Features:
✓-Free Parking✓-Handicap Accessible✓-Food/Concessions✓-“Old-School” (Low Tech)✓-You will NOT be touched✓-Original Characters✓-Indoor Waiting Line✓-All-Indoor Attraction
How Do We Get These Scores?
Our Rating System
UPDATE FOR 2022: Our former “Atmosphere” and “Theme” categories have now been combined and renamed “Immersion.” Our intent with this is to give more appropriate credit to attractions that have shown a clear focus on achieving and maintaining better customer experiences (both inside and outside the attractions) and developing creative storylines.
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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Final Score: 7.98
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 7.99
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 7.31
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 9
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 8.1
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 8.08
(5% of Final Score) Theme:
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 7.88
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 7.95
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Summary:
Fear Overload Scream Park is scaring the residents of San Leandro, CA, as it once again opens at the Bayfair Mall. Founded by brothers David and Nathan Polanco, this small family enterprise has expanded into multiple haunted attractions across the country, including Ultimate Terror Scream Park in Sacramento, Hush Haunted Attraction in Detroit, Hanna Haunted Acres in Indianapolis, and Folklore Haunted House in Atlanta. Todd Border and Jake Gardner serve as General Managers of Fear Overload, and were gracious hosts. This year, Fear Overload’s two haunts are Night Terrors and The Tooth Collector. It had been a few years since we’ve been to Fear Overload, but they did change up the sets and floor plan, still had a fine attention to detail, and the actors really brought their enthusiasm.
Cast: 7.99
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 8
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 8
(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 8.5
(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 8
(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 7.25
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The cast of Fear Overload was essential to bringing this haunt’s success. Even though we were told about half of them were rookies, we couldn’t tell, because they all brought their best. Fear Overload does have enough actors to keep the scares and entertainment flow consistent. Collectively, they showed enthusiasm, intensity and were engaged as needed. Nobody broke character when we walked through the two haunts. This cast was very interactive, as several individual actors would stop us, or alter our course. There were actors emerging from below our knees, from above our heads, and from hidden corners. The dialogue was appropriate and creative to the respective themes. Night Terrors featured more grunts and groans, as the actors wore animal masks. The Tooth Collector had several actors speaking to us. Several Test Subjects yelled, ‘Give me your teeth’. There was a memorable actress in the nursery who said, ‘Give me your baby! I want your placenta!’ We can’t say we’ve ever heard that in a haunt before. A mad doctor with a machete confronted us and said, ‘I want your blood. Give me your blood!’ There was only one actor who uttered the old haunt clich������, ‘Get out!’, but overall, we found the dialogue to be relevant and appropriate to each haunt’s theme. There was more variety of characters in The Tooth Collector, from Test Subjects to Hospital Staff and Doctors. Night Terrors had more similar types of characters, as most actors had either bird masks or wolf masks.
Costuming: 7.31
How Did We Get This Score?
Costuming Scores (15% of Final Score):
(15% of Costuming Score) How complete / finished did the costumes appear to be?: 7.5
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 7
(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 7.5
(15% of Costuming Score) How effectively did they use masks (if used)?: 7.5
(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 7.25
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We found the actors of The Tooth Collector to have relevant costumes according to the medical theme, from doctor’s lab coats to hospital gowns. Night Terrors has a more nebulous theme of nightmares, and most of the actors appeared to have regular street clothes with their animal masks, instead of any distinguishing costumes. There was one actress with an original makeup design, which resembled a cross between an animal and a killer clown face. It gave her a very creepy look as she arched her back until her head looked at us upside down. Most of the Test Subjects of The Tooth Collector had bloody mouths, with blood running down their chins as they yelled, ‘Give me your teeth!’ The most common animal masks of Night Terrors were the bird masks, which were very reminiscent to the medieval plague doctor masks from the era of the bubonic plague. There were also a few wolf masks worn by actors in Night Terrors, and all of the masks did work in terms of giving the actors a more scary and intimidating appearance. The costumes of The Tooth Collector were very appropriate and complete with the theme. Even though Night Terrors does have a more open interpretation of dreams and nightmares, we would have liked to have seen less street clothes and more imaginative attire.
Customer Service: 9
How Did We Get This Score?
