Nightmares Gate Review (2020)

Nightmare’s Gate Haunted House has a dedicated cast of fun and terrifying haunters that clearly love what they do. A very wide variety of stalkers, nurses, doctors, patients, scientists, and experiments made each character unique. The actors were often above or below us, which made sure we were watching all around throughout the haunt. The actor in the meat locker behind the diner got us especially well!

There was a lot of interesting dialogue, where actors held conversations that pulled us deeply into the scenes. We were very impressed with the body language of some actors. One just wanted to show us his shrunken head, and we had a great time talking with him about it without a single word from him. Every actor made their character fit into their scene excellently and really pulled the whole experience together. We were so impressed with this team of haunters!

Nightmare’s Gate Haunted House has a website with their address, contact information, and a very clear calendar of when they are open. There seemed to be some issue with updating some things from their holiday haunt, but the scheduling information was all correct.

Our GPS took us directly to the location with no issues. On arrival, we were greeted by very friendly staff. The ticket booth and line were very clearly lit and marked. Their ticket booth is an interesting outdoor box like a bank teller with positive air pressure, minimizing the risk of any sort of contamination. All the staff and actors wore safety masks, and we were not touched in any way throughout our visit. In addition, the queue line has plenty of spacing between groups. Last year we took a tour backstage and heard about his safety procedures. After our visit, we had no reason to believe any of these had lessened.

Nightmare’s Gate is always a treat to arrive at. This year they had a huge skeleton lit with eerie lights by their ticket booth. There was plenty of good music that wasn’t too loud to enjoy the company. Several talented actors accompanied us during our wait. We enjoyed some creepy rhymes, and it really set the mood for going into the haunt.

After the finale, we arrived in a gift shop with their infamous giant chainsaw and several other great photo opportunities. Characters out front had changed out while we were inside, meaning there may be fresh scares awaiting you as you return to the mortal world!

Nightmare’s Gate Haunted House puts a lot of work into its set design and special effects, and it really shows! The industrial grates and ramps down into the beginning of the experience is a wonderful transition from the parking lot and into the world of the haunt. After that, every set is decorated from the floor up.

Convincing details are everywhere, down to dried blood on the floor. A bathroom stall we had to walk through was full of the usual sort of graffiti. Pipes and hoses and saws overhead make you feel completely surrounded by the scene. Transitions tend to be very strong as well, including a huge hatch that’s pulled to the side by an actor. The room inside’ Well, we’re not sure what to make of it, but it had a very cool lighting effect that we haven’t seen elsewhere. There were lots of gore and medical scenes, many of which were quite convincing. Huge containers of who-knows-what often drew our attention in just the right direction to lead up to a great scare. The sound effects throughout fit well with the scenery and weren’t too heavy on trying to make us jump. Lighting throughout tended toward being bright enough to let us get a good look at their wonderful scenery!

Nightmare’s Gate had a unique storyline that was interesting, if not sometimes confusing, in its execution. Transitions between