Face Your Fears Hotel of Terror Review (2016)

The cast members consist of a mixture of some who are paid and some who are volunteer. We are pretty sure we came across some fresh blood (newer actors). Some of them just screamed at us, stared at us as we walked by, only followed us or simply said, ‘Hey!’ We didn’t get very much ‘engaging’ dialogue out of them except for the two in the possessed room and the interactive clown who followed us for quite a while in the outside portion of the attraction. The extremely-tall human/butcher was one of the most fearsome foes we came across as he threatened to chop us up with his giant ax, while Leatherface gave us the most believable performance out of them all! Two energetic actors pounded on the walkway of the vortex tunnel as we crossed it, making for an uneasy route through the already-disorienting cyclone. One other extremely-believable character was the armored creature who had some very unique vocal noises (which are quite comical to try recreating) that told us we needed to ‘stay with them.’

The costuming here consisted of some very realistic masks, other latex masks, minimal makeup and a few pieces that were much more complete than the rest. It seemed as if there was no rhyme or reason to most of the costuming, so the attire we saw was random at times… especially the clown in the outdoor section. Black cloaks were worn by multiple characters and, although it made it easier for them to hide, it wasn’t very clear how they fit in with the Hotel’s theme. Makeup mainly consisted of cuts and scrapes while some seemed to have darkened eyes or just nothing on their faces at all. However, the two most impressive costumes that we came across included those worn by Leatherface and the armored creature who was sporting a realistic mask along with armor and lights that matched the scene we found him in!

Face Your Fears was nearly impossible for us to pass up due to their signs, zombies and strobe-lit bus at the entrance of their long, gravel driveway. Additional scenes were encountered as we made our way to their dimly-lit parking parking area, which was free and located around the backside of the house. Another sign on a haunty-looking arch greeted us into the queue line which was appropriately marked off with poles and rope. A large, custom metal fire pit was located in the center of the queue area that will provide some heat in case you get cold during your visit. The line led us directly to the ticket booth and the rest of the attraction was very easy for us to navigate. There are several sets of stairs you must traverse at this attraction, so be mindful of that, but they did not provide any scares on the stairs to keep from causing accidents. ‘Sleepy Hollow’ was playing on a large projection screen to help pass the time for the waiting visitors and a guy with a carnivorous straggler nonchalantly mingled with the crowd to get a few scares in. The entire queue area and some of the parking is gravel, so mud shouldn’t be an issue when it rains as the haunt is open when it does.

There’s a lot to cover in this category for this haunt, which is a great thing! It all starts as early as when you approach the attraction, as it appears to be located on an isolated farm. From there, the school bus, signs, rotating lights, zombies, giant witch statue, buildings and dancing white lights that we came across as we made our way to the parking lot made for quite an entertaining little drive down their gravel road. We were just waiting for something to jump out at us at any second! When we rounded the corner to where we could see the front of this building, it’s safe to say we were grinning from ear to ear. Thick fog was literally hovering over the road, escaping from within the haunted attraction (which was a nice effect as we drove beneath it) and the building has a naturally-awesome facade that, when illuminated with multi-colored lighting, really multiplies the haunted nature of the attraction. A hanging body, a silver screen, reapers guarding the entrance, a cemetery, Billy the Saw puppet on his tricycle and an enthroned, satanic creature combine with the aforementioned amenities to make for one heck of an atmosphere. It is without a doubt that you are at a haunted attraction when you come here! During our wait, the sounds of people screaming as they were fleeing the exit increased our anticipation to enter, as well as a green-illuminated window in the attic with what appeared to be the shadow of a convulsing body.

Many different effects can be found inside this hotel and consist of things that have mostly been built in-house. The authenticity of the house really brings out the creep factor in this attraction and the intertwined vines, cobwebs and dim lighting also aided in doing so. Music was heard in some areas of the attraction and consisted of intensifying hard rock tracks and, in contrast, calming elevator music in that respective scene. Once we hit the button to go to the next floor, its music quickly changed from a calming instrumental to the loud sounds of it plunging through the shaft as the floor violently convulsed beneath us! The attraction was very quiet in the upper portion except for the sounds of props and the beings that we encountered up there. An effective (and rather long) vortex tunnel further enhanced our disorientation when two actors worked together with weapons to keep us on it a bit longer. Other effects that stood out to us included strobing lights, fog, a chainsaw with multiple, circular blades attached to it, a claustrophobic passageway, a hanged and jerking body, double-headed creatures, possessed furniture and a shotgun suicide (complete with blood splatters, we might add)! We also appreciated the dead bodies attached high upon the ceiling and walls of the kitchen where the dreaded 10-foot-tall, ax-wielding demon can be found. At first, we wondered how in the Hell they got up there, but his towering appearance quenched our confusion pretty abruptly!

The full story of this haunt’s background can be found on their website if you’d like to read it before paying them a visit. Long story short, this Hotel used to be run by the mother of Walter and Margaret Edwards. Each of them worked in the facility for most of their lives and grew vindictive of their mother for not allowing them to work together. Their mother eventually vanished and the Hotel’s basement was turned into a dungeon where they would hide all of their dark secrets. The Hotel staff became wary of the basement, waited until the Edwards’ were out one day and snuck into the basement… only to find the sickening truth that was being hidden down there! These folks wanted to take things into their own hands, so they hanged Walter outside the building from a tree in the yard and beat Margaret to her death. Supposedly, to this day, her body has never been recovered and people are continuously being reported missing. Have they been kidnapped by the Hotel staff? What’s REALLY going on down in the basement? You will have to visit them to see for yourselves! Although this is a very original and creative storyline, nothing was explained to us before we actually entered the building and the show felt more like it was just ‘thrown together’ rather than following an elaborate plot. Granted, a good chunk of haunt-goers just want to be scared and don’t really care about the backstory. But, avid haunted house enthusiasts and those folks that claim they ‘can’t be scared’ generally tend to appreciate a well-thought-out theme that provides more than just ‘pop scares’ and threatening dialogue.

The atmosphere of the attraction brought out the overall creep factor before we even entered. The other types of frights that we faced on the inside added to this and kept us glancing over our shoulders fairly often. Not many distractions were used, which made some of the scares a little easier to predict, but they do have some tight corridors to help combat the issue and they did do a good job of trying to target both of us as we walked through. Well-placed air cannons, frightening fiends and intense music helped keep us out of our ‘comfort zone’ and we also came face-to-face with threatening weapon-wielders. Leatherface was debatably the most intense character at the Hotel as he chased us with his saw! Shortly after realizing that his current selection wasn’t scaring us enough, he threw it down and grabbed a much larger one to get the job done. The finale of the attraction consisted of us fleeing from him out of the most uncanny and authentic basement we’ve ever been in as he broke chunks of concrete from the steps that led us to safety!

Prices remain the same as last year at $12.00 per person. Tour times may vary depending on whether you fly through this type of stuff, let it all saturate or cower in the corner from fear, but it took our group around 13 minutes to escape this season. That brings their minutes of entertainment per dollar spent to 1.08, which is below the average of 1.5 that we figured up from last season. Despite that, the Hotel does have some unique items that the average haunt-goer should enjoy seeing along with some scarier actors and a realistically-dilapidated building. Be sure to watch their Facebook page for possible free ticket giveaways. All in all, we truly enjoyed ourselves here and can’t wait to see what’s in store for them in the future! Rumor has it that they still want to expand and offer more attractions in the future and… we can tell you… this property sure does have a lot of potential and room to grow! So, if you are in the Springfield, Ohio area and looking for a different show this season, be sure to pay them a visit.