Fright Kingdom Review (2019)

We were introduced to five characters before we even started walking into the building. It’s a great way to give people a little sample of what to expect once they go through those doors. Thinking back on it, I believe we saw a character from each attraction, almost like they represented the spirits of the five haunts within the walls of Fright Kingdom. The most obvious was the clown running around on stilts, we could see him towering over groups of kids that scattered like cockroaches in the light. A bloody zombie was trapped inside the fenced area but spared no effort to break free and grab any guests passing by. They had a mother with a baby carriage walking slowly around the groups of people who weren’t sure if she was a threat, if only they paid more attention to the carriage they might not have fallen to the ground so soon. Another actor walked around with a sickle in hand looking like the type that lived off the grid and has no problem butchering anything that steps foot on his lands. The other hid in the shadows and blended in with the surroundings. We didn’t know they were there until we were 1 foot away from them.

We’ve always enjoyed the mixture of strategies Fright Kingdom uses to perfect the art of scaring. While most haunted attractions seem to rely on the traditional ‘hide and pop’ routine, where an actor waits behind a wall or a prop until we come close enough for them to jump into our personal bubble, Fright Kingdom believes that an actor can be just as scary in plain sight. When we walked into the kitchen / dining room scene there was more than enough spots an actor could hide behind, but our attention was focused on the crazy girl eating rotten organs off the plates on the table. No amount of screaming in my ear would make me feel more nervous about being in the same room with someone like that. This style carries throughout the haunt. I would say a good 90% of the characters inside Fright Kingdom own their scene as we slowly made our way up to them, not crouching behind a box somewhere. And even the few that were hiding and waiting, again they were hiding in plain sight. One of the genius things about Fright Kingdom is the use of bodies. There are tons and tons of very human-looking props staged in so many spots that we couldn’t tell what was real anymore. Even the ones we thought for sure are fake because they are obviously stapled to the ceiling’ we were wrong.

For the past few years I’ve really enjoyed the life-sized doll gag, where it seemed like two animatronics in full Victorian era dresses swayed from side to side as we passed by only to realize one of them is actually an actor. It got easier for us to tell which one was the actor because there was only two options. To our surprise, we stumbled into a room this year with what seemed like eight of those creepy life-sized dolls! And we had to zig zag our way through them hoping the ones we went by wouldn’t strangle us. Sure enough, we got close enough and magically the doll comes to life and wants to drag us into demented Hell that exists in their mind.

We particularly liked the crazy cat lady at the end of Bloodmare Mansion. She looked and acted exactly like how you might expect a crazy cat lady to be. Everyone walking by her was accused of stealing her cats or looking like her cats or needed to help her find her cats. Soon afterwards, we were walking towards the entrance of the clown attraction and we could still hear her screaming ‘Where’s My Stupid Cat!’ and there wasn’t even a group in her area. That’s complete dedication to the role.

The biggest thing I took from the cast of Fright Kingdom this year is the fact that every attraction has a character that introduces you to their respected areas. A crazy soldier screamed the rules for survival inside Apocalypse Z. A well-dressed butler of sorts went over a short history of Bloodmare Manor. A silly clown that played with our 3D glasses before giving them to us stood outside the Psycho Circus. A black clothed faced demon slowly allowed us into the Grim speaking no words. And a serial killing backwoods character made sure we knew our place in his world before entering The Abandoned. Most haunted houses you are lucky enough to get someone at least happy to be there and go over the rules before taking your ticket. At Fright Kingdom, we never feel like the act was over until we were back on the streets going home.

We always feel like we step into a realm of horrors when we are at Fright Kingdom, and the costumes and makeup make sure this feeling stays with us the whole time. From head to toe, all the characters completely embody who they are. I look very hard to catch even a sneaker and time and time again I fail, realizing these guys are the real deal. We like the attention to detail put into the aging of the costumes. It’s enough that the costumes are authentic and not a bunch of cheap Halloween store crap. But everything was stained with either blood or grease or vile and sometimes even covered in spider webbing to give it that extra old vibe.

