Face Your Fears Hotel of Terror Review (2020)

Each year that we have attended Face Your Fears Hotel, I am blown away at the small number of cast members who make a huge impact on your night at this haunt. This year is no different. They have increased the haunt by about 2,000 square feet so they increased the cast from 25 members to 35. This team does a phenomenal job of being at all the right places at all the right times. With very few moments to breathe (which are usually on stairs), they keep the adrenaline running through your body the whole time. Dead zones are just that; at this haunt, they do not exist.

Due to COVID this year, they are not offering the touch pass but cannot wait to bring it back. The cast still gets as close as they can to your boundaries creating a frightful experience. They do a great job of interacting with groups. Due to the groups being well spaced out they have plenty of time to sniff you, yell at you, and create mayhem for your night. If you are looking for a mediocre cast with a few ‘boos,’ this is not your cast. They are very convincing and present in your space creating real horror. They help enhance their scenes and you will never come across them out of character.

Our first encounter was of creepily beautiful women who may or may not have a night including lots of red wine. When you least expect it, the Butcher will be in your space towering over you and reminding you of all the bacon you have eaten. You have heard about trolls and bridges but what if we told you a massive werewolf is very protective of his bridge and though he may not be able to touch you, he is going to haunt the hell out of you.

Face Your Fears is not your average back yard, Walmart costume kind of haunt. They completely embody their characters and make sure that their look is top-notch. No missing parts or bad makeup done here. Each costume is planned and organized to go into the appropriate scenes. This makes scenes more believable, the cast more believable, and transitions more terrifying.

Costuming at this haunt will not go unnoticed by any patron. Some of the designs are very detailed and make you want to look twice. Even the basic ones are done with great accuracy making them feel realistic and creepy at the same time. The cast does such a great job at being in your space it is hard to miss the details of the creatures or to even forget about them. When you make your journey home there will be a character or two that you will be thinking about because the details are good. This is all due to a remarkable make-up team that is a part of the Face Your Fears Hotel. They do not stay at the status quo they enhance their skills every offseason to bring fresh new looks to the haunt. Their talents keep the costuming at Face Your Fears top notch.

Some characters also utilize masks at this haunt, and they execute the usage with pure ease. For many other haunts, mask usage would be negative as they’re not utilized properly but it is an advantage for Face Your Fears. These will not be ill-fitting Spirit Halloween masks; what you will experience are property fitting pieces that fit into the narrative of their space.

There is a plethora of details and information on the Face Your Fears Website and Facebook page. Start there to make your plans to attend this must-see attraction. Utilizing the address on the website our GPS got us right to the haunt with no problems. On the main road, you will see a well-lit sign letting you know you have reached your destination of terror. You will see a creepy old school bus reminding you of all your childhood school terrors. You may pass the road its ok turn around and come back. You will follow the road back until you reach the flaggers with vests and lights. They will direct you to your free parking spot (who said dying did not come with free perks). This year they have moved parking to a new area so if you have been before you will get turned around but the screams in the distance will help you get acclimated quickly.

There are attraction members roaming around in Face Your Fears Hotel t-shirts that will answer any question you may have or address any concerns. A State Fire Marshall was out and gave them a clean report and they have systems in place for emergencies to get everyone where they need to be. They have added two additional sheriffs every night that they are open for safety and emergencies if they should arise.

They have a COVID plan and procedures in place. If you get a chance to see the owner and his wife make sure you say hello as they roam about to make sure everything is running smoothly. This haunt is not handicap accessible. You will be climbing stairs of a four-story hotel. You will be crossing over bridges and in tight spaces.

