Factory of Terror OH Review (2013)

This haunt starts hiring in June and training actors beginning in late July, continuing their training several times each week before the season begins. On an average night there are over 100 paid actors that make up this huge factory! Although that is a great number to have, we still encountered numerous areas with dead space. We came across many notably-energetic characters within all 4 attractions who were very convincing, however there were a few that needed to be more enthusiastic in order to enhance their believability. All of the characters seemed to make sense with their respective scenes except for a few that said very little to our group or used dialogue that didn’t seem to match their characters, such as ‘Hi’ and ‘What’s Up?’ On the other hand, this crew is taught not to break character and, to our knowledge, they never did! Some of the characters used interactive dialogue with our group members and several were also physically interactive with us and tricked us into listening to them! A shout-out goes out to ‘Troll’ due to his sneaky interaction with our group during our journey through Industrial Nightmare. He obviously knew the haunt very well and tried to scare us every chance he got and he also made us aware of how late to work we were! Other memorable characters were Carl, Slider, Big Red, the female chef in the kitchen with tongs, Bloody Mary, Dale, and Jeffro due to their intensity and enhanced performances towards our group!

The realistic costumes you will see at FOT have been modified in an attempt to make them as authentic as possible! Their makeup team uses 8 makeup stations, 5 of which are strictly for airbrushing. The makeup was grotesquely realistic on most of the characters which heightened their legitimacy, especially on those with additional features, such as discolored teeth and special contacts. We didn’t notice any full masks, and the cowl pieces that we came across were put together in-house, keeping them original. For the most part the costumes matched their respective scenes well, but there were a few that didn’t seem to match as well as others. This was the case with some of the areas where we encountered clowns. We noticed one very impressive costume and we were later informed that it had been custom designed for the haunt, so you won’t find it at any other haunts! Some of the costumes that stood out to us were the extremely tall factory employee, all of the ones seen in the queue areas, and Jeffro’s due to their originality and attention to detail. Overall, the costuming at FOT is among some of the most genuine and realistic we’ve seen!

FOT has a large sign on the front of the building that can be seen from quite a distance, making it an easy attraction to find. Another sign pointed us towards the free parking area that was well-lit and full of flaggers for assisting with parking. Portable restrooms are conveniently located near the ticket booth, at the entrance of the attraction, inside the building in the mid-point area, and at the exit of the attraction. Friendly staff can be found inside the ticket booth or dressed in costume at the entrance of the attraction (although some may not think the ones at the entrance are very friendly). There was plenty of light where needed, and exit signs were spotted throughout the attraction, however we did come across some uneven flooring, ramps, and marked stairs, so be sure to watch your step as you make your way through. As you make your way to the ticket booth, several TVs showing the haunt’s promotional videos entertain the crowd while you wait. After purchasing tickets, make your way along the side of the ticket building, following the orange lights and sign pointing towards the entrance. Roaming actors were present outside the attraction, and in both queue areas, doing a great job at engaging with their customers, some of whom were even scared away before they entered the haunt! All queue areas are located indoors and offer plenty of excitement while you wait with more TVs, animatronics, and haunt related d

The special effects at Factory of Terror are a combination of larger, more-elaborate units that were purchased from haunt vendors along with some original designs and effects that were created by the haunts staff, such as the mirror maze, the execution scene, and the moving walls. Some of them, like the Gore Galore puppets, air cannons, and water-spraying effects were fairly difficult to predict and were effective in providing scares and discomfort to our review group! Other special effects were noted as well, such as the many dismembered torsos, CGI effects, repetitive/identical doors, the possessed hearse and unique uses of fog, but some of them could have been more effective if distractions would have been implemented with them to make them less predictable and scarier. When it comes to scene detail, FOT has some of the finest in Ohio that Team Zombillies has had the privilege of seeing and many of the sets were just as much eye-candy as some of the props and animatronics! From a two-story mansion facade and the cellar we found within to a multi-story church and its atrium, there was no shortage of interesting things to look at during our tour. Finally, let’s not forget about the effective 3D artwork we came across in ‘Judgement Day.’ Many of the walls really seemed to ‘pop out’ at us; so well, in fact, that we still wonder to this day if some of the things really did or not that we saw in there…. We’ll let you find out for yourselves!

Factory of Terror is actually located in an old factory, but different themes are incorporated into each of the four attractions. The first haunt is Portal to Insanity which, as its name implies, is filled with several asylum-themed scenes and the patients that reside within. The second haunt is Industrial Nightmare, where they used several features and even some of the actual machines that were in the building before the haunts construction began! After you’ve finished exploring everything in the half-way point, continue on to Massacre on Mahoning (a.k.a. ‘MOM’) and make your way through the old mansion and down to the cellar to try your hand at escape… if you can make it past all of the creepy-crawlies down there waiting for you! Finally face your own doom in ‘Judgment Day in 3D’ where everyone will be sentenced to one of two fates in the end, if you can get that far! Our review group noted that the themes in Industrial Nightmare and Judgment Day were easier to grasp and the characters reiterated them more believably than in the other two. Although we could still tell what they were going for, many of the scenes had to be explained to us before we fully could understand how they fit into their relative themes.

All of the categories above combined to make this one fright-filled Factory of Terror! Many effective distractions were used, there were plenty of intimidating characters and effects, several good hiding spots were noted, scares came from all directions and everyone in the group was targeted at one point or another! During your tour of Factory of Terror, expect to be disoriented, distracted and deprived of your ‘personal space’ and expect it to begin before you even enter the building! This is one of those haunts where you’re likely to be scared at any time after you pull into the parking lot. We watched one group of customers get so scared as they made their way to the entrance that they took off running and didn’t go through, even though they had already purchased their tickets! Also, you will be warned to secure anything that you would like to keep and we would advise you do so… especially hats or anything else that can be removed quickly (just speaking from experience).

From the time we entered the first attraction to when we exited the fourth one, it took our review group over an hour to tour the complex of Factory of Terror, making their previous 2-time Guinness World Record of ‘Longest Indoor Haunted House’ very believable. For the record, Guinness lists a haunt in Japan as taking over the record back in October of 2011, but that haunt has since closed, so we’ll let you make your own judgments on this one. General admission tickets are $25 and VIP Fast Pass tickets are $36, both of which include all four attractions. For FOT’s exceptional length, competitive prices, giving customers over 2 minutes of entertainment per dollar spent and the quality we observed in each of the categories we review on, Factory of Terror is awarded with one of our highest value scores for the 2013 haunt season! Just keep in mind before making the journey that this is an extreme attraction and it is NOT intended for children under the age of 12. Be sure to keep updated on their Facebook page for deals and specials and check out their website for group rates, daily specials and season passes!