Makeup is always done very professionally. Every zombie had their own unique rips and tears in their face exposing the blood and veins inside. The clowns inside the circus always have a fun pattern that I think would make even real circus clowns jealous. We really liked how one of the clowns had her face almost look like a cracked porcelain doll. Not exactly an uncommon look in the industry but hers was special because it was a clown face that was cracked all over and even the paint was chipping a little bit.

Located not even 1 minute off the highway, Fright Kingdom is one of the easiest attractions to drive to. Sometimes when there is no traffic it feels like the exit off the highway is specifically made for Fright Kingdom as I practically just roll right into their parking lot. It’s a small road but very dark. Every year they always have a parking lot attendee with a flashing red light and a ‘Haunted House’ sign on the street to guide you into the parking area. Fright Kingdom shares a building and they are located on the backside, so it’s not obvious to find if you are looking for it in the off season. But it does provide a sort of mysterious vibe being located in what would seem like an off limits area. None the less, it’s very easy to get to and there are plenty of people working in the lot.

I was just watching some old videos from Fright Kingdom in 2010 and had a good laugh when I saw their old entrance into the building. It was nothing more than a little wooden awning and a big old fashioned skull decoration on top. Just thinking about how far this place has come since then makes me smile. And there was nothing bad about Fright Kingdom back then either, just smaller. Now they have a big medieval tower with lights and fog and a hearse and all kinds of sounds. Like I said before, they made this place to make us feel like we are stepping into a world of Horror and Halloween combined.

The Fright Pass ticket allows you to skip the wait and enter the attraction whenever you are ready. BUT! A general admission ticket is still a timed ticket, that way you won’t be waiting in a line for too long anyway. Fright Kingdom has been doing this for a few years now and it is working perfectly. The tickets show a icon to represent the group, or time slot, you will go in with. Displayed on projector screen in the midway, they show which group is currently being let in and which group will go through next. You’ll know which group you are with by the icon on your ticket. It could be a Witch, Spider, Ghost, Pumpkin, etc. While you wait for your group to be called, you can hang out in the midway playing games, grabbing some snacks, take a look at the Hollywood Monster Museum with actual props and costumes worn in some of the most classic horror films of all time, and so much more! Once you are done with the attractions you enter into a little area that is almost like a mini version of the midway but it still has snacks and gifts and fun things to look at and take pictures with your friends and family. They even have a little escape room at the end if you want to make your night extra special. You can even watch some of the ‘scare-cams’ and see some groups going through the haunt.

Fright Kingdom keeps adding even the smallest of detail to everything year after year, and it makes the place more and more real every time I see it. What was once just a wall one year had a zombie prop hanging on it the next, then a few jack-o-lanterns on a fence the year after, then some hanging branches the year after, so on and so forth. It is not always so obvious with the changes but the feeling gets more and more genuine and adds to the authenticity that makes Fright Kingdom a destination haunted attraction for people all over the country.

Once we were into the building after gawking at the tall castle tower that welcomes all guests, we slowly made our way down a dark corridor with staged zombies and caskets on either side. Constantly worried that one of the zombies was going to move or someone would pop out behind the casket, we made our way down cautiously. Only to again be wowed by the ticket booth line. The ticket booth itself is like an old medieval themed castle complete with ‘Fright Kingdom’ in yellow letters across the top and a giant laughing jack-o-lantern in the middle staring at us while we waited in line. All around us there were lurching trees and cornstalks and lanterns, it almost felt like a haunted swamp. Along with all the other decorations and wait line characters entertaining us, it was hard to believe we hadn’t gotten tickets yet.

The midway does a fantastic job at staying on that line of being a scary amusement and a fun night out. We noticed that everyone was having a great time but at the same time they were always looking behind their shoulders to see if anything was going to get them. A couple laughs after getting startled by some incredible characters then everyone was having a blast.