Customer Service Scores (10% of Final Score):
(25% of CS Score) How easy was it to locate the attraction, park, and navigate the premises?: 9
(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 9
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 9
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 9
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Fear Overload is easy to find, because it’s located at the Bayfair Mall, across the parking lot from Century Movie Theaters. There’s plenty of free parking, it has an obvious large banner with the haunted attraction’s name above the front door, and is handicap accessible. We couldn’t find any safety issues, as there were no tripping hazards and plenty of emergency exits. The staff members of Fear Overload were professional, friendly, helpful, answered all our questions, and treated us with respect. Fear Overload’s information is easy to find, as they have a presence on various social media and have a very cool website. If there’s anything to note on this point, it’s that the website features an awesome promotional video, but we did not see any of its costumed characters anywhere at Fear Overload.
Atmosphere: 8.1
How Did We Get This Score?
Atmosphere Scores (10% of Final Score):
(60% of Atmosphere Score) How obvious was it that you were at a haunted house before entering?: 8.5
(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 7.5
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Fear Overload is located at a mall, so they are limited to how much they can promote outside in the parking lot area. They have a giant banner with the business name, all designed in a spooky gothic style. There’s no mistaking this place as anything but a haunted house. From the entry doors, guests walk down a long corridor with custom Fear Overload feather flags, a large promotional sign for photo ops, and ending at the ticket booth. From there is a lobby with heavy metal music, dark blue mood lighting, and several painted walls depicting various Halloween themes and scenes in florescent colors. As well as the painted walls, there are various static props for photo ops and selfies. We enjoyed the way anticipation is built, from the quiet parking lot and corridor transforms into the loud and rocking lobby.
Special Effects: 8.08
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 7.75
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 8.5
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 8.5
(25% of SFX Score) How well did they achieve & maintain the suspension of disbelief?: 8
(15% of SFX Score) How effective were the SFX at providing scares / entertainment?: 7.5
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Fear Overload utilizes multiple special effects to create it’s two haunts. The sound effects are very effective, especially in the nursery where we heard the sounds of infants crying. But throughout the haunts, we heard the sounds of people crying for help and various mood music. The scenes and props are very impressive. Fear Overload’s art department aims for a modern and realistic look, complete with distress, dirt, grime, graffiti and blood. There are various gutted up bodies in both haunts. The place looks absolutely nasty. In the past few years, Fear Overload has kept the same floor plan and wall d������cor. Now this year, we compliment Fear Overload for changing the floor plan and making the haunt less predictable. We noticed more twists and turns, so we were more disoriented. There was nothing out of the ordinary to break us from our suspension of disbelief; everything in these haunts were relevant to their themes. Overall, the special effects were effective at providing scares and entertainment.
Theme: N/A
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?:
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?:
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?:
This score is left “N/A” when we believe the haunt is trying to target a random variety of themes or phobias, rather than a single overarching “Theme” or “storyline.”
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There is no unifying theme of Fear Overload. Each of the two haunts has an independent theme, and the website does give a good backstory for each haunt. The Tooth Collector does an excellent job of carrying out its medical theme, showing the tortured Test Subjects and the Mad Doctors. Night Terrors is about a family in physical danger from its dreams, so it does allow for a more surreal and open-ended interpretation, and we found the storyline harder to follow. It came across as animal face actors startling us from various vantage points.
Scare Factor: 7.88
How Did We Get This Score?
Scare Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of Scare Factor Score) How scary was it?: 8
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide scares to the entire group?: 7.75
(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 8.25
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 7.75
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 7.25
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Fear Overload does provide several forms of scares. The majority of scares came from actors startling us from hidden corners, but some did emerge from set pieces on the floor or from the ceiling. A few of them confronted us with intimidating stares, and the girl with the original makeup design arching her back does stand out. There was a nice drop door gag, and there was an area where you can see the walls pounded from the other side. The ending of The Tooth Collector had a good finale as an actress startled us right before we exited.
Entertainment & Value: 7.95
How Did We Get This Score?
Entertainment & Value Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment received during the main attraction/s?: 7.75
(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 7.5
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 8
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 9
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We were satisfied with the entertainment and length of the two haunts. Each one took about 6 minutes to complete. The admission price included the various photo ops and a line actor who went out of his way to interact with us. It would have been nice to see more than one actor, but this gentleman did give it his all. The ticket price was appropriate for the entertainment received. Fear Overload did utilize its available space, and we did not find any ‘dead zone’.
How Did We Get These Scores
Our Rating System
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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