Face Your Fears Hotel of Terror Review (2021)

Adrenaline coursing through your veins while you frantically look for a spot to catch your breath is what the cast at Face Your Fears brings on a nightly basis. This team does a remarkable job at being at all the right places at all the right times, keeping dead zones to a minimum. The saying “small but mighty” always comes to mind when I think of the cast at Face Your Fears. They have a smaller cast than most haunts, but each one is eager to keep you from checking out. They run an average of 35 to 40 cast members every night.

The cast can offer two unique experiences to you (your choice) if you are brave or not. The touch pass is back for 2021 giving this cast the added benefit of stepping up the scare game, and they are here for it! If you are brave enough to do the touch pass, boundaries are non-existent. If you don’t* have a touch pass, the cast still gets as close as they can to your boundaries creating an atrociously scary experience. Either way, the interaction that you experience between the cast and your group will be hauntingly amazing.

The actors at Face Your Fears have perfected their timing to allow the mayhem to happen to your group. The cast smells you, taunts you, and lets you know they are going to rip your tear ducts out. With much of the cast being seasoned veterans at the haunt, they are very convincing and help enhance each of their scenes. There were even a few that had me second-guessing if they were real or not.

One encounter that we had was with the gentleman in the bar of the hotel. They did amazing at interacting with each person in our group describing the horror that was going to happen when we got past them. Things got real when one grabbed me by the arm to lead me to the next space. The clowns are not ordinary clowns; they can be a bit mean. One took me and tossed me into the laser swamp.

The costuming at this haunt will not go unnoticed by any patron. If you are looking for a backyard haunt where people wear bibs and throw fake blood on themselves, this isn’t your place. Face Your Fears has a remarkable team in costuming that keeps their looks hauntingly fresh each and every year. The team does not like to be average, so every year during the off-season, they continue to grow their skills to give you next-level characters each year.

Speaking of next-level, we got extra time this year to check out two remarkable characters. The dynamic duo of the makeup team blew us away with these completed and detailed looks. First was what we are calling the Spider Lady, which you can find at the entrance. The second was Miss Witch Doctor; her details were remarkable and had me second-guessing if she was real or not.

Each year, the costuming is planned out and organized to go into matching scenes. This makes the scenes and cast more believable, and transitions more terrifying. The cast completely personifies their characters and enhances your overall experience at this attraction. 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. Some characters utilize masks at this haunt, and they execute the usage with pure ease. What you will experience are properly fitting pieces that fit into the narrative of their space.

Face Your Fears’ website and Facebook page provide a surplus of information that you will need to plan the most epic night. Either information source will give you the address and your trusty GPS will have you pulling right in with no time wasted.

While on the main road, you will see a well-lit sign letting your fears know they can start manifesting in your brain. The creepy school bus will bring back all the memories of all the school bullies you would like to saw in half. If you miss the turn-in (hey, it happens), just turn around and come back, you don’t really want to miss all the fun, do you?

You will then reach the parking guys. They are asking for $2.00 or a donation. It is for a good cause to help a local sporting team, so we didn’t mind handing over some cash. The parking lot is in a darker and muddy field, so be prepared with appropriate footwear. We don’t want you losing a shoe before you even get into the haunt.

There are staff members roaming around in Face Your Fears Hotel T-shirts that will answer any question you may have or address any concern. Shout out to all those staff members who keep everything running nightly.

This haunt is not handicap accessible. You will be climbing the stairs of a four-story hotel. You will be crossing over bridges and through tight spaces.

Ticketing was changed due to COVID last year, and patrons seemed to love how well it operated and are glad that they stuck with it for this year also. 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 they will text you when it is your turn. This gives you the opportunity to check out all the additional things that the haunt offers.

The warm fire pit with the warm orange glow will beacon you to come cozy up. The movie screen with old horror movies plays in the background. There is also a photo op of a backdrop 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 you use #faceyourfears). “Caricatures by Jason” is on-site; his sketches are $15 for one person and $25 for two. There is also amazing artwork for purchase; pick yourself out a one-of-a-kind piece. Food trucks are available for all the late-night munchies you may have.

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 for safety and emergencies if they should arise. 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.

As soon as you park and get out of your car, you can hear the roars of thunders and the screams of patrons setting the precedence of what your night of fears will be like. As you creep over the bridge, you will be greeted by the crucified Pumpkin King who is there to greet you in all of his horrific fashion. You will then reach the ticket booth. This is where you will make the life-altering decision if you are brave enough for a touch pass or not. This is also where you will feel the intensity of the haunt and take in everything in the vicinity.