Ticketing and the line are different this year. You can buy tickets on the website or they have a QR code to scan and you can buy them online. You then show them to the person at the front and they check you into a virtual queue line. This will then hold your place and text you when it is your turn. This is allowing for social distancing and we applaud the haunt for taking this step. So now while you are not standing in line you can partake in usual as well as the newly added activities. The warm fire pit and movie screen with old horror movies are still in their areas. There is also a photo op of a back drop with a zombie and a pipe wrench sticking out of his head for you to pretend to pull out for all your Instagram worthy pictures (Make sure to #the haunt). The newly added activities are a few amusement park rides including a Ferris Wheel, there are caricature drawers on site, and there is carnival food available.

The lights of the glowing Ferris Wheel in the distance instantly give you a ‘Zombieland’ kind of vibe. As you walk from the parking lot you can hear the sounds and see the lights that set an instant mood for the night. You will cross over a bridge where you will be greeted by the calling the Pumpkin King on a cross almost as if he were being crucified. You will reach the ticket area where you will experience the electric vibe of the area and your senses will be assaulted with overload. This is where you will take in the whole area and everything it has to offer.

As your wait in your virtual queue, there are times to be by the warm fire while you take in a horror movie. Do not get too cozy cause the creatures like to roam about and see what fresh fear they can find. The carnival area is a buzz with all the lights and sounds. It plays older music to vibe with the haunt itself. The smell of funnel cakes filled my nostrils as the cool air floated about making my stomach dance for all the powdered sugar goodness. At this current time, the carnival area may distract some from the atmosphere the haunt gives off as they can be conflicting vibes for some. I enjoyed the change. There are plans to move the carnival things in the future farther away from the haunt though.

Then when it’s your turn to enter the line, you are face-to-face with a four-story tall building built in 1858. In all the creepiness it towers over everything below. The two stone gargoyles look down on you as to say what the hell are you doing here. It is covered with branches that run up and down the front of it. Two grim reapers are perched high above with their scythes looking down on all the unexpecting victims that will be entering that night. There is a mysterious green light in the top window that makes you intrigued. There is a tree in the front, and it is not an ordinary tree. This tree is colossal adding to the haunting vibe that you feel in the front.

Everything you experience and the energy will get your senses in full gear when it is your turn to step up to the door. When the door mysteriously opens you take a deep breath and check-in.

Special Effects deployment at Face Your Fears Hotel is never half-assed and gives the patrons an immersive experience. The special effects start from the moment you get in the line. Lighting and sounds on the outside of the hotel keep people in suspense as to what they might expect inside. Then the door opens by itself and you are lead to the elevator of hell.

This hotel has many areas that you would see in a normal hotel which adds to the element of ‘this could be really happening’. Each scene is done with accuracy to the story telling. Well thought out and executed scenes help you to know instantly what room of the hotel you have traveled to. Year after year, this haunt utilizes lighting correctly to enhance rooms of the hotel. Timing is usually on point to light up things that go bump in the night. Fog machines, laser lights, and other lighting opportunities create unique experiences at this attraction.

The sounds of screams, chainsaws, bangs, and clangs are everywhere. This haunt uses sounds as an advantage. It is not screaming rock music so loud you can not think; it is sounds that enhance the scene and make it more believable. Such as water sounds when you cross over the bridge, sounds of thunder in areas to make you second guess if it’s raining outside, or even a properly placed boat horn sound will get a jump scare out of you.

The smell is a sensory attack that most haunts do not utilize. Here at Face Your Fears, you will wish your nose were plugged when you reach the vile odor of the Butcher’s shop. This area year after year makes my stomach hurt and I hate to fight the urge not to upchuck the delicious funnel cake I just inhaled.

There are many other special effects to take in at this haunt from changing pictures, moving books in the library, vortex tunnel, laser swamp, the enormous creatures that lurk about, and many more. This year with the addition there is a new whiskey room. Yeah, I was excited also thinking I was going to get to drink on the job until a loathsome brown, diseased, ripely dead thing made its way out of the barrels and invaded our personal space. Another addition is the ‘trap door’ be ready for it because if you are a lucky one it could be a long way down.

