Fright Kingdom Review (2020)

In this most unfortunate year, it is clear that almost every attraction needs to scale back on their cast. Usually, I am greeted by a slew of characters before I even get to the front door of the haunt. Obviously, this year would not be the same.

I did happen to see the famous mother character and her baby stroller come out to play with the waiting guests. And also eventually a crazy chainsaw clown made his way outside to play too. And inside the old midway, I came across a cleaver-wielding maniac terrorizing everyone inside.

I appreciated his style of haunting at this particular time because it can be unwise to make people step outside of their respected space on the floor. So he was careful not to charge at a group of teenagers or chase anyone around. As fun as that is, it’s just not the safest style this year. And there were at least two actors outside of each attraction this year, usually one to allow you inside and keep the pace steady and safe but at least they are always in character.

Now that I really think about it, there actually weren’t as many vacant spots outside the attractions as I remember. Makes more sense to have a few in those areas since it has the space to allow them.

Inside the attractions, there may not always be an opportunity to be at least six feet away. But unlike other years they just didn’t have quite as many queue line actors; understandably so. Which is not to say there aren’t enough other things to look at and enjoy while you wait.

Inside the attractions, the number of actors is noticeably smaller for obvious reasons too. But all the cast tried their best to really own their areas and the attractions were adjusted slightly this year in order for them to do so. Instead of popping out of one door, an actor no has the opportunity to appear within multiple doorways of an area where all the doors have now been replaced by plexiglass. And they used it to the best of their abilities.

As a frequent visitor to Fright Kingdom, I keep reminding myself to expect the unexpected. I remember which areas have drop panels waiting for me and which rooms have certain types of actors in obvious spots for particularly-designed scares. And no matter how hard I try they always catch me off guard.

A great example is the bungee jumper clown in the Psycho Circus. Everything is so bright and lit up in that attraction it’s kinda hard not to notice this big metal rig with a clown strapped to it maybe fifteen feet away from you. I see the rig, I see the clown, I know what they are supposed to do, I know it gets a great reaction’ Nope! Six feet to my right out of nowhere comes a real clown bashing the metal tanks in between us! I’m completely off guard and startled and laughing at my own shame.

A good majority of the haunt had many more areas like this where the sets made me think one thing but an actor used to their advantage to get the scare in. Fright Kingdom has always been an expert when it comes to this style of haunting, but to see it flourish in this particular season was a pleasant surprise.

As long as I have been visiting Fright Kingdom I have found that their passion lays in all aspects of the haunting profession. And their dedication to unique and personal costumes and make-up and masks can surely speak volumes to this. Whether it is a psychotic clown or a haunting butler or some kind of backwoods creature, Fright Kingdom knows how to make each of them feel like their very own character and not just the same mass-produced actor in a different color clothing.

I have always been a fan of authenticity when it came to the Victorian mansion characters. Every year, they have an actor filling the typical roles of a haunted mansion and it’s always a nostalgic feeling to see their outfits again. A housemaid character was in charge of letting groups into the house and she wore a dusty typical maid dress. The butler is always immediately inside the lobby of the house wearing his derby hat and striped suit, again dusty and a little tattered. And my favorite every year, the victorian white-dressed life-sized porcelain doll… who seems to come to life every year amongst all her friends who have been doomed to sway back and forth forever with no one to play with them.

All actors and staff were either clearly wearing face masks, face shields, or face masks underneath regular masks. Not as many crazy unique options as I would have liked to see from Fright Kingdom, but still they did a great job.

Fright Kingdom’s staff has always been incredibly helpful and kind and patient with me. They have always had someone standing at every corner guiding people where to go and answering any and all questions.

Anyone who has been to Fright Kingdom knows there is an abundance of parking lot attendees guiding everyone with red glowing sticks and making sure everyone is safe to pull in and pull out without hitting anyone. I can always count on seeing someone at the entrance to the lot waving a big flashlight to let me know they still have parking on that side of the street.

The lots filled up very quickly for their second night of the season. I often forget that there is extra parking across the street in another building’s lot. It was only half past 7 pm when I realized the influx of people walking in from the other lots. But the parking attendees were doing a great job keeping everyone organized and out of the way and directing them where to go.

