Hippity Hoppity Horror at Malice Manor
Date of Visit: 4/19/25
Visited By: Team Lone Wolf
Easter’s such a merry occasion, isn’t it? Many traditions surround this bright and festive Spring holiday, the most notable being the legend of the bouncing bunny that’s said to drop baskets and treat-filled eggs for humans to find. Even the Rancor estate- normally a rather creepy location- seems to have brightened up for the holiday. Ah… but that big bunny overlooking the property doesn’t seem too thrilled with what’s going on. You see, some uninvited special “guests” have made an appearance this year – ripped from the silver screen, they’re now running amok through the mansion’s haunted halls to give visitors an Easter fright they won’t soon forget!
Clarksville, Indiana’s Malice Manor is no stranger to serving up scares outside of spooky season. They’ve spent years opening their doors for popular holidays like Valentine’s Day and Christmas, and they’ve even gotten some screams out of their guests over the summer months. But it seems Lord Rancor and his crew have been quite busy since my friends and I went on a couple of “blind dates” in February. More events have now been added to the haunt’s lineup for 2025 – and what a pleasant surprise it was to find out Easter was coming to the Rancor household! Hippity Hoppity Horror is brand NEW for this year; an Easter horror experience with a not so little twist… everyone loves movie slashers, right? Well, in his eternal search for the odd, unusual, and just plain freaky, Lord Rancor has once again gotten his claws on a Pandora’s Box of sorts – unleashing multiple horrors from the big screen all throughout his home! Trading in my wolf ears to become a lop bunny for the night, there was just one question: could I hippity hop my way out of this one?! Read on to find out…
Like all of their events, tickets for Hippity Hoppity Horror matched those of the Halloween season. General Admission was $25 and an expedited Fast Pass was available for $40. Parking was free, with a handful of spots out front and many more just a short walk away.
If you’ve never been to Malice Manor before, something important to keep in mind is that it’s a light contact haunted house. “Light contact” means nothing too crazy will happen; no one is going to abduct you from the group or buzz you with a chainsaw or anything wild like that. But don’t be surprised if someone decides to play with your hair, put a hand on your shoulder, or tug at your clothes!
The name of this event wasn’t the only thing hopping when I stepped into the lobby: they were packed! (I was a touch disappointed by the lack of bunny ears on my fellow guests. C’mon y’all, do better.) Above our heads in line, an Elm Street marathon was playing from a projector… and I could’ve sworn I saw a “Ghost-faced” *cough* robed figure lurking about. The haunt went a little lighter on decor out there than previous events, but I did spot a cute inflatable dino guarding its stash of brightly-painted eggs. LEDs twinkled in pastel colors over the queue, where I spotted more inflatables. I also didn’t miss the dismayed expression on the Easter Bunny’s face where they hung over the balcony – “Happy Easter”? Judging by that look, I had a feeling it wasn’t going to remain that way for long…
When it was my turn to head inside, I soon noticed that there wasn’t a lot by way of baskets or eggs laying around. Oh nooo – did the slashers get our poor bunny?! Small area of opportunity there, but I was happy to hear and see some nods to the horror icons. I distinctly recall hearing a certain boiler room villain’s theme playing in a super dark portion of the house- like that area needed to be more nerve-wracking- and a waterlogged slasher with an affinity for Fridays and the number 13 was placed in an absolutely perfect scene! The costuming and makeup were 100% on point as well. Everyone I came across looked completely true to their characters. Nothing appeared “cheap”, for lack of a better term, and all characters were easily recognizable. Nice job Manor team!
A lot of Easter stuff honestly wasn’t needed to make this a great event – because Malice’s cast completely carried the show! Although I didn’t enter the house until past closing time- it was that busy- they were rocking it just as hard as they would’ve earlier in the night. No joke: the energy in there was insane. Most of the characters encountered were monsters from various horror films, ranging from the classics (Bride of Frankenstein, vampires) to more recent murderous maniacs. But I definitely ran into some very bad bunnies as well!
Not far into my adventure, a recently Exorcized girl thrashed about on the bed in a little girl’s room … then hopped up and came after me! No ma’am – I was outta there. A spooky lady in the kitchen kindly gifted me an egg from her basket; upon cracking it open, I discovered a piece of candy! Apparently, that meant I was a “good egg”. Further into the house, Billy the Puppet wanted to play an electrifying game… too bad that involved killing the lights and forcing me to fumble (and cuss) my way through a labyrinth of darkness. I was seriously impressed by their Freddy Krueger, who appeared to be a female/AFAB actor and leaped into their role with gusto. They gave me quite a fright when I felt those claws on my back! Bad night to wear a tank top! A pair of twin girls in blue dresses greeted me in kitchen #2, asking if I knew where Johnny was before they pointed out his shriveled corpse on a table. Hm… seems he wasn’t quite “Shining” anymore. Both of the scary Easter Bunnies I encountered were awesome, but I’ll drop a special shout for the one behind the bar – such great lines and a flawlessly delivered scare! (And they were hosing customers down mercilessly. I got a good laugh out of watching the next group stumble into the merch shop absolutely soaked.) My favorite slasher, Jason Voorhees, did not disappoint with his performance either. But while he may have been willing to let me off the hook this night, Michael Myers was a different story. I spotted him a second too late… he thwarted my attempt to flee, picked me up and took me off into the darkness! Thankfully, your Lone Wolf managed to escape and is now here to tell the tale.
One more thing – there’s someone really special I can’t leave out. It’s a touch obscure, but have any of you seen the movie The Babadook? They had a freaking Babadook in there! I’ve never seen one used in a haunt before and he was perfect. Looked the part and acted it very well. (Thanks to the actor for being tolerant of my constant grinning and going “I love that!”)
For those groups lucky enough to have survived- ’cause Michael certainly didn’t make that easy- the haunt exited right into their merch counter. All sorts of neat things were available for purchase and this was also where you could get your souvenir photo that was taken before going in. I thought the overlay they created for their Easter event was among the best they’ve ever come up with – so stinkin’ cute!
Everyone else might’ve been hunting for eggs that night, but all the monsters at Malice Manor were hunting for us! Hippity Hoppity Horror was a fantastic Easter thrill for horror and haunted house fans and a great first Easter event for the Manor. I’ve been lucky enough to experience many of the holiday shows this place puts on and HHH was definitely one of the best I’ve gone through. Didn’t get a chance to throw down with your favorite horror icons? Malice Manor will be reopening on May 10 for a brand NEW event… I hear Lord Rancor is celebrating a birthday! You can bet he’s going to have some party guests from The Scare Factor – and we hope to see you there too.
