Fright Kingdom Review (2025)

The cast at Fright Kingdom are truly examples of the old saying “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” They really show their enjoyment of haunting and putting themselves in character to deliver a great show.

The size of the cast is quite large, as you might expect for a haunt with five attractions. While I do not know the exact number, I would have to guess that it’s in the neighborhood of 80-100 actors throughout the entire haunt. I could be totally off here, but the number is certainly up there. Almost every scene features at least one actor, and few larger scenes fill in with multiple actors.

These folks are very interactive, too. Whether it was verbal or physical, everybody had a way of interacting with guests and sometimes with each other. Early on in Apocalypse Z, there is a nice mixture of guest interaction alongside actor to actor dialogue. One of my favorite actor moments is the zombie running across the tops of tall shelving units, providing great scares to everyone and just making really great zombie-esque movements.

Inside the opening scene of Bloodmare Manor, I had a fun little back and forth with an actor who was holding a baby prop, and she told me she found it in a dumpster outside. I made a reference to Family Guy, but it didn’t seem to register with the actor. Either this person was able to stay in character and totally ignore my dumb jokes, or it just wasn’t as funny as I thought it was. Either way, it’s for the best.

Much of the costuming at Fright Kingdom features the use of masks, but that isn’t to say makeup is a rarity. Inside Psycho Circus, we find the most prominent use of makeup, as one might expect. There are clowns, clowns, and more clowns, each with their own unique costume, and more importantly, makeup.

There is also makeup being used to good effect in the other 4 attractions, although it is a little difficult to tell as costume details were a little difficult for me to discern in many scenes. This mostly comes from the lighting choices, either placing actors in very dark scenes, or lighting coming from behind the actors. The costumes that I was able to really study were full of great detail, and clearly had the touch of experienced artists behind them leaving no trace of bare skin peeking through.

Throughout each attraction, I did notice that themes are strictly enforced when it comes to the characters. We don’t see ambiguous creatures that could fit in just anywhere, rather, we find characters that really feel like they belong. Heading into the first few scenes of Apocalypse Z, we find ourselves in a hospital setting where all of the actors are dressed either as zombie hospital staff or zombie patients. Even though zombies are a bit homogenous as a design, we find small variations that build a vibrant community of flesh-eating monsters. This is also true in Bloodmare Manor, where the theme is vaguely Victorian; there are subtle changes throughout each character to add that little bit of realism.

Fright Kingdom’s website is one of the better ones that I’ve come across. From the front page, we are able to get to whatever information we need in as little as two clicks of the mouse. Separate links take us to the FAQ, which covers all of the important information such as wheelchair accessibility, touch policy, and what to do if it’s raining. There are multiple links that lead to ticket purchases, a calendar of the operating season, directions to get to the haunt, and finally backstory on each attraction. The only changes I would make is on the attraction page, the order of attractions is not the same as what guests will experience once inside. There are also no times listed that I could find, but Fright Kingdom is a timed ticket show, and customers will select the time slot on the ticket purchase page.

Inside Grim, guests become bunched up inside the attraction, and since it’s absolute darkness, I found myself bumping into people somewhat frequently. I’m unsure of how this can be solved, but it does strike me as a minor safety concern; either because people could cause others to trip and fall, or somebody could have a negative reaction to being startled by another guest. Other than this minor concern, there are no safety issues at Fright Kingdom.

Parking is fairly straightforward. As I started to approach the site, I saw multiple lit signs pointing the way to the parking lot. For guests that end up in the large overflow lot, there is a shuttle that runs to the haunt, allowing guests to safely travel to and from their car.

The overall build quality of the sets is incredible. They are simply beautiful. The opening scene of Bloodmare Manor is a masterclass in a realistic scene that immediately immerses guests into the world of the attraction. The gorgeous wood paneling on the walls, the tall ceiling, the carefully selected photos and decorations around the room- it is, in my opinion, a perfect scene. That’s not something I just toss around lightly, either. This room really is outstanding in every sense, and it is one of the best ways to open an attraction.

Themes are kept well in check staying on topic and not meandering to unnecessary scenes just because. The only time I found a hard turn into a new theme was the end of Bloodmare Manor before joining the queue for Psycho Circus. The clown theme comes in before Bloodmare comes to a close, and it is a little bit of a jarring change.

Inside Grim, we are encased in darkness for most of the attraction, forcing guests to find their way using a combination of following the wall and listening for guests who are further ahead. One thing I noticed while pressing my hand to the wall is that the texture changed in places, keeping me alert to what could be around the next corner. This also helped to keep things interesting as I shuffled and stumbled my way through the dark.