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 smell of delicious food filled my nostrils as the cool air floated about making my stomach dance for all things fried.

Then, when it’s finally your turn to enter the line, you are faced to face with a four-story-tall hotel built in 1858. In all of its glorious creepiness, it towers over everything below. The two stone gargoyles look down on you as if to say, “What the Hell are you doing here!?” The building itself 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 unsuspecting 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, thus adding to the haunting vibe that you feel in the front. The energy and everything you experience will get your senses in full gear when it is your turn to step up to the door. When the door mysteriously opens, then it’s time for you to take a deep breath and check in!

If you want to attend a haunt where the special effects are not half-assed, it would be Face Your Fears. They do a good job at raising the bar and giving all of their guests a completely immersive experience that assaults the senses.

Believability runs rampant at Face Your Fears. This haunt focuses on the storytelling, and the execution of it is amazing. The bonus for this haunt is that it works with what it has. It is a hotel, so each area is something you could find in a hotel, making it feel even more realistic to each patron. Each scene is done with accuracy and the well-executed scenes help you to know instantly what room of the hotel you have traveled to.

Year after year, this haunt continues to bring an assault to all your senses. With lighting, and utilizing it correctly, they can enhance the rooms that you’ll pass through. 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 cannot think; it is sounds that enhance the scenes and make them more believable. Some of these include water sounds when you cross over the bridge, sounds of thunder in areas to make you think it’s raining outside, and even a properly placed boat horn sound that will get a jump scare out of you.

Smells are 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 have to fight the urge to “share” all the road trip snacks I ate in the car.

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.

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 each year and focusing on 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 on their homepage. Unfortunately, nothing at the haunt will give you the full backstory. It is helpful to know it beforehand, though, as things will seem more complete and you can understand the big picture of the haunt. It is at least 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.’ The siblings got angry and made the mother vanish. The siblings renovated the hotel, making the dungeon a basement. However, the guests 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. Deaths in the hotel included victims asphyxiating, being roasted alive, poisoning, stripping bodies to sell the skeletons to medical schools and organs on the black market. When the siblings went into 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 matters into their own hands. When Walter and Margaret returned to the hotel, the townspeople had become a violent, revenge-obsessed mob. They hanged Walter from the large tree in front of the hotel and beat him to death while forcing Margaret to watch, then, in turn, beat Margaret to death as well. 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. People from the town still disappear on an alarmingly regular basis and, if you ask the older townsfolk, they’ll tell you that Margaret still prowls her old hotel, visiting horrible retribution on anybody foolish enough to come near.

“But hey, it’s just a story.”

We took advantage of the touch pass and, with this, the level of scary was a little more real. I had creatures whispering in my ear and sniffing me. At one point, my hair was being stroked and I had a moment where I shivered. I was flung into a laser swamp where the song, “Sugar, we are going down,” played quietly in my head. I was held captive for a short time, then insulted about being a straggler and not being in my hotel room. Just when I thought things were not real, they would reach out and grab me again. The characters are always in your space never, giving you a moment to think or breathe. This anxiety-ridden attribute of the haunt is a huge part of what makes it so successful.

They will not physically touch without the pass, but they can still crowd your space and lurk down on you while you pass, and you will still be tested and, of course, sniffed. Personal space is not acknowledged at this haunt.

This haunt explores every space and inch of the building because evil lurks at every level. Always be aware because the conjuring of victims is always around, ready to evoke fear. The layout of this haunt is remarkable and creates the opportunity for terror in every corner. The intensity and high-level scares make this haunt a must-see each year.

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 that we attend, we watch grown adults run out screaming, so it could be too much for younger children. This year, we took a 14-year-old with us and they tapped out at the bar scene.

You will never be denied the opportunity to check into The Edwards’ Hotel; but, good luck checking back out. General Admission is $20.00 per person, and 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. Thus, the General Admission price is very comparable to the haunts in the area. The new virtual queue gives you the opportunity to roam about killing time. This year, they are offering Fast Pass at $30.00 and VIP (which includes the touch pass) for $40.00. If you are a brave soul, you can add the touch pass option to your General Admission ticket for $2.00 extra per person. They reserve the right to limit the number of fast passes and VIP passes sold per night due to guest volume. With all the additional activities mentioned above, this is definitely a good haunt to enjoy for your money!