This attraction was reviewed on October 5, 2018 by Team Zombillies.

Final Scores:

(15% of Final Score) Cast: 8.33

(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 8.28

(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 9.75

(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 9.4

(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 8.66

(5% of Final Score) Theme: 8.05

(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 7.4

(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 9.3

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There is something creepy happening at the old Perrysville School House. Skeletons scale the brick walls of the exterior while eerie lights dance around the grounds, welcoming you into their pre-show outdoor display, Slaughterville. This area of the haunt has gotten a huge facelift for this year and rather than an obstacle course leading you to the queue area, it’s become a fully-fledged haunt in its own right, crammed to the gills with hillbilly shacks, haunting lights and of course, the denizens of Slaughterville themselves, who are experts at hiding in the cornstalks and waiting until the perfect moment to make you jump out of your skin and towards the queue line.

Lessons in Fear (now known as Mohican Haunted Schoolhouse) has managed to make vast scenic improvements while still retaining the classic old-school style attraction born from their roots as home haunters. The Contagion zone has been upgraded to include a bit more gore, new characters and fluorescent paint details to convey the idea of infectious goo coating all surfaces and forcing you to wonder if you may be part of the medical staff’s next experiment. As Igor assists you through the maze and gets just a little too close for comfort, you begin to wonder just who it is he’s REALLY trying to help, and if you should trust his friendly insistence on leading you through the holding cells of the contaminated.

The Dead and Breakfast area largely remains it’s hauntingly beautiful self, with the addition of many new staff running around, sending you on a wild goose chase for the rest of the help through the dark before you meet The Bride, who is horribly upset at having just ‘lost’ her most recent husband. You become an audience to her meltdown and any attempts to console her are completely wasted. Then again, we couldn’t offer up an available gentleman to satisfy her. Bachelors, take note.

Old School reveals the structure of the once functioning school, taking you through what once were hallowed halls of learning, now turned twisted with black magic, mad science, and psychotic artworks. The creatures lurking in each area are hungry for your sacrifice and if you are lucky enough to escape the graveyard, you may just be able to leave. Either way, you will have learned your lesson.

Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):

(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 7.5

(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 8

(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 9

(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 8.5

(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 9

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The actors at Lessons in Fear are few but powerful. It seems that most haunts had trouble finding actors this season and, even though Lessons in Fear struggled through the same problem, the actors that they do have are incredible and delivered enough scares for a cast twice as large. As you make your way through the queue area of Slaughterville, which is a haunt in itself, consider yourself lucky if you don’t fall prey to the scarecrow’artfully brought to life by Wendy ‘Breezy’ Zody.

Inside the haunt, Richard Shupe portrays an Igor-esque hunchback who has no problem getting into your personal space and lingering there to keep you uncomfortable. In all honesty, we would love to give a shout out to every actor they had working there during our visit, as they all gave outstanding performances.

Costuming Scores (15% of Final Score):

(15% of Costuming Score) How complete / finished did the costumes appear to be?: 10

(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 8

(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 7

(15% of Costuming Score) How effectively did they use masks (if used)?: 7.5

(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 9

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Several of the costumes here are gorgeous, such as the Scarecrow and the Spider Lady, but none of the costumes are ‘bad.’ They are all very well put together and fit nicely into their respective scenes. The makeup jobs that we saw were appropriate and none of them appeared rushed or overdone.

Customer Service Scores (10% of Final Score):

(25% of CS Score) How easy was it to locate the attraction, park, and navigate the premises?: 9

(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 10

(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 10

(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 10

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Lessons in Fear is very easy to find. GPS will take you straight to their address and they have a big, beautiful sign and shiny hearse out in front of their building. It was also delightful to see them cross-promoting with two other haunts in the area.

