Final Scores – By Category:

Cast (20% of Final Score): 9.08

Costuming (10% of Final Score): 9.04

Customer Service (10% of Final Score): 9.44

Immersion (10% of Final Score): 9.05

Special Effects (15% of Final Score): 9.06

Scare Factor (20% of Final Score): 8.65

Entertainment & Value (15% of Final Score): 9.02

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Final Scores – By Attraction:

Attraction 1: 9.04

Just south of Chicago in Oak Lawn, Illinois lies the great Midnight Terror. Having visited throughout the years, we are happy to see how they have added new scenes and improvements to keep up with the high demand of scares. Come check out how this former home haunt has managed to come up and become an icon in the Chicagoland area.

Being an actor-forward haunted house, it is no surprise to see the actors using their space to the fullest and bringing their characters to life. Depending on the rooms and scenes, there’s a guarantee that every room has at least one actor or more in higher-intensity rooms. Interactivity is especially important to complete the actor’s full character and have a connection to the story.
The variety of actors ranged from slowly creeping to highly energetic, which successfully helped keep us on our toes. In the cave, an actor popped out quietly with perfect timing to lock eyes with us to create quite a scare. On the other hand, there were a few with dialogue that bantered with us. One actor showed us a grotesque doll that looked moldy, which was not something I wanted to smell despite the actor’s request. Turns out it was their grandpa and I apologized for insulting them, which wasn’t taken well.

We were given some more house rules midway through that we were not expecting. We were recommended to not let anything inside touch us, lick us, and most importantly sniff us. While we do appreciate the advice given, I’m sure we would have done well to avoid that anyway.

It is no surprise that tattoos are quite common nowadays, which makes it hard to disguise them from revealing costumes or cover up with makeup. An actor portraying a student mentioned how she was picked on by the popular girls for her tattoos and piercings. She also spoke of how she managed to get revenge by stealing the popular girl’s face to steal her boyfriend.

Looking back at our time, we noticed how costumes, makeup, and accessories come together to keep the characters in the same universe but still identifiable in their respective roles.

The choice of makeup used is airbrush, which is applied well to illustrate distress, cuts, bruises, and extreme definitions to faces and exposed skin. Special effect eye contact lenses can be seen, especially when confronted face-to-face. Sharp and grotesque prosthetic teeth can be seen while grinning and yelling, with dark goo dripping from their mouths.

The general costumes used in the first half are industrial-style, such as dirty work shirts and pants followed by boots, which fit the factory from hell theme properly. In the second half, the school was filled with students dressed in matching but distressed school uniforms. The student mentioned before showed us her natural accessories, a.k.a. tattoos and piercings, while sporting her newly stolen school sweater. She was the outcast at school that was looking for her revenge.

Overall, everyone in the makeup and costume department did a fantastic job getting everyone well put together to create high-quality and unique characters.

Free parking is available on the lot and in nearby lots, with parking attendants guiding the cars. Staff stand by to guide you to the correct line and the nearby ticket booth if tickets are needed.

Marked staff members are placed all over, happy to answer any questions. Information can be found on the website, such as dates, times, and tickets, which are at a reduced price online.

Inside the attraction, there are a few inclines and declines that are safe to walk on with no hazards. There are also a few five-foot clearances in the rat maze, which are safe to approach if you are on the taller side. The queue line is also covered by the rain both inside and outside.

When it comes to immersion, the storyline starts before the queue line without customers knowing. Malum hangs around walking on stilts to appear taller and intimidating, which is successful. The indoor waiting area is cozy with assigned cages that actors get to intimidate you in. On the wall, TV screens play out promotional videos of a few characters that terrorize inside.

Going through, you can see Willow’s mark embedded on some of the actor’s skin, proving her wrath is alive and well. While in the factory section, you can see Malum is reigning and enslaving the once-good people. In the town section with the school, Willow has taken over, making Black Oak Grove the hell she has dreamt of. Throughout the haunt, everyone has a sinister look that is clear was not a choice they were given, which is very uninviting because of how believable everything is.

The midway after the haunt is full of some fun activities. There are some carnival games complete with small prizes to win. Clockwork Mobile Escape Rooms also run escape rooms if you are interested in adding more fun to your evening. Some vendors sell spooky accessories and some unique soaps. A concession stand is also available to offer snacks and a variety of soft drinks.

Their creative use of special effects sets this haunt apart from others. The sets and props are handmade and customized to blend in with the scenes, so nothing looks out of place. While animatronics are not something you find here, the special effects are good enough to be a replacement. Sounds and lights are effectively used to create immersion and to disorient. Walking into the cave, you can hear an eerie chanting grow louder the further you walk in. While there were not any visible people, the sound itself presented a cult vibe. There is a barbershop scene that uses scissor-clipping sounds that are undeniably real.

Since we have been attending for years, we can notice changes easily. The rat maze was decreased to make space for the acid room. Water trickles down a wall, and selective lights give a radioactive look.

A new addition we noticed was lights shining through the moving fans placed on the ceiling. It was a simple yet pronounced effect on the factory floor. The cave was also a new addition from last year that looks better this year. The walls are more detailed, and an enormous dragon occupant lurks.
We love to see how creatively immersive the scenes are. It is clear the build team puts a lot of effort into building and placing the special touches to make this all believable.

While we do attend off-season events, it is no surprise the actors are still able to deliver scares efficiently. Through the variety of several types of scares and being an actor-driven haunt, the scares were plentiful throughout our walkthrough.

The actors did an excellent job using their space to create pop scares. For instance, the basic popping out of hidden areas is efficient for starting a variety of scares. While being distracted by popping sounds, an actor uses the opportunity to attack while being distracted. A few times, we were startled by air cannons that were forceful enough to send a hat flying!

There are a few phobias that can be simple enough to send people running. The dentist asks for our teeth while holding an instrument in their hand. The look itself is scary before they start moving towards you with the instrument. Also, randomly, there is an innocent-looking doll in a corner of a room; with perfect time, it moves by itself and starts banging its head against the wall. Very creepy but comical as well.

The grand finale had us walk through the swamp using green lasers and light fog. The actors hid underneath the fog to move around incognito to strike at the right moment. Unfortunately, it had been raining the days before and the day of our visit, and Chainsaw Alley was not running. We wish we had experienced it ourselves, but have heard great reviews. Hopefully, customers can experience the chainsaw alley as it is hysterical to see people sprint out into the midway.

Our walk-through time was 21 minutes, while tickets are at $30, bringing the minute per dollar to 0.7. While this is a small amount lower than last year, it doesn’t affect much since there is a midway where guests can hand out with carnival games, concession stands, escape rooms, and photo ops.

Midnight Terror is a place to get your scare on and hang out a bit afterward for a reasonable price. We recommend checking out their clown take over the weekend after Halloween and their off-season events.