Deranged, now in its eighth year, is noted for its involved storyline that gets built upon season after season.
Last year’s theme centered around the mayoral election in Covensfield between incumbent Conwell – on-the-nose politician names for $200, Alex? – and challenger Kalloway, hailing from one of the founding families of the town whose history includes witchy ancestry and other dark secrets. Well, the race went to Kalloway … possibly nudged by some of that old black magic, according to the swirling rumor mill … and let’s just say that things ain’t looking too good now.
The walkthrough follows one continuous trail with six labeled sections: ruined Starfall Mall, sludge-spilling evil enterprise GreeNo Industries, the visiting Herp & Derp Bros Fall Carnival, creepy Hallow Hills Cemetery, Camp Zika, which has been corrupted by GreeNo’s gunk, and the pumpkin-festooned Gourdan Family Farm.
This was our first visit. We found Deranged quite enjoyable and well worth a trip. Looking at last year’s review and based on what the staff and crew told us, some very busy bees buzzed around the trail before this season’s opening. Some awesome new additions got pointed out to us. We especially loved the marvelous witch’s cottage that we considered the highlight of our experience.
There seemed to be not a full group of actors on hand, but those present did a commendable job of filling the time and space with scaring, entertaining, and talking us up. The cast definitely dialed up the theatricality and stage presence.
We enjoyed prolonged interactions with many of them, like the mall janitor who filled us in on the current sitch around town (mayor bad, GreeNo bad, camp bad, yeah, pretty much everything bad) and invited us to eat the rancid leftovers in the foul food court. A kitchen worker fussed over us with a feather duster, lent us a broom, and made us sweep up after our muddy shoes, then told us “Don’t come back now!” in a honeyed southern accent. In the carnival, a clown followed us from room to room, commenting on the surroundings and admitting to a bout of loneliness in a sing-songy voice. The witch welcomed us with hand caresses and gentle whispers, asked about our moisturizing routine, showed off a shelf of potions, and forcefully held court over a cauldron in what was the coolest scene in the whole attraction.
We also had shorter interactions that packed a punch. In welcoming us to his dark ride, Mister Sinister recited some rhymes in a delightfully plummy voice right out of the old-timey mustache-twirling villain’s handbook. A heavy-breathing rec counselor giggled crazily and um, breathed at us. A foreboding devil character just peered at us silently – and that was enough to loosen the ol’ sphincter. The fallen-on-hard-times former mayor warned us he knew where we parked (he had seen us in the lot before opening time) and devolved into subhuman grunting. The farmhand cried out “I can’t wait to carve up your pretty little faces!” and “Don’t threaten me with a good time!” – excellent dialogue construction with distinctive syntax and colloquial, idiomatic word choices.
All in all, this game and appealing troupe displayed personality aplenty to go along with superior performing chops.
Everyone looked their part and seemed scene-suitable. Simple applications of nicely layered and blended makeup made appearances alongside quality masks and painful looking applications like the sewer utility worker suffering from burns or boils. Those guys deserve hazard pay for sloshing through the GreeNo waste dumps.
We have to give the best look of the night to the devilish cultist, or maybe it was *the* devil? Sure looked the part with diabolical horns, glowing eyes, and Luciferric goatee. This supremely sinister presence just had to stare at us with those luminescent peepers and we were rooted to the spot. Great costume!
The witch also rocked a very traditional look in a shawl and old crone mask, similar to the maid/cook in the kitchen with an old lady mask and old-fashioned servant outfit. The camp counselors looked stuck in the 70s with tees tucked into high shorts. A dark figure near the bait shop in a fisherman’s slicker looked reminiscent of the slasher from I Know What You Did Last Summer without specifically name-checking it. And Bigfoot loped about in a full primate costume. The old mayor appeared to be having a hard time of it, based on his hard luck outfit featuring ripped, ill-fitting clothes and a sloppily loosened necktie.
The costumes mostly covered actors comprehensively from head to feet. If we had one suggestion for improvement, it would be to take some care with actors’ hands. They mostly went unadorned and unmatched to the accompanying faces.
Deranged is located in Romulus, Michigan, on the southwestern outskirts of the Detroit metro area. GPS did its thing, getting us there, and bright signage sealed the deal. Attendants guided us to free parking on grass and dirt.
Staff members were personable, chatty, and readily identifiable. The merchandise room was stocked up with plenty of gear, and snacks and beverages are on offer at ticketing.
All the information a visitor would need is on the Deranged website; make sure to read up on the attractions’ storyline if you’ve never been there. Deranged also makes its rounds on the main social media channels.
Deranged maintained a smooth trail, and it was greatly appreciated. The pathway was obvious and devoid of obstacles, and everything was pleasingly level. Nothing worse than having to pay attention to your every step instead of the eye candy and scare actors, and thankfully, it was the opposite case here.
The Deranged parking lot and entrance area have a fairly small footprint and that made everything from the ticket area to the trail queue exceedingly easy to locate. Some neat photo ops caught our eye.
