Las Vegas is a city of crazy things. Zipping over Fremont Street, you can go to escape rooms, and during October, you can go to haunted houses. Las Vegas has many haunted houses in the area; one of those haunted attractions is the Halloween Maze Haunted House. Located in a suburb, this haunted attraction has an option that the team has not experienced before. Haunted Maze has three options for this type of experience: a no scare, no touch, and touch option. We as a team decided to experience the touch option for the first time.
Halloween Maze is an actor-oriented experience; each room we entered had at least one actor. There were several times when several actors were interacting with our whole team. Each actor had a personality that matched their mask, makeup, and costume. With the touch option, it was interesting seeing how the actors interacted with us; some actors would tap their fingers on your back, while others would physically move you. With this being a haunt with a touch option, this adds another level of interactivity, allowing a more immersive experience.
The actors were also very responsible with how they interacted with each of our team members. One of the memorable interactions was when our team member Tino, who used to work with a haunted house in Albuquerque, had an actor shove his head into a nasty toilet with one of the worst bathroom smells we have experienced. We will never forget that! There is a wide variety of characters, each actor has a unique costume with a matching mask or makeup. It was amazing to see how each actor fully embraced their character. The cast also loves to interact with each other; there were times when one actor would bring us to other actors. We had some actors who gave us some room tours as well.
Costumes throughout the haunt were complete, with believable damage to the clothing. Halloween Maze uses masks we have never seen before; they were some of the largest and most disturbing masks we have seen. Some of the doll masks were pure nightmare fuel. The blending of the eyes for actors with masks added believability to the character.
The makeup on the actors was out of this world; the level of detail and layers really changed the actors into beings from our nightmares, especially with how close you get to the actors. We loved the clowns, especially, and the cat ball lady; her makeup will haunt our nightmares. We are still hearing that cat bell to this day.
With there being no particular overarching theme, the actors can be with you for multiple rooms, but each character does have a room or rooms that match their character. The queue actors were mostly actors from inside the haunt, so the costumes and makeup were very detailed.
We had no issue with finding free parking in the parking lot that is by the haunt. With there being a touch option, the actors are safe with guests; none of us were hurt, and if the actors notice you are stressed or hurt, they will make sure you are cared for. Each member of staff we encountered was very friendly and helpful. The website is very well designed and user-friendly, with a detailed FAQ section, ticket, and direction information easy to find.
Halloween Maze has a queue line area with several scare actors to scare and entertain guests before they go in. Walking through the haunt, we could not determine what the storyline was; the haunt is a mix of various scenes and themes. Throughout our journey, we were immersed in the attraction, although some of the transitions between themed areas were not too seamless. With the touch pass option, some of the areas can be accessed, like the ball pit.
Throughout Halloween Maze, there was sound in each room, whether it was music or sound effects. At some points, there was intense music that added to the nerves. Each scene we came upon was fully detailed, with several props that the actors could use. The scenery is also designed so that guests with the touch pass option won’t be hurt bumping into any corners.
Some of the most memorable rooms were the ball pit, church scene, and one of the most creative laser swamps the team had seen. There are several animatronics throughout the attraction. They were well-timed and well-utilized. Austin, one of our team members, had a very up-close encounter with a nun animatronic. The effects throughout the attraction were well utilized. There was great use of fog and strobes as well as black lighting.
With the touch pass option, there were a few effects that got much more intense with the actor interactions. We were all losing our balance in the vortex tunnel since the actor would not allow us to pass. The laser swamp was crazy since the actors could pop out of the fog and grab you. There was also that smell effect that had us gagging.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 9.56
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 9
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 8.5
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 9
Halloween Maze would be scary even without the touch pass! Since we had the touch pass, though, it added to the intensity.
Being in the front of the group, you could be jump scared by an actor, then pulled into another room. Actors can pick a member of your group and take them into another scene. There were areas of the haunt where several actors were having interactions with most of the team. If you were in the back of the group, you could have an actor tickle your back or put an arm around your shoulder. The freedom of the touch pass gives the actors more in their arsenal to terrorize guests.
The actors also had great hiding spots for scares, even actors with statue scares scared us, since we didn’t know if they would grab us or play with the glow stick. The ending of the haunt was intense. The actors were able to get more creative with the chainsaws.
We were thoroughly entertained from beginning to end with the haunt. We could never tell what interactions with the actors we would have, which left us guessing the whole way through! The line entertainment and people watching were great ways to pass the time before the haunt. With a ticket price of forty dollars and with our walkthrough being thirty minutes, Halloween Maze is a great entertainment value. Even though the minutes per dollar is below average (one minute per dollar), the amount of scares and quality that was experienced here makes the price well worth the visit!
With the options of three different experiences, Halloween Maze is a great haunt for anyone who wants a detailed and frightening haunt. If you want to take the intensity up a level, we recommend the touch pass. Las Vegas is a great haunt destination with many great haunted attractions. Make sure to make the journey, like this New Mexico team did, to have a good time in Sin City!
8490 W Desert Inn Rd, Las Vegas, Nevada 89117