They had a clearly marked entrance arch for guests to see. From there, they lined up while staying 6 feet apart and made their way up to another manager who took everyone’s temperature using a contactless forehead reader. Once he confirmed I was within the acceptable range I made my way to the infamous foggy and cornstalk ridden ramp that leads into the castle tower prominently reading Fright Kingdom!

Inside and outside the haunt, they had marked the 6-foot distance pretty much everywhere! And marked by neon bright red tape too which illuminated even more so in the blacklights scattered all over the attraction.

Many drop panels were used and each one of them was blocked off by a sheet of plexiglass to keep both the customer and actors safe. In other spots, there were sheets of hanging clear plastic where an actor could reach out at me but still protected behind a solid clear sheet.

And all hanging objects in the haunt had been either taken down or glued or screwed up against the walls so as to clear the way for the customer. I have to say, some of it kinda looked cool with the neon pool noodles all pushed against the walls like some kind of paranormal force was clearing the way for the customers.

Hand sanitizing stations were placed in easily-locatable areas everywhere! There were few in the parking lot waiting line, a few in the midway area, right before every single attraction inside, and quite a few more were out in the concession area.

I’ve really got to hand it to the crew of Fright Kingdom this year. They were already arguably the most bang for your buck haunt in New England with an awesome midway complete with tons of photo opportunities and a mini horror museum, even a few mini escape rooms.

Normally a group would purchase their tickets inside and continue further into the ‘Monster Midway.’ They wouldn’t stand in a conga line waiting to get into the haunt but instead were told to wait in the area until they saw a particular symbol projected above the midway. This would be their indication to proceed to the actual entrance of the haunted house attractions. And as they waited they would keep themselves entertained by visiting the museum collection and eating popcorn and having fun with the coffin simulator.

This year, due to the pandemic, they had to get rid of as much waiting and standing around as possible. While the museum and photo ops are still there, people only have a brief moment to snap a few photos.

There’s some very exciting news about Fright Kingdom this year as they revealed their huge involvement in Adam Sandler’s new Halloween-themed comedy “Hubie Halloween.” Much of Fright Kingdom’s sets were rented and broken down and transported over to Salem Massachusetts for the filming… and then broken down and transported back to Nashua, New Hampshire.

Scattered throughout the old midway are tons of props that were used in the movie. A giant haunted castle parade float sits in the back of the area and I could walk all around it taking as many pictures as I wanted. A bunch of classic Halloween yard decorations all labeled as items you can see in the movie when it releases on Netflix in early October (now airing as of publishing this review)!

After exiting the actual attraction, I found myself in the back lot of the building. Here, they had all the merchandise booths now selling awesome Fright Kingdom face masks and gaiters. Also, a booth that has different themed grab bags and also a bunch of great Halloween art work from the very talented ‘From Art to Zombie’ artists who also make a lot of the unique props within Fright Kingdom.

This year they were able to bring out ‘Compliment’ food truck serving french fries and hot sandwiches. This is a special treat for Fright Kingdom since they have never had a real food option during the haunt season before.

What I found to be very clever was the use of online feedback/compliments and the ‘what was your favorite part’ booth. Generally, Fright Kingdom always had a booth on the inside where you could write down your favorite part or just generally nice things to say to the crew and toss them into a bucket. Well, this year you can scan a QR code with your phone and write in your favorite parts online! No touching of anything except your own device.

One of the fun things I’ve always enjoyed about Fright Kingdom is the fact that they can’t be seen from the street. They are located on the backside of a big warehouse. As I pull into the parking lot on the side of the building at night it feels a little sketchy at times. But then I look above the building and realize all the fog lifting into the air. And it’s all illuminated by awesome green and purple lights.

Then the place feels even more sketchy, but in a completely different way… and I love it! Even when I have to park around the corner from the main entrance it’s always fun to walk around the corner and see and hear everything that makes the entrance so iconic. The fog completely covers the area all around the big castle tower, and the music is always a slow horror melody. Even real lit tiki torches light the way up to the actual doorway into the building to give it a more authentic feeling.

