Clown Invasion at The Haunted Hydro
Date of Visit: 6/22/24
Visited By: Team Zombillies & Team Lone Wolf
We’ve all been separated and are fighting to find our way back together, while trying to avoid the hungry eyes and painted leers on the faces of the new “inhabitants” who have taken over. Unfortunately for me, it isn’t long before I’m spotted. I make an attempt to run, but it’s too late… the horrific harlequin has seen that incriminating white shirt I have on and they immediately give chase. “Get back here, you’re mine!” a sinister voice cackles. Soon enough, hands close on fabric and I’m once again whisked away to an unfamiliar spot. Just as quickly, the clown vanishes and I’m left to my own torment. I hope to reunite with my friends eventually, but for now, I must navigate this dark and watery world on my own.
Most of our group hadn’t been to The Haunted Hydro in several years. My last visit to this long-standing Ohio haunt- located in Fremont– was in 2018, when they were open for the Midwest Haunters Convention’s bus tour. Built on the site of a real hydroelectric power plant, the Hydro was recently acquired to join the collective of haunts under Sindicate Haunted House Group, who have begun making some changes to the property. A hands-on “extreme” upgrade is now available, and the attraction also hosts some of the same events the other Sindicate haunts have put on. One of the newest additions for 2024 is the Clown Invasion, which has the entire property overrun by swarm of creepy CLOWNS! Since most of us hadn’t been here in a while- and one was completely new to the place- we decided to stop by and see what the Sindicate version of their show was all about (and try to survive this psycho circus!).
Sooo this is where I made a big reviewer fail: I totally forgot to grab those ticket prices for you all. What I can tell you is most Sindicate haunts price their special events exactly the same as they do during the Halloween season, so expect something along those lines if you attend one of these “off season” shows. I did catch that the Extreme Upgrade was $15.00 – and you receive a special white t-shirt! (Warning: it’s white for a reason. Don’t wear anything nice.) Contact-wise, I felt the level was moderate. They could be a little rough in hauling us away from the group or pushing us up against walls, but no one in our gang got picked up, thrown forward, or any of the other shenanigans that would come with a full contact show. Parking was free, and they had plenty available in a grass lot.
We arrived early enough to hear their whole crew of clowns getting fired up for the show – what an awesome way to kick off the night! There weren’t many clowny additions to the exterior portions of the haunt beyond some roamers; streamers or balloons, as we’d seen at other Clown Invasion events, would have helped to enhance the atmosphere. Before entering, a food vendor was on site selling loads of amazing treats at reasonable prices. We got fresh, hot apple dumplings with ice cream and they were delicious! Highly recommended.
Getting back to those roamers, we spotted at least two running amok between the haunt’s midway and the line. One was pretty crazy and kept switching between a clown mask and the makeup he wore underneath. The other had a lime green mohawk and was wielding both chains and a staple gun… which he was actively encouraging customers to use and staple bills to his body! He actually managed to coax one member of our squad into plucking a $20 off his tongue. Hardcore!
Once it was our turn to throw those white shirts on and face this wild circus, we proceeded into the attraction. (Or rather, were led by that crazy clown with the mask… we would see a lot of him that night… more on that shortly.) Again, we didn’t see many clowny touches to the haunt itself, but we did enjoy exploring the various areas. The first portion gave off an almost “ghost town” vibe, and we also walked through a trailer park, a fence maze, a room with a ridiculous number of taxidermied animal parts, and a UV-reactive toxic wasteland. As for the clowns we encountered, they all looked awesome! A good mix of makeup and masks were used, along with some great costumes. Some of the best looks we saw included a voodoo-esque clown, a bush monster (one of the few non-clowns we came across), a (very entertaining and clever) “leprechaun” clown holding a severed head (!), a tall, menacing clown brandishing a chainsaw, and one super creepy slider clown haunting a hallway.
Fortunately, the lack of themed decor was more than made up for by their killer cast of clowns! There were quite a few of them and while some went for the quiet approach, most were going bonkers from start to finish – and they were not at all shy when it came to taking advantage of our white shirts. The first clown, wearing a hat, was quick to line us all up against the wall and smear us with the red stuff! Another creepy clown shut one member of our party inside of a casket, had us pray for her soul, then we had to trick her into thinking spiders were coming next! Multiple clowns caught hold of us and split us up, forcing us to navigate portions of the attraction completely alone until we could find our friends. A few attempted to misdirect us, but one of the cardinal rules of being a haunt reviewer is to never trust a clown! Two clowns near the end wanted to turn all the customers into “jelly”… while smearing dirt and coagulated blood on those of us who wore white. (Gross!) And that hallway slider clown I mentioned? They were a favorite with our group. With their jerky, erratic movements, eerie voice, and impressive sliding skills, they were landing some nice scares in that scene.
One extra special shout-out goes to the mask-and-makeup clown we met earlier. While we enjoyed the extreme upgrade, I personally felt my shirt still had too much white to line up with what I consider “extreme”. If your haunt involves blood, I wanna come out of there looking like Carrie after the prom, damn it! Well, someone in our group informed the owner of this, who then notified said clown… I had just taken a swig of nice cold water when I got blindsided by a drive-by blooding. I’m talkin’ blood all over my face, in my hair, dripping down my arms – he even got it on the bottle I was carrying. “Are we good now, my dear?” he questioned. Yes sir! (Running my mouth at these things always gets me in trouble, I swear.)
If you’ve got a little time to kill after getting the ish scared out of you, make sure to check out the Hydro’s midway! We saw photo ops, axe throwing, and a merch stand – in addition to the food vendor out front. Love seeing haunts add these extras to make their attraction an all night experience.
(Photo credit: Team Zombillies)
Other than needing to go a bit heavier on the theme- which was easily made up for by the haunt’s awesome cast- The Haunted Hydro’s version of Clown Invasion was a bloody good time! All of us had a blast exploring the attraction, trying to escape the clowns attempting to catch us throughout, and enjoying some messy fun along the way. For those of us who had been away for several years and our Hydro newbie, they left one heck of an impression and I foresee the haunt only getting better as time goes on. Their show was completely worth the nearly five hour trip from Indiana and I hope we can all make it back soon.
Didn’t get to throw down with the clowns? I regret to inform you: Clown Invasion was the final event leading up to the Halloween season. Make sure you keep an eye on The Haunted Hydro’s website and socials for news on when they will reopen this Fall!
