Henderson Haunts in Henderson, Kentucky, offers a unique immersive experience beyond a typical haunted house. From videos available on their website, they give you a dark historical dive into multiple abandoned mental health facilities in the Tri-state area. The videos suggest a connection to the Killiecrankie family and several disappearances, homicides, and abductions dating back to the 1960s until now.
One of those abandoned facilities was Tranquil Meadows. Also run by the Killiecrankie family, during its years of operation, there were several reports of patient harm and malpractice. In the early 2000s, Tranquil Meadows was shut down for no recorded reason. According to the video, the building was forced to be torn down, and rumors are that several patients, staff, and the Killiecrankie family themselves were still in the building as it was ripped apart. Did they all disappear with the building, or did they hide away to regroup today? Are the Killiecrankie family still experimenting on patients in this community?
Henderson Haunts has revived the story of Tranquil Meadows, immersing visitors in this chilling history. The storyline encourages us to question: did we all truly survive the experience, or has a part of us become trapped within this resurrected medical facility brought to life by Henderson Haunts?
Like any medical facility, we ran into several nurses, doctors, multiple patients, and maybe even some experiments. The cast all fit the theme of the night and made us really feel like we were part of whatever evil experimentation was going on here.
The nurse who admitted us to the facility stared us down as we watched the welcoming video. One nurse came at us very harshly. The two doctors had very soothing voices and a welcoming demeanor, but the words they said left a very uneasy, uncomfortable, and nervous feeling, making the next steps incredibly unpredictable. The patients were deranged, yet they tried making us feel like we belonged, maybe in hopes that we would stay forever.
Their roles were all very similar in the experiment we took part in, but sometimes it felt like some of them were reciting a memorized script rather than interacting with us in the moment. They did interact, though, filling the rooms with extreme unpredictability, excitement, and yes, fear.
The costumes were perfect for the scenery. From deranged doctors performing tests, angry patients disguising themselves as nurses and doctors, and one of my personal favorites, a head-to-toe straight-jacket patient who freely gives you the heebie-jeebies. There was a wonderful mixture of full costumes, masks, and makeup on these scarers.
The costumes and how the actors immersed themselves in those characters brought a convincing terror – as if Wrong Turn 4 was right here in Henderson!
These crazy lunatics are pleased to see you! Don’t let those screams through the walls scare you off. The staff here is friendly with big smiles as they prepare you for the chapter you’ll be writing for their story. They were helpful with questions and prepared to ensure your safety through Tranquil Meadows (Henderson Haunts).
Henderson Haunts has a large sign on the front of the section of this little shopping center where they are located. As we walked up, DJ Rick was playing specially mixed music that gave us chills, spitting off phrases about Henderson Haunts and Tranquil Meadows that left us saying, “Damn, that is wicked.” As we walked in, there were clipboards that enticed you to think about your own medical history, already starting this experience on a personal note.
As we received our tickets and gave them to the staff member guiding us to our impending doom, she caught us off guard when she said, “We leave the storyline up to you.” That isn’t something that we hear very often, and we thought that was very unique. And our storylines going through this “brought back from the dead” medical facility were very similar, with unique details, but they both made sense. However, a general outline of the storyline in the future might help other customers develop a better idea of a storyline that captures more consistency, or at the very minimum, really suggesting to customers to watch the historical footage on the videos presented by Bryan Sumner would give a good start to the idea around the hidden storyline, making it even more believable.
Once we were inside, we were off to a slower start, building anticipation before the casts, scenery, and experimentation led to one of the most immersive walk-throughs we have had this season so far. Once it started, it didn’t stop, and the recovery room that we were tossed into wasn’t enough to recover from the fearful experience that we had.
We weren’t overwhelmed by sound effects, but the ones we did encounter were insanely effective. From the revving of equipment, bangs, an unknown number of patients, doctors, and nurses screaming my name, and more, Tranquil Meadows gave off a memorable, intense, and shocking experience when it comes to special effects in general.
There were props and animatronics that were used in incredibly unique ways. The details in the scenery reminded us of an old medical facility where countless souls have been experimented on and torn apart. Bloody walls, lots of words written in blood, could be found throughout. We walked through a mausoleum, a pain cage, doctors’ offices, and an entire padded room.
The sensory effects were on point. Some unknown liquid was thrown on us, then we were told to go shower, making us really uncomfortable in not knowing what liquid we were just graced with. Our sight was compromised, and even ESP was tested. They hit 3 of the 5 senses hard; we will leave you to figure out which ones!
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 9.05
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9.5
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 8.7
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 8.95
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 8.5
Frightened, fearful, nervous, intimidated, horrified, panic-stricken, and yes, scared. During admittance to Tranquil Meadows, my weight and height were measured – no fun to begin with – and in the notes section of my paperwork, one word was written: nervous. The nerves did not dissipate as we walked from different offices, the kitchen, pain cage, and several experimental rooms. We were asked what level of pain we are willing to take on a scale from 1 to 5. Of course, I chose 5. Although I didn’t experience physical pain, which I am grateful for, the mental rollercoaster we were taken on caused a specific pain that is difficult to put into words. At one point, our vision was compromised; we were led down a path where it sounded like a chainsaw revving right next to our blind selves. The only thought I had was, “How am I supposed to run when I can’t see?!” A level of fear that I honestly don’t know if I ever want to experience again.
This was a very interactive haunt, where we were put through several tasks testing our ESP, and we failed. Every. Single. One. Either we didn’t listen and follow directions like we should have, or these tasks are simply impossible. Either way, this led to an experience where we didn’t know if it would end, unpredictable, and anxiety led the way, as we were chased out of the facility and into the recovery room. We are honestly still processing what we went through, which makes us wonder whether those experiments really did keep part of us in the rooms and halls of Tranquil Meadows.
Henderson Haunts doubled the time spent inside from last year. We were trapped in the rooms of Tranquil Meadows for 19 minutes. With ticket prices starting at $15, their MPD (Minutes-Per-Dollar) is 1.27! A nice bit over 1 MPD, which we like to see!
There are also multiple options for purchasing tickets. There is a $25 option that offers Two Trips, a $30 option that offers the Quick Pain Pass, a $35 option that offers Unlimited Pain (for one night), and a $10 option for a No Scare; Kids Day. Along with the haunt and the recovery room, DJ Rick has an incredible skill to witness; there was also a fire performer, and videos to watch about Henderson Haunts, the Killiecrankie Family, and Tranquil Meadows to enjoy. They have unique merch that you can purchase, and fun conversations to be had.
Henderson Haunts, featuring Tranquil Meadows, left us shaken. Not so Tranquil after all.
2480 US-41, #180, Henderson, Kentucky 42420
