Nightmares End Haunted House is in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. After winding through backcountry roads, we arrived at a castle complete with knights and a fire-breathing dragon. Behind the scenes, the haunt delivered pure hell, with its scenes, cast, food, and games. This haunt didn’t end nightmares; they created them!
When we walked to the haunt, several queue actors greeted us, hinting at what to expect inside. Rosie was a demented-looking soul who really creeped us out. She would stalk and vanish, giving us the chills. Oz, the rule-giver and gatekeeper, was a blast, providing key information and foreshadowing the nightmares ahead.
Most of the actors on the inside nailed their roles pretty well. We were left on edge about who else would be creeping from the shadows. There could have been a few more actors placed in some of the eerily quieter areas, but besides that, these folks didn’t come to play any games; they came to take our souls. They were believable and convincing in their roles, and the way they interacted with us helped us to understand why they call this place Nightmares End.
Unique doesn’t begin to describe the costumes and makeup that we encountered during the night. Each character looked different from the others, with costumes ranging from raggedy nightgowns to camo suits, tux outfits, and more. Rosie, roaming among guests as they awaited their personal journey through the nightmare, wore a dirty, bloodied gown and had sewing skills displayed on her face. Her look was topped off with a bow and a stuffed animal in her hands. She looked like a doll that had grown into a human, giving us quite the unalive experience. Oz, stationed at the gate, was in full costume with a tux-like outfit, a cape, gloves, black lips, nose, and eyes, a solid white face, and long black hair.
Most of the actors inside wore outfits similar to Rosie’s, while the other queue actors wore unique masks, one of which included a very large septum piercing. There were a few noticeable skin tones visible through masks or clean bare hands with dirty costumes, which took away from the completeness of the costuming. They fit their scenes well, and a few of them have become ingrained in our subconscious, surfacing only when we are asleep. Isn’t that what a nightmare is?
Nightmares End was easy to find with GPS. After a few windy roads, we reached a castle that screamed haunted house. Parking was self-serve, with cars lined up, making it easy to find a spot. The owner and staff were warm and professional.
The ticket booth was clearly located where you could also buy some merch! The queue line was located on the right-hand side of the ticket booth, where you could find lines for regular tickets and a fast pass!
There were no major safety concerns during our walk-through. A few steps that could cause issues in lower-lit areas were present, but didn’t cause any major issues at all.
They do not have a website for their haunted house, but they do have a Facebook page with all the pertinent information, including ticket prices, location, and opening times.
Driving up to a castle for a haunted house isn’t something that we run into a lot. It was a unique experience. The castle was lit up with a red ambiance, and multiple animatronics gave this pre-haunt area a mesmerized vibe. An entire fire-breathing dragon, a larger animatronic, definitely created a specific spooky anticipation. A reaper jumping out over the top of you as you entered to purchase your tickets was a really nice touch.
Once in the queue line, multiple actors tormented us before we entered the haunt. Oz delivered the rules, setting a humorous yet serious mood.
Although not following a specific storyline or theme, once we entered this professional backyard haunt, we encountered many twists and turns and met several actors, some of whom reappeared as different or recurring characters at various points during the walkthrough. While the effectiveness of these actors’ scares remained strong, their repeated reappearances in new scenes sometimes pulled our attention away from the immersive details of the surroundings. Once the walkthrough was over, we shot back out into the pre-haunt area, where there were some games, concessions, and an escape room that kept the fun going as we weren’t ready for it to be over yet. That escape room was truly something else.
As soon as we drove onto the property, we were met with a castle of nightmares of fantasy. While purchasing our tickets, there was a dark, grim reaper hovering over us and a fire-breathing- Just kidding- dragon outside to meet us at the gates to our nightmares. Let the chase begin!
Nightmares End had a beautiful yet horrendous way of creating scenery through the placement of lights and fog. In a swamp scene, the lights inside the fog as we walked across a bridge, along with the sounds of a night swamp, really pulled us into a bog fright. A silent, black labyrinth we fought our way through, all while hearing our own terror as a wicked, screaming monster tracks you down. It’s a perfect little chase.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 7.25
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 8.4
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 7.75
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 7.75
Our walkthrough took 10 minutes, and the ticket cost only $15, yielding an MPD of .67. We love seeing the MPD at 1, but even though this falls a little short of that, the bold scenery and nightmarish crew make this haunt well worth it!
Beyond the main nightmare, there were activities before and after the haunt. Admission included a bonfire, roaming queue actors, and photos with TikTok influencers. Concessions featured The Beast, Nightmare’s Nachos, Midnight Muncher, Purgatory Popcorn, and more. For an extra cost, several games and an escape room, a coffin you must escape, were available. It was infuriating, adrenaline-inducing, and a blast. Highly recommend.
Our souls were taken at the Nightmare’s End, and we shall return one day in hopes of finding them again.
Just when we thought we were safe, we were wrong. Cast, props, animatronics, and scenery kept us targeted with various scares. Our small group of two was always in the crosshairs. Nightmare’s End could add more varied prop scares or silent actors for additional variety.
We found that as we walked through it, predicting the next scare became a little easier, but we could not predict who the scare was coming from or which one of us would be the target of the nightmare. The finale had us running. Perfect scenery, the anticipation built up, and then they revved up, we ran, and we were chased. There was nothing typical about this typical chainsaw finale. We most likely lost a few calories, too, both in the finale and in the nightmares that followed days and days after we barely escaped!
1595 Billy Goat Hill Road, Hopkinsville, Kentucky 42240