I personally have not feared chainsaws, but others are terrified of them. Well, let us just say this year at Face Your Fears everything I thought I knew about chainsaws went right out the damn window with your ex’s stuff. It had me second guessing if I was losing a limb for a moment. Face Your Fears continues to grow in this area but every new piece fits just like a puzzle piece.

It’s refreshing to see another year has gone by and Face Your Fears Hotel continues to utilize the same theme. Face Your Fears is one of the fewer haunted attractions that still uses a theme. They continue to execute the theme well while enhancing scenes and the storytelling.

Face Your Fears Hotel of Terror has a complex backstory with original characters. The best way to find out the backstory is to go to their website and read it under “story.” Nothing at the haunt will give you the backstory. It is helpful to know it as things will seem more complete and you can understand the big picture of the haunt. It is evident as you make your way through the attraction that it is a haunted hotel, and each room is a different part of the hotel. The actors and scenes tie in well with the overall theme. The location and building itself makes it all more realistic and believable.

A brief snippet of the backstory:
Walter and Margaret Edwards grew up working in their mother’s hotel. As they got older the mother would no longer let them work together, saying they were becoming ‘too close’. Siblings got angry and made the mother vanish. The siblings renovate the hotel making the dungeon a basement. However, the guest didn’t know. Most of the victims were women, many of whom were hotel staff, but the Edwards Siblings weren’t picky ‘ they preyed upon men, too, and even children. Rooms in the hotel included victims asphyxiating, being roasted alive, poisoning, striping bodies to sell the skeletons to medical schools and organs on the black market. The sibling went into to town. The staff got nosy and found what they didn’t want to find in the basement and called the police to begin an investigation. However, the townspeople decided to take the matter into their own hands. When Walter and Margaret returned to the hotel, the townspeople had become a violent, revenge-obsessed mob, hanging Walter from the large tree in front of the hotel and beating him to death while forcing Margaret to watch, then, in turn, beating Margaret to death. Or so they thought. Returning the next day to try to cover up what they had done, the townspeople discovered Margaret’s body was missing, never to be seen again.

Evil lurks on many levels at the Face Your Fears Hotel of Terror. Always be aware because the conjuring of victims is always around ready to evoke fear. The cast is ready to bring it to you all day and in every way. They will be in your space never giving you a moment to think or breathe which is a successful attribute of this haunt and the scares it provides.

This haunt explores every space and inch of the building including the new addition. The layout of this haunt is remarkable and creates an opportunity for terror in every corner. The intensity and high-level scares make this haunt a newly popular must-see by the locals. They will not physically touch without the pass, but they can still crowd your space, lurk down on you while your pass, you will still be tested and of course sniffed. Personal space is not known at this haunt.

They offer frights from the small startling sounds of basic things to the special effects mentioned above. All the elements cohesively working with the cast in their respective scenes gives you one hell of a night of entertainment. Even if you are not easily scared, the banter is fun. Each year we attend we watch grown adults run out screaming, so it could be too much for younger children. However, you know your children better than I do.

2020 is a year that offered up its own challenges and scares. However, Face Your Fears Hotel of Terror was ready and made the necessary adjustments so that they could open. This way you would not be denied the opportunity to check into The Edward’s Hotel. You will not want to miss the opportunity of this haunt. Let’s get you some details so you can plan your stay.

General Admission is $20.00 per person. It took our group about 20 minutes to get through the hotel. However, this will depend on how scared your group gets, and if you have runners or corner dwellers. That gives you one minute of torment for every dollar you spend. General Admission is very comparable to the haunts in the area. With the new virtual queue, it gives you the opportunity to roam about killing time.

This year they are offering Fast Passes at $30.00 and VIP for $40.00. They also offer horror movies on the big screen to help pass the time. The fire ring is a crutch on a cold night to keep you toasty. They offer photo-op opportunities for your visit. New this year is the carnival rides, games, and food which cost additional. Everyone must wear a mask to enter and they reserve the right to limit the number of fast passes and VIP passes sold per night due to guest volume.