Dark Side of the Abbey Review (2026)

Getting to the Abbey is as easy as using whichever map app you have, and can even be found on Google Maps by the haunt’s name making navigation even easier. Be aware, though, that the Abbey grounds are a bit of a maze themselves, which is made more interesting by the construction occurring in the parking lot. Nevertheless, on the night of our visit, parking was abundant and in more than one location offering options regardless of which way visitors enter. From there, the ticket booth awaits, staffed by some of the nicest folks one could want to meet, providing a nice contrast to the terrifying creatures populating the haunts. Tickets can be purchased at the booth or online, giving guests the freedom to skip the ticket line and head straight to the haunts, and include Skip the Line upgrades for a slight upcharge. Tee shirts and hoodies are also available at the ticket booth, but call ahead to make sure they have your size ready!

Having been to the haunt in past seasons, there seemed to be a conspicuous lack of exterior signage and decor to help set the scene and guide guests to the right spots. We encountered a few visitors while there who were seeking out staff to identify the right entrances, for instance, and the usual colored lights and decorations were toned down or missing. We learned, however, that the Abbey was recently acquired by a new owner, which explains the construction occupying part of the parking lot and might be the cause of the missing lighting and decor. Nevertheless, a dedicated queue line actor or two would help create more excitement on the building exteriors while also being available to help guide guests with questions. Regardless, the dark Abbey towering overhead still lays a pall over its hallowed grounds, playing directly into the haunts’ themes.

Speaking of that pall, the tall sandstone structures with spiked spires channel the gothic cathedrals engulfed by supernatural evil that have occupied the autumnal zeitgeist for decades, filling visitors with a sense of excited dread as minds wander into their darkest corners imagining what lies in wait. Some locations don’t need much decor; they’re unsettling enough already. With the setting in mind, hauntgoers are sent into the Abbey to experience the sinister spirits that haunt its halls or into the Monastery to contend with their inner demons in the darkness who are helped by the emergent evil.

On our visit, the haunt came to claim us even before we left the entry area, as a gothic creature met us in the light and beckoned us into the dark. From there, the chaos erupted into earsplitting screeches and screams along tight and twisting paths, sending guests into small spaces, through walls, down slides, and face to face with supernatural fiends and a few of their victims. The entire experience is intense, so much so that our eyes remained trained on sets and actors without allowing our minds time to wander. That same intensity holds until the very end, with a finale that sends guests careening out of the exit and into the lawn. The sensory deprivation experience similarly sends guests to their knees with small spaces and unfriendly faces, but with a much more subtle sound track, often consisting of pitch black silence. Anyone who is familiar with the Abbey knows of the ghost stories, but even without history, the setting and darkness, complimented by the hauntrunners’ mastery, can cause even the bravest souls to crumble. Much like how the Monastery provides a different experience than the more traditional haunt, its finale is a different experience as well, being more of a cat-and-mouse game between visitors and the hungry resident near the end that begins the hunt, while providing a more lengthy and subtle conclusion. From there, visitors are sent back onto the dark grounds of the Abbey to head to the other attraction or simply stand around for a while watching others screaming from the finales.

The sound in the Abbey is primarily supplied by the actors, whose screams ring in visitors’ ears for most of the haunt. The visual design of the haunt is incredibly impressive, taking guests into the twisted reality of the Abbey after dark, which is embodied by twisted path through the haunt. Claustrophobia abounds in the narrow pathways and passages, and confusion is rampant with the route being controlled by the cast, keeping hauntgoers in confinement until they grow tired of our screams. Lighting is used to great effect as well, but this haunt’s scares rely on good, old fashioned passion more than it relies on powerlines.

The Monastery, on the other hand, offers subtle sound in some sections but utter silence in others to shut down guests’ senses even more thoroughly. The scenery, when present, provides a nice distraction from the darkness that inevitably overwhelms any light, but the monastery isn’t about the eyecandy, it’s about the experience, and the hauntrunners make the dark their playground and those of us who enter their playthings.

As noted earlier, the cast provides most of the power to the Abbey, as creatures of all shapes, sizes, and heights make no mystery of their presence and their intentions. One monstrosity in particular that now lives in my nightmares caused us to cower while it bellowed by with a dreadful screech before chasing us out of the area, not that we needed much convincing. All of the Abbey’s actors, however, provided intense performances that made us want to stay and stare and run and hide all at the same time. Due to that intensity and the scenery in the Abbey, the handful of incomplete costumes we encountered did little to distract from the experience, and were offset by the impressive masks and makeup worn by most of the cast.

The Monastery provided similar dedication from the actors present, but, given the nature of the experience, the cast offered more covert cause for concern and costumes that only caught enough light to illustrate that the creature wasn’t one for trifling.

As a group of five, it can be difficult for haunts to target everyone, but the cast at both the Abbey and Monastery did a great job of doing so. Since the path through the Abbey is so circuitous and craggy, there are plenty of spaces for actors to hide which increases the anxiety because there’s usually no telling which corners are occupied until it’s too late to do anything but scream, jump and increase your pace until you approach the next suspicious-looking corner. The Monastery takes that anxiety and amplifies it, as some of the scares give a scintilla of warning while others strike completely unseen and unheard. The Monastery does a terrific job of that, unleashing the scariest thing imaginable upon each and every guest: their own minds!

Visitors to Dark Side of the Abbey are able to choose from general admission for $29 or skip the line tickets for a slight upcharge of $10 more for the Monastery and $15 for the Abbey, and they have the option of buying tickets to the Abbey, the Monastery, or a combo pack with a ticket to each attraction for a total of $46. In addition, there are add-on escape rooms available on the grounds for $25 per person, up to six per game. With each attraction coming in at just under 15 minutes (though folks without a decent sense of direction could theoretically wander in the darkness of the Monastery all night), the combo ticket provides the best deal with a minute-per-dollar ratio of .6, which is on the steeper end of haunts in Colorado, but still a terrific value to experience the terror hiding on the Dark Side of the Abbey!