Nightmare Rising Review (2026)

In general, our experience with the staff at Pandemic Z was positive. Each of the mazes had a staff member serving as a host, who was responsible for explaining what we could expect before entering. The majority of these were upbeat, positive, and did a good job outlining the rules and procedures for that specific maze (we did encounter one host who seemed like they would rather be anywhere else, however).

Navigating the event was something of a different story, however; while strategically placed maps allowed us to locate the mazes without any trouble (we were also aided by several scare actors who helped point us to where we needed to go), we had difficulty finding our way back after finishing them, particularly after the Terror in the Woods event. While pathways were marked with LED lights, we still sometimes weren’t entirely certain if we were going the right direction.

The location for the event, SC Paintball Village, is a lot of fun, particularly during times when the actual paintball arenas are used as the settings for the mazes. However, Pandemic Z only utilizes a fraction of the space available, leaving large areas of the venue simply empty. These areas are completely undecorated, leaving them feeling desolate.

While we understand that the creators of the event must make do with the resources they had, and that the venue itself is larger than the haunt itself, we would have preferred it if they had been able to spread out and fill the space more, as well as making the pathways from one maze to the next clearer. Nevertheless, it is a great location for a haunted attraction, and we very much enjoyed running from the undead in an area built to resemble a devastated warzone.

The creators and actors have clearly taken care to create an immersive experience for attendees, and the “zombie” theme is fairly consistent across the multiple mazes. One of Nightmare Rising’s great strengths is the way that their mazes create stakes by giving attendees an actual goal to achieve during the experience, along with potential consequences for failure.

For example, when we entered the CDC Race for the Cure maze, our task was to navigate a paintball arena in search of a vaccine that would prevent us from becoming infected ourselves. Our group teamed up with another group to search for that cure, and we worked together to dodge the undead as we navigated the wonderfully three-dimensional world to do so: we ran up and down stairs and through doorways as shambling zombies gave chase. Our group succeeded in our goal, but another group that entered at the same time was not so lucky, and we watched as they were herded into a cage to receive the consequences of their failure. We won’t spoil what those consequences were, but it was elements like that one that allow Nightmare Rising to label Pandemic Z an “extreme” haunt experience.

The Zombie Survival Flight and Zombie Survival Fight were equally outstanding in the immersive element; we really did get our adrenaline flowing as we attempted to avoid, and even battle, the hordes of the undead during these mazes.

Sadly, however, we had to deduct a few points from this portion of our review because there was barely anything happening during the Terror in the Woods maze. We were actually quite excited for this one, because when we attended Nightmare Rising’s Camp Coffin Creek event about six weeks earlier, we’d found their use of the woods behind the paintball park to be excellent, featuring a high-octane slasher experience. This time, however, we were disappointed when almost nothing happened in the woods; we were told that we were seeking a lost Boy Scout Troop, but there were nearly no actors, effects, or activities, and we simply ended up wandering aimlessly for nearly the entire experience. One encounter with a chainsaw-wielding madman wasn’t enough to salvage this element for us, but the other mazes did a far better job at creating a frightening world for us to inhabit.

The special effects in the Pandemic Z event are fairly minimalistic, although in a way that is intentional rather than neglectful. There isn’t much set dressing to speak of, with the preexisting paintball arenas themselves doing most of the heavy lifting to create a lived-in environment. Beyond that, most of the atmosphere is established by fog, lighting, and a few great sound effects.

Our favorite effects were all found in the Buried Alive maze, which happened to be the first one we did when we entered the event. This maze, which was done in the style of a zombie-infested cave, was the only one where we encountered actual “haunted house” style mechanical elements, including a rickety bridge and a cave ceiling that seemed to crumble over our heads. The best effect, however, was a “knocking” sound that seemed to emanate from behind the cave walls. It was subtle and effective.

When we attended Nightmare Rising’s previous event back in August, we were introduced to a bedraggled, shotgun-wielding weirdo named Elmer, who we were delighted to discover was still roaming the grounds for this event. Elmer warned us that if we ventured into the woods, we might encounter his pack of trained coyotes (we heard them during the Terror in the Woods but sadly never saw them).

After we walked away from our encounter with Elmer, my wife leaned over to me and whispered, “he really is one of the best scare actors I’ve ever seen.” Actually, we hope he was just an actor, so committed was he to the bit; our favorite characters in these haunted attractions are always the ones who do more than simply try to frighten you. They’ll maintain character and riff with you for as long as you will allow them. Elmer never missed a beat, and he single-handedly earned this attraction the score it did for characters. The only performer we wished had been a little more enthusiastic was the sergeant who led our party through the Zombie Survival Flight, as their choice for the character seemed to be “too cool for school,” which limited some of the urgency that we should have felt during the activity.

We should note that, as an “extreme” haunt, the performers are supposedly allowed to touch the guests, although that didn’t seem to happen too much as far as we could tell. Costumes are fairly minimalist, but effective, with many of the zombies simply being slathered in blood and dirt (their hair could have perhaps stood to be a little grungier).

This is another element that unfortunately lost a few points because of the sadly subpar Terror in the Woods. We were there for about six minutes before anyone even tried to scare us; it ended up being more of a peaceful night hike than a terrifying haunted maze. This particular one needed more actors than it had, which was a marked contrast from the Camp Coffin Creek event we attended here in August; at that event, the preponderance of slashers ensured that we got personal attention as we tried to survive.

The other mazes are far better in this regard. In each of them, zombies accosted us at regular intervals, and we never had a chance to catch our breath. During the Zombie Survival Flight, we wore “capture the flag” belts and had to navigate an actual maze, meaning that we actually felt the anxiety of possibly getting lost or being caught and losing our belts, potentially facing the consequences for failure to escape from the enemy.

The contrast between the highs and lows meant that the Scare Factor was very mixed for us; when it was good, it was very good, but there were also times we nearly forgot entirely that we were in a haunt and expecting to be frightened.

The price on the website for this event is around $59.99, with upgrades available should you want special treatment. Green glowing necklaces can be had for $5 and mean you’ll be treated more gently, while red glowing necklaces are the same price and mean you’ll be treated less gently (we don’t know what happens if you wear both at once). You can also pay extra to upgrade your firearm for the Zombie Survival Fight, and an RIP ticket with a front-of-the-line pass is $99.99.

Team Pacific Ghost Highway received complimentary front-of-the-line passes as part of the event’s media night, and, at least in our experience, the additional cost didn’t seem like it would be necessary. The lines remained relatively short and moved at a clip, although if you arrive on a more crowded night, your experience may differ.

There are five mazes in the overall event, and we did them (lines, walking time, and all) in just about two hours. The mazes themselves were actually decently long, and we spent about ten minutes during the CDC Race for the Cure, which made it the longest of the mazes (with the possible exception of Terror in the Woods, although that one only had about one minute of actual action)

Overall, it’s a pretty good value compared to many similar-sized haunts, especially if you take some time and interact with a few of the great performers working the scare zone.