Fright Kingdom has some of the best effects in all New England. We were very impressed with the animatronics in the Apocalypse Z attraction. The Zombies smashing themselves up against cages, windows with silhouettes of hands running down the glass, electrical clappers zapping above us as we walked by, and even machine guns to wipe out the zombie horde, just a few to mention. It seemed to us that the majority of the effects used were mainly at the first and last attractions which served well. Not to say that any of the other attractions weren’t as good, but it was nice to start off with a bang and then finish up with a bang.

The area in between the Apocalypse Z and Blood Manor serves as a great nostalgic walk through complete with lunging ghosts out of coffins and an undertaker waving a lantern from left to right. Even the old werewolf in the loft coming out every so often to growl and howl in the lighting flashing on the house. Nothing truly terrifying in this particular spot of Fright Kingdom, but it serves as a cool down moment before heading back into the chaos that consumes Bloodmare Manor.

We’ve always liked the fact that at times it is loud and times it is soft, yet at the same time we only heard what was in our immediate space. Fully knowing that we are in a spot not too far away from the loud area we were just in, yet we could only hear what was meant for the scene we were in. The audio design in Fright Kingdom is superb, as to not interfere with any of the other scenes in the general area.

Each attraction in Fright Kingdom stays true to their own themes. Apocalypse Z is obviously a zombie outbreak in a military facility. We made our way through a barracks, an armory, and sick bay, all kinds of rooms you could expect to see at a compound housing a small army trying to contain a deadly outbreak. Bloodmare Manor is a haunted mansion with all the scenes we expect to see in a haunted house like the lobby and kitchen, bedroom, bathrooms, library, and each one is detailed to the max! Psycho Circus starts off by walking into a giant evil clown’s mouth and proceeding into a world of neon and menacing laughter. And the Abandoned comes off as an old barn that has been inhabited by crazy hillbillies. It’s a little bit of a unique theme because they make it feel like they killed the previous residence and use them as decoration. Eventually, we made our way out of the barn and into an old mine shaft or cave system where these killers came from. And it feels like we venture further and further into the belly of the beast.

Fright Kingdom hasn’t followed a general story or theme throughout their whole attraction. Haunts that provide a full story from beginning to end are few and far between, but I have come to appreciate those few. This has no effect on Fright Kingdom as they have invested so much time and effort into convincing us that we stepped into a different reality that it outdoes any story line. Just being in there is scary enough.

If the tall tower with fog and ghouls lurking around in the parking lot, or the tunnel of live tarantulas wasn’t enough to get your heart racing, then check your pulse because you might have died already. Leading up to the first attraction, our senses were tested at almost every step. Something was about to come out of a door, someone was going to reach out and grab us from behind a tree, it was always something. And then when we entered the first attraction, all bets were off, no matter how much we looked or how careful we were, zombies and military personal came from every which way there was. They were above us, underneath us, trapped behind cages that broke open, on both sides of us at the same time, there was no escape. This carried through into the other attractions as well. It was almost like the scares were mapped out to a science. Especially since the whole vibe of Fright Kingdom constantly has you thinking something could happen, even when something just did happen. It is a great mix of scary and creepy within their walls, and we never quite knew which one to be more afraid of.

Regular tickets can be purchased either online or at the door and cost $25. The Fright Pass at the door is $36 but if you purchase them online they only cost $32.

We went through all five attractions in about 38 minutes. This gives Fright Kingdom a minute per dollar (MPD) value of 1.52 which is a bit higher than the last time I had visited. This means they have added a bit more bang for your buck. That is only including the entertainment you have to pay for. Some people just show up to take some selfies outside of the haunt because it’s such a fun sight to see. Nobody pays for the midway experience with all of their photo opportunities and actors walking around and gifts and snacks! I’ve paid for some attractions that were pretty much just what Fright Kingdom’s midway is like, and we can get it for free here!

Fright Kingdom has been a New England classic and tradition for fifteen seasons now and it’s always a great way to celebrate the best time of the year!