John, Flo and the entire Lessons In Fear crew are extremely friendly. We were welcomed by three of their security staff as we neared the building and had a fun conversation with them before heading to the ticket booth, where we spoke with John and Flo’s son, Jared. Jared is probably the most personable ticket booth attendant we have ever met. He always has a bright smile on his face and his friendly banter lulls you into a false sense of security prior to entering the haunt. There are porta-potties just outside of Slaughterville and they always have a movie playing on the screen at the Slaughterville Drive-In.

Atmosphere Scores (10% of Final Score):

(60% of Atmosphere Score) How obvious was it that you were at a haunted house before entering?: 9

(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 10

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Lessons In Fear’s queue area, Slaughterville, is one of the most elaborate queues we have ever seen. It really is an extension of the haunt itself. It is beautifully decorated and filled with roaming characters like the Scarecrow and Junior Slaughter, a rather ominous character wearing a pig’s head who will stalk you through the vast expanse of corn stalks that fill the area.

With the horror movies playing on the screen, the subtle soundtrack filling the air and the overall feel of Slaughterville, you will be primed and ready to enter the actual haunt whether you run through it or stroll through and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):

(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 9

(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 8.25

(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 9

(25% of SFX Score) How well did they achieve & maintain the suspension of disbelief?: 8.25

(15% of SFX Score) How effective were the SFX at providing scares / entertainment?: 9

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In their previous life as home haunters, John and Flo Gepperth amassed an impressive collection of scenic d������cor and homemade animatronics. When we say homemade, no doubt images of windshield wiper zombies and cauldron creeps flash through your head, but these are not those. John Gepperth is an extremely skilled animatronic artist who has flooded the haunt with his own creations. No doubt, any robotic monster you run into there is one you won’t find anywhere else. In one case, he even gives the patrons an opportunity to scare themselves (with a little encouragement from Igor). All of the special effects were timed well, and made Katie jump quite a few times.

Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):

(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?: 7.5

(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?: 8

(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?: 9

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Lessons in Fear utilizes a number of themes, one for each of the three floors of the attraction.

Contagion is a Laboratory gone berserk with an infectious zombie virus after some medical experiments gone wrong. Contagion Industries has been performing twisted experiments on babies, rats and anything else they can get their hands on, and a good number of their creations crawl through the corridors, hungry to infect anything that comes just a bit too close.

The Dead and Breakfast is a homey little getaway that has fallen into disrepair since the staff has since become fixated on the murder and dismemberment of visitors past. The Bride in her honeymoon suite assists in the chaos, lamenting her inability to keep a man as she storms around the remains of her many previous suitors.

Old School showcases the bones of the building’s original purpose by making use of the classrooms where an array of classic monsters have taken over to make use of the various classrooms for their own diabolical purposes. The science lab is especially stunning, as well as the art room, which makes excellent use of white walls as a canvas for the deranged artworks that seem to be taking on a life of their own.

Scare Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):

(30% of Scare Factor Score) How scary was it?: 7.5

(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide scares to the entire group?: 7

(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 8

(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 8

(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 6

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While some of the scares were of the tried and true scare-and-scoot variety, Lessons in Fear did a good job at hitting you high and low as well as adding to the suspense between scares. Hearing the voices of your would-be attackers beckoning you to them from the next room was a bit unnerving at times and they would often make their appearance when you least expected it. The timing and use of distractions employed at Lessons In Fear left you wondering where the next scare would come from.

Entertainment & Value Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):

(30% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment received during the main attraction/s?: 8.5

(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 9

(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 10

(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 10

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Lessons in Fear took us about 35 minutes to walk through from start to finish, not including Slaughterville in the pre-show area. Their tickets are $18, and while they don’t offer fast passes, our wait time when we visited early in the evening was quite short. This gives patrons an excellent value, at nearly two minutes of entertainment per dollar. The haunt itself is packed to the gills with eye candy, so even if there might be a room or two without actors in it, the space doesn’t feel ‘dead’. If you find yourself in north central Ohio, it would certainly be a mistake to skip out on Lessons in Fear.

How Did We Get These Scores

Awards:

2024

2020