The queue led up to the neon-emblazoned facade of the Starfall Mall, the ex-mayor’s gone-to-seed pet project, where a security guard acted as the doorperson. Between the naming similarity to Stranger Things’ Starcourt Mall and the 80s synth music filling the air, we for sure caught some vibes streaming from Netflix’s hit show.
Realistic sets and extremely well constructed and detail-filled structures like the witch’s cottage, the mall, and the entire camp pumped up the believability. Actor interactions and relatively steady pacing helped it along. Perhaps the worst immersion-breakers were some exposed speakers and other electronics. Also, we had a heaping helping of mythology and backstory early on, but that seemed to start eroding partway through. The website made some a-ha connections for us about the witch and the farm that we probably would not have gotten from just the walkthrough. Still, Deranged made a pretty good showing immersion-wise.
The exit led us back to the parking area.
Set construction impressed us in a major way. The structures appeared as solid as permanent fixtures and featured items like lattices, shutters, windows, (simulated) brick and stone work, climbing ivy, and flickering lanterns. The Zika National Forest looked just like the official ones put up by the Forest Service. The farm radiated Halloween energy with loads of jack-o-lanterns.
The interiors? Just as impressive. The mall set the stage right from the jump with a store map, a movie theater front with marquee, posters, box office, and concessions stand, and a food court with gross trays of now non-edible items. The camp buildings appeared just like their real life counterparts with all the camp life accoutrements, like sports equipment, snacks, games, bunkbeds, and so much more we could probably fill up most of a page listing it all. Respect and props for all the detail and commitment in this area, especially.
Not to be outdone, the witch cottage was a real masterwork. We spied a black skull surrounded by candles, tarot cards strewn on tables, bits of bone, pentagrams, so much awesome stuff. And the outside elements seemed to be encroaching, as we made our way by leaves and branches hanging from the ceiling. Not to mention the whole scene with the cauldron: the witch intoned an incantation over the cauldron, accompanied by pounding music, until the pot erupted with a roar, flashing lights, and fog. Deranged, you did a fantastic job on this thing, you killed it, and we loved it!!
We would advise visitors to keep looking up and around you wherever you go. This is the kind of haunt that rewards swivel heads with lots of hidden stuff placed in corners, on ceilings, etc.
The sewer entrance undulated with a wavy water lighting effect, indicative of Deranged’s deft lighting touch with mingling color, intensity, and mood to create the right look for each scene. Screams, whispers, chanting, a car horn, moody piano music, and dramatic sonic flourishes served up frightful fodder for our ears.
We also appreciated the stabs at humor. A freak show banner showing the strong man struggling to lift 25 pounds, the camp gas station setting fuel prices at $4.20 and $6.66, the bottomless boat at the canoe rental advertised as half-off, and the poster of ice cream novelties featuring famous movie slashers on a stick instead of the usual cartoon characters like SpongeBob, all gave us a chuckle. Going for a laugh instead of a scream or gross-out can be priceless at the right place and time, and Deranged hit the balance.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 6.8
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 8.8
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 7.8
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7.8
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 6
We did some hopping and yelling due to classic set-ups like drop windows. The previous mayor produced a startle when he jumped up from where he’d been laying in a pile of leaves. Sparkers got us, the claustrophobic passages of Mister Sinister’s lair produced tension, and we did get touched here a bit, which added to the scary fun. Both team members just about hit the roof when their ankles got grabbed in a camp cabin.
So, it’s good to know the classics still work. But quieter, character-based moments got to us too, in ways that we wish would happen more often. We’re thinking of the devil and the witch. The devil gave us the heebie-jeebies by a tiny movement of the head while standing amid cultist props to let us know an actor was in there, then just stared with those freaky eyes and started to slowly move around the scene. We were frozen. The witch’s frail movements and welcoming friendliness clearly masked a “let me just get you in my house here and then I’ll eat you” agenda. Wonderfully creepy, especially when the witch moved on to employ don’t-f-with-me energy at the cauldron.
Our tour of Covensfield and environs took 25 minutes. Compared to the $26 cost of general admission, the MPD (minutes per dollar spent) ended up just a shade under the 1.0 ratio we typically like to see, at 0.96. If you wait until you get there to buy tickets, you will pay a few dollars more at the door.
We very much enjoyed interacting with the actors and seeing all the cool sets, so it’s good value for money. It is not the kind of thing where you’re going to spend the whole night, though, as the other entertainment looks like it’s limited to checking out the photo ops. Deranged is open Sundays in October and November 1st, plus select Tuesdays and Thursdays.
An 18+ adults show is on Thursday October 16, a scare-free trick or treat event for kids will be held on Wednesday October 22, check their online calendar for themed Sunday nights (classic monsters, clown carnage, etc.), and don’t forget about the Frights Before Christmas holiday show in December as well as other off-season shows like Halfway to Halloween.
The story, actors, and sets all turn the neat trick of making Covensfield almost feel like a real place. If they keep growing and adding sensational new stuff like they did between last year and this year, Deranged could really be a special thing to see sooner than later. Before the elected officials totally ruin the place, vote with your visit!
35560 Goddard Road, Romulus, Michigan 48174