There is not a single spot in the whole building where I haven’t been completely encapsulated by the eerie music playing above me. And different styles of music as well for each attraction. An intense soundtrack for Apocalypse Z with deep base beets and distorted electrical buzzings. The grand old organ and slow-moving music for Bloodmare Manor. Circus-themed tunes with dark undertones for Psycho Circus. And relatively quiet sounds but more of an unsettling brown noise inside The Abandoned.

Plenty of animatronics have been set up this year to help in areas where actors simply could not be for safety and regulation reasons. All of them were working perfectly and on time. I always enjoy the classic snake popping out of the dinner table, which by the way always has about eight bloody flesh dishes on it that would make Hannibal Lecter’s mouth water. Quite a few animatronics will attack from above as well. But be careful, up is where they want you to look!

The four attractions in Fright Kingdom each have their own respective theme that doesn’t break into conflicting worlds.

The zombie attraction is clearly a bunker of sorts that has been attacked and overrun by flesh-eating zombies. I’ve always appreciated that it never feels like just another zombie outbreak in any random area. For years now it has always obviously been inside a military bunker with an armory and a surgical room and sleeping quarters and everything you might expect a military bunker to have.

Bloodmare Manor has always been one of the finest Victorian style haunted mansion themes I’ve ever seen. Haunted by the diabolical Bloodmare family who I’ve come to describe as a House of 1000 corpses family… if they lived in the 1800s.

Psycho Circus is described as a ‘madhouse’ of crazy and confused circus clowns and freaks.

The Abandoned is a journey into that creepy old barn at the edge of the forest that no one dares to enter. And the further in you go, the more you realize it is not just a spooky old barn, but in fact an entire colony of crazies ready to slaughter all who trespass.

From the moment I step around that corner of the building to the second I get back to my car I am always on high alert! Fright Kingdom is an expert on transporting you into a world riddled with fear and darkness. Even without the actors, this haunted attraction makes me wonder what is and isn’t real.

A lot of the time I catch myself double-checking to see if the most obviously fake things in this place really are fake. Add in some of the creepiest actors around and now we have ourselves one of the scariest haunts New England has ever offered!

Even with the COVID regulations these actors still manage to get the job done better than expected. The dedication to their areas now, rather than their spots, really did the trick. Fright Kingdom is designed so that an actor can get multiple groups at the same time. There is nowhere for you to hide from them; they see everything!

If anything, I could say that this may be their scariest year yet! I had not bumped into the group in front of me even once. And the group behind me never caught up either. The flow of the traffic was working so well that I was never ignored or caught an actor setting back up after the group ahead of me already passed them.

Fright Kingdom has always been a genius at keeping the crowd moving at the right pace. But this year they really had to pay close attention to distancing. And I hadn’t even seen the other guests around me. I could barely even hear them. This made me feel like I was completely alone with this murderous characters. And the sounds of the others screaming were muffled out so much I barely recognized there were other people in the haunt!

A lot can be said about how much entertainment Fright Kingdom provides, let alone the world-class design and props and all the great actors who do a fantastic job sinking you into their world. This attraction has gone above and beyond to make sure you can have a night to remember.

It took me a solid 28 minutes to get from the beginning of the first attraction and to the end of the last. Last year it took me 38 minutes to go through everything including the pitch dark maze. Also, the lines were moving incredibly well this year which helped. Hard to really say where the entertainment begins though.

Technically the second you walk into the building there are creatures and creepy sets to enjoy. But in any case, this year tickets are $27 and are available online and at the door for the same price, but cash only at door. Only a limited amount are available in 30-minute time blocks.

$27 for a 28-minute walkthrough gives Fright Kingdom a Minute Per Dollar Value of 1.04. Pretty average for most attractions in the area. And with so much going on to see and do, one could argue that customers get at least thirty minutes of entertainment for free!

Fright Kingdom has been and continues to be one of the best haunts in the country, let alone in the New England area. And with so much real craziness going on in the real world, it’s nice to go see some theatrical craziness for a night.

Let Fright Kingdom be the vessel that takes you away from the real horrors for a night, and get your scream on at New England’s Largest Indoor Haunted House!