NightMARE Island Review (2017)

Each of the actors wore a complete costume, which were decent looking, and made sense to each scene they were fulfilling. The makeup was fair; the bride and witches makeup looked good, but a few of the clowns’ makeup was beginning to come off. A few actors wore masks, which were appropriate to the costumes they were wearing.

We felt Nightmare Island was very safe and had no hazards for the guests. As we entered Mare Island, there were several sidewalk signs at various points which directed us to the haunt. There was no obvious queue entertainment as we waited in line, other than the occasional line actor. The staff were very friendly, professional, and answered any questions we asked. There are portapotties, souvenir stands, tarot card reading, cemetery tours and special events scheduled on various days, such as a short horror film festival and a funeral hearse car show.

As we drove to the location, we saw various lights, but no music or sounds. There was a sidewalk sign with the name of the haunt and a short dirt trail up a small hill. Halfway up the trail was the ticket vendor under a pop-up tent with bright lights. It may not have created a spooky mood, but it at least let us know we arrived at the right place. Past the ticket station, an actor dressed in a full camouflage moss costume startled us from behind the bushes. Overall, it was calm outside.

Nightmare Island has no unifying theme. Each room has its own unique theme appropriate to the Halloween season.

Most of the scares were created by actors lunging at us from behind scenery and hidden corners. They also used distractions to startle us. The actors made an effort to scare everyone in the group. We felt the clowns in the clown room were the most intense of all, as they lunged at us and stared at us intimidatingly.

Nightmare Island took about 6:20 to walk through. At a General Admission price of $10.00, that come out to 0.63 minutes per dollar, which is an OK deal. We couldn’t find any dead areas, so the munitions barracks is probably at full capacity.