Most scenes really kept me feeling immersed in the story and theme, while the in-between sections used light theming to set up the next attraction and give a small taste of what’s to come. After the final attraction, guests will empty out onto the midway which keeps the party going allowing guests to stay in the spooky spirit for a little while longer before heading back to their cars.

Special effects is where Fright Kingdom really shines the brightest. Everywhere I look, there are animatronics, lighting effects, sounds, and various other cool things that I don’t have the vocabulary to categorize. The vortex tunnel is something that falls into the latter category. Not only are vortex tunnels my personal nemesis in that I am severely disoriented by them, the tunnel here makes use of the 3D glasses handed out at the beginning of the attraction.

Since the last time I had experienced a vortex tunnel, I have spoken with some people who gave me ideas on how to make the dizzying sensation a little less so. One of these methods involves looking directly at one side – this proved to not work for me. I’m not sure if it was because of the slightly blurry nature of the 3D glasses combined with the special paint, but I did not notice the “turning over” feeling going away at all. The other method I tested was to look straight down at my feet. This did help quite a bit, but again, due to the 3D glasses, there was still some spinning sensation.

Ambient sounds are definitely being used in every scene, and there is never a moment of true silence anywhere inside. On one hand, you will definitely hear the ambient sound and additional sound effects over the screams of other patrons. On the other hand, the volume of these effects is so loud that some actors become difficult to hear over the sounds. Many were able to raise their voice above the cacophony of sounds, but more than a few were almost inaudible to me. Either I’m losing my hearing, which is plausible, or the sounds are just a tad too loud and could use a bit of reduction.

There are also tons of animatronics and mannequins throughout the many scenes at Fright Kingdom. This allows actors to work with them as though they were actors, providing a distraction for a jump scare, or in the case of the doll scene, providing a means of camouflage, as well as filling in spots where an actor may not be present. The mannequins that mostly fill the roles of corpses add to the creep factor, making patrons second guess what’s alive and what’s not.

As a solo reviewer, I will sometimes follow a group in order to see how different parts of the group are being affected. Fortunately for me, Fright Kingdom offers multiple attractions, allowing me to follow different groups for the first three attractions, as well as heading into Grim and The Abandoned on my own. While following those groups, I found that actors tend to focus on the front and middle, not hitting the rear of the group as often. Perhaps this is because I had fallen too far behind, but I did miss the timing on a few scares in those first three. The other theory I have is that there are many animatronic scares that occur, and the reset time on those could have caused me to not get the full effect.

On the other hand, I did see two super cool bungee scares. The first of which was placed pretty far back from passing customers. Near the end of The Abandoned, another bungee scare came within inches of me, allowing for an amazing near-miss scare that I was way too excited about after it happened. There are of course, lots of jump scares as expected, many coming from fairly predictable spots, but a few were very well hidden such as the doll scene which features some very creepy animatronics along with an actor wearing a matching costume. Even though the actor is in plain sight the entire time, the scare is still a surprise.

Inside Psycho Circus, there is a maze that guests must find their way through, providing somewhat tight spaces and sharp turns. This would have been an incredible section to add an actor or animatronic scare, but alas, the only scare came from a sound effect in one spot.

All of this is to say that all of the actors are keeping the energy way up, keeping guests on their toes, not knowing when the next scare will come.

A general admission ticket to Fright Kingdom comes in at $38 and it took me approximately 30 minutes to complete all five attractions. This provides a minute per dollar calculation of 0.79. This is right in line with most other haunts that I’ve personally attended, and I think it’s a great value for the price.

Not only will guests see the five main attractions, they will also gain entry into the pre-show area showcasing tons of movie memorabilia, many items of which are signed by stars of their respective films. There are also a few photo opportunities in the pre-show, all of which are well detailed, and one even offers an actor to pose with.

As guests are arriving on site, there is a professional photo set where guests can pose with an actor, and then buy a print of the photo later on in the midway. When the timed ticket calls are made, there is a very theatrical show with lights, music, and a huge animatronic – all just to let guests know their time slot has begun boarding.

In the midway after exiting the final attraction, guests will find a classic carnival vibe, complete with a ghost train dark ride available for an additional cost. The dark ride is one of very few still-operating Pretzel dark rides, which has been refurbished and a custom facade added to the front. There is also a “buried alive” simulator that guests can experience for an extra charge. Outside of this, there is the standard selection of merch, food, and drinks, including a “Witch’s Brew” drink stall which sells non-alcoholic drinks in souvenir cups.

Overall, I think Fright Kingdom is absolutely worth the money to attend, and it is absolutely a must-see for any haunt enthusiast venturing into New England.