, fireflies carefully placed in the trees above, to sounds of police sirens, banging on the narrowing barrels, snow coming from Krampus’s cabin, witches chanting, electrical fences, and even the natural sounds such as crickets and cicadas, we had plenty to look at and hear.
Although through a bit of the walk, the eerie silence and natural sounds took precedence over the cast and Halloween sounds. They made up for it in the finale, however, where our senses were on overdrive, and hearts were beating out of our chests.
Let’s take it back to old school ghouls and monsters with this haunt. This haunt features three animatronics – don’t let that bamboozle you into thinking that’s all you need for a haunt.
Each section of the haunt brings another horror movie character to life, with eerie soundtracks and scenes pulled right from your favorite cult movie. Jeepers Creepers, Jackal from Thirteen Ghosts, and even Krampus!
This haunt includes fog machines, strobe lights, several squeeze tubes, and a trippy blacklight spinning tunnel. This jolts some good old sensory stimulants; if the squeeze tubes or tunnel isn’t your thing, you can bypass it.
When you’re standing in line, there is a faint sound of music, faint enough for you to enjoy the screams of the poor souls in front of you.
Most of the moving props are on pulley systems and hand-made by several of the staff. Shout out to Uncle Knapp, who was the artist for the tumbler cups, t-shirts, and hand-carved props in the haunt.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 8.45
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9.4
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 8.15
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 8.35
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 8
Before I go any further, I need to mention this: Taylor screamed and experienced the fear zoomies. I have never seen her scared in a haunted house, so this experience was fantastic. I will never let her forget this haunt.
I ran from an amazing crawler, and the chainsaw scene was in an unexpected yet very effective spot. The birthing chambers/squeeze tubes were endless and perhaps impossible for those who are claustrophobic, and the cast came at us from left and right. Skitzo the Clown tried playing “Skitzo Says” with us and told us to squeal like pigs, which didn’t turn out to be a problem for us. The butcher didn’t let us buy meat; we found out it was because all they had was dead human meat!
The props they had, we could tell, were authentic, and most were handmade. One was “The Beautiful Lady”, which creeped us out enough to distract us from a black-winged character that swooped down and gave us a good jump scare.
We experienced true fear at The Blood Moon Haunted Scream Park, before, during, and after the haunt. They not only effectively managed the old school jump scare, but they also creeped us out, disoriented us, had us running for our lives, and wondering if our bodies were going to be hung upside down in the trees alongside the other bodies within this bloody scream park.
We felt that the finale was one of the longer ones we experienced. It was made up of what felt like three terrifying parts, where we didn’t get a chance to take a breath or calm our hearts and bodies down from a non-stop few minutes of different yet each similarly terrifying scares.
Tickets were $25, which is well worth the time you spend inside the haunt. What’s not mentioned on their Facebook is how long it takes, but if you were to ask any of the staff, they would tell you that it can range from 25 to 40 minutes, depending on how fast you run. Our team spent 35 minutes in the haunt itself, and yes, even with a little bit of running ourselves! This brings their MPD (minutes of entertainment received per dollar spent) to 1.4, which is well above average!
Even though this haunt is in a little town we have never heard of, it is a small-town haunt with an enormous effect! Our team built memories here that will truly last a lifetime. The experience was simply unforgettable.
4540 Valier Carpet Road, Tamaroa, Illinois 62888
