Holy City Halloween Review (2024)

The cast at Holy City Halloween are battle-hardened creatures that merge comedy with terror to bring you along into their story. From the start, we were terrorized as the cast came in fast and hard.

A Voodoo Priest kicked off the story and gave a smooth and ominous warning. We were delighted when a creature we’d never seen before appeared from the mists to reach with their claws. A fancy lady in an incredible period gown urged us into the room before introducing us to her undead lover.

We were forced to dance to save our lives and mocked by a young creature in the corner who distracted us before the next scare. The Butcher, to blame for all of these events, is present and willing to add visitors to the meat. By the time we reached the charming Butcher’s Wife, and she invited us over, we were certain we would be safe… but then she betrayed us!

The Cast at Holy City Halloween is perhaps the best part of this brand-new attraction. They’ve got some energy and passion, and are ready to entertain visitors from start to finish.

The costuming in Holy City Halloween is incredibly unique, and some of it is runway ready. Our first greeting from the Voodoo Priest set a high bar as we could see details and pieces that made the outfit more realistic. After that was a clawed harlequin that made sure to pick pieces that would both help them hide and then shine perfectly in the little bit of light we had.

A gorgeous woman in a Marie Antionette-style dress blended makeup, wigs, and her intricate and huge dress to make a character that she then gave life to. We have never seen wigs this high-end and beautiful before. The Butcher’s Wife and the Butcher himself are the two extremes of costumes, one in painted-on makeup and the other a high-end mask. Holy City Halloween offers a lot of variety in costuming techniques.

The costumes, makeup, prosthetics, and handful of masks on display at Holy City Halloween completely compliment the actor’s strengths and style. Though there were a couple of appearances by famous movie characters, the vast majority of the characters here were unique creations meant to convey a story and provide unease.

The team at Holy City Halloween have a lot of experience with hospitality and a killer location. It’s easy to find, well-lit, and conveniently placed in downtown Charleston. There is a parking lot across the street and a parking garage around the corner that will let you park for a fee.

We were greeted immediately at the door; the gentleman scanning tickets was super helpful and polite as he guided us where to go. Holy City Halloween has a waiting area that is club-like, a DJ, and drinks so you can enjoy that atmosphere until it’s time to go through. We were impressed with how much effort they put into the safety of their guests. Also, a haunted house miracle: there is an indoor restroom!

In addition to an easy-to-find location, though we suggest arriving early to find parking, Holy City Halloween also maintains an online social media presence with all pertinent information. It should also be noted, that even though alcoholic beverages are served on-site, guests do not need to be 21 to visit. The nice man at the door will card anyone who asks and provide a wristband for those old enough and who wish to partake.

Overall, Holy City Halloween is more of a low-tech, old-school style of haunt. However, this is their first year, so we expect them to add a bit of polish as the years go by. There were a few high-tech and well-crafted set pieces that stood out among the rest of the sets.

A well-placed and high-tech swarm of pests made one of our typically fearless team members jump backward. Walls reached for us in multiple places, but in different ways, utilized lighting and material to make us distrust our surroundings.

There were some neat set pieces in here, and the cursed lover was very detailed and decayed. They created an outdoor scene that is expansive and realistic, and utilized a part of the brewery with pipes to heighten the tension and immersion. The finale of the haunt had an incredible effect that made us hesitate to escape, even though we wanted to.

As we were walking up, a group came running out of the haunt and onto the sidewalk. The team behind us jumped, and one of our members was scared. Watching a variety of ages of patrons leave the haunt during our visit, there was always someone in each group that was still reeling from the fear or had the rest of their group laughing at their prior terror.

Holy City Halloween has started building a promising haunt that utilizes all sorts of fears to attack your sanity. The goal is to mix comedy with horror to prevent hauntgoers from becoming inured to their tricks, and they have a great team to enforce that.

We were hesitant to go through the finale because of how brilliant the set was. It is their first year in this location, but they have a great start to becoming a beloved and long-standing Charleston Halloween tradition.