Fright Manor Review (2023)

It seemed Fright Manor occasionally had a hard time containing their monsters… while speaking with a staff member at the house entrance, I turned around to find myself staring into the glowing face of Grinder! Once I got inside, I found that the Manor was pretty well covered with various freaks and fiends, and there wasn’t a whole lot of walking between rooms without encountering one (or more). Something this haunt’s cast did especially well was using hidden passageways and doors to pop out at you multiple times in their respective areas, which also helped with coverage.

While a lot of the ‘dialogue’ used by the actors was loud noises intended to scare, i.e. a barking laugh or a snarl, lines were used where appropriate. There was a nice setup for Jason Voorhees’ appearance by his mother: “Jason! Come to Mommy!” Uh oh! Ghostface stalked me through his scene, at one point hissing, “What’s your favorite scary movie?!” Twisted, the cannibal clown, questioned me on the whereabouts of his friend Patches – which might’ve led to an unexpected scare! Michael Myers was more of the strong, silent type, but the actor did a fantastic job of portraying him… his movements were spot on, and you’d swear he leaped right out of the movies. My favorite jab came from Freddy Krueger, who got real personal with some of his comments to me – “I’m gonna put your review in the obituary!” is one I definitely haven’t heard before.

One tip: masked characters may want to project more when trying to speak to customers. The maniac I met early on kept trying to talk to me, but his voice was muffled by the mask. I did catch “you won’t make it out alive” – how optimistic.

Most of the costumes and makeup used on the haunt’s cast got the point across as to what type of character (or movie villain) you were facing. I only noticed one or two in normal clothes, and those were either black, helping them blend in more with the environment, or the actor had some sort of mask or makeup included in their look. Accessories varied between knives, machetes, chainsaws, and even power saws – the Manor’s maniacs had all sorts of ways to paint the walls with your blood! I thought the two clowns, Patches and Twisted, had great makeup, and the polka dots on another character’s face- matching their scene- were a nice touch. Big Butcher Pig’s mask was super cool, as were those worn by the chainsaw gang. Freddy’s mask was incredibly detailed and made him look like the real deal from the Elm Street movies. The visor Grinder wore actually lit up, bathing his face in red light! Awesome!

Small signs in the grass pointed out the street I’d need to turn on to reach the Southport Little League, where Fright Manor resides. Parking was free in a gravel lot; I didn’t spot any parking staff when I first pulled in, but I could easily find a space on my own (and he appeared as I was getting out of my car). Due to the haunt’s location, watch for puddles and uneven footing as you move about the property. While the walkway between the bleachers to the haunted house was pretty dark, there was a decent amount of light in the parking lot. Once I’d entered the house, I noticed some additional uneven spots and possible trip hazards. It is important to remember that this haunt is rebuilt every season in an outdoor location.

One of the benefits of Fright Manor’s spot at the little league was the presence of permanent restrooms. No icky port-a-potties here! In addition to being where you purchase tickets, the counter inside is also where you can buy shirts, snacks, and drinks. (They actually had shots of frozen pickle juice. I had to get some; I’m a pickle juice fiend.) General Admission was $25, or visitors in a hurry could buy Fast Pass access for $35. The haunt’s website is easy to navigate and find most important information. It also lists a number of discounts on offer throughout the season, so make sure to check for possible savings before you go!

Everyone I interacted with was friendly and welcoming. I don’t recall seeing any obvious security while I was there. However, I never felt unsafe, and it’s very possible they were around, and I didn’t spot them.

Right away, I noticed the haunt updated their banner at the entrance with a fancy new design. More stuff seemed to be added outside, too, giving the location more of a ‘haunted house’ feel. A giant skeleton, caskets, dead bodies, and other props were set up for customers to see and take photos with. I didn’t spot any consistent line actors, but they had music playing to keep the crowd pumped for the show, and occasionally, a stray monster would slip from the confines of the house and sneak away to torment waiting guests!

Fright Manor is made up of a few themed areas pieced together, meaning they flow into each other. I recall walking through “Psychomantheum” and “Terror in the Woods,” and I believe they have one more, but I may have missed the sign for that while I was going through. Psycho had a lot of random murderers and general bloodshed going on, while the other parts were a collection of nightmares many folks would be fearful of: classic movie slashers, clowns, and the like. During my walkthrough, I occasionally caught glimpses of the world outside that briefly shook me from the experience. I would imagine it’s hard to avoid that with an attraction that has to be fully rebuilt each year.

The haunt’s ending was solid – and entertaining to watch from the outside! Upon walking (or running breathlessly) out of the exit, I found myself back in front of the ticket stand, where I was welcome to hang out and people-watch for a bit, or use any of the photo ops they’d set up outside. For an additional fee, drinks and snacks were available at the indoor counter. (I lucked out – as you can see in my photos, Freddy just had to come back for a parting shot! So I seized the opportunity to grab a photo with him.)

Different types of music played outside to get patrons excited for the haunt, ranging from upbeat and fun to dark and atmospheric, with the odd rock tune thrown in. Inside the house, several scenes included sound effects, such as a terrified girl gasping for air early on in Psychomantheum, followed by an equally spooky backing track. Other areas had distorted voices or ominous rumbles.

What hurts Fright Manor a little is their location; due to being at a little league, their team must tear down and rebuild the whole attraction every season. As a result, I walked through a lot of painted plywood and hanging plastic. But some of the walls had details added, like smears of blood and red handprints, colorful polka dots, and other designs. Grinder’s scene, which gave off a very mechanical vibe, included a disturbing number of body parts and corpses (and some of the set pieces enabled him to create sparks with his saw!). Multiple rooms had animated corpses, dolls, and other creepy things; a great new addition was their zombie that dropped down from above! I hope you aren’t claustrophobic – there were TWO tunnels to squeeze through, plus something that pushed me down from the ceiling! Another room was almost completely dark… save for the glowing hockey masks on the walls. Could any of them be alive?! I also had to navigate two mazes, both of which weren’t the easiest to get out of… and all the lunatics coming after me with chainsaws certainly didn’t help!

There was a lot of engagement with surroundings as well. I had to push doors open, get down and crawl, push through the aforementioned tunnels, and more. While I love this sort of thing, it may prove challenging for some visitors.

The Manor utilized animatronics and effects, like horns, for scares here and there. But the real MVPs when it came to scariness were the cast. Several of them skillfully utilized their hiding spots to strike repeatedly. I got popped multiple times by a masked maniac early on, as well as a HUGE butcher pig! Other actors went for the psychological approach, saying creepy or threatening things. Some used their props to strike nearby objects and make a loud noise. A brutal chainsaw gang launched attacks twice (beware… there were a lot of them!). One movie character’s scene had a great distraction scare. Spark-throwing Grinder was not afraid to get in my personal space, backing me right up into a wall in his room. And their Freddy Krueger was really crazy… he pinned me against tables/set pieces twice and looked for all the world like he was about to jam those blades through my face!

Fleeing from Fright Manor’s freaks took me approximately 13.5 minutes. With a General Admission price of $25, that brought their MPD (minutes per dollar spent) value to 0.54. Looking back, I really can’t believe it was that short… those 13+ minutes were full of jumps, shrieks, and laughs! For that reason, I did think the $25 ticket price was fair. There were also ways for the maniacs in there to trap or misdirect groups – possibly prolonging your torment.

In an industry where we are sometimes spoiled by fancy props, larger-than-life animatronics, or crazy special effects, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s really important: entertaining people and keeping it scary. And that’s just what Fright Manor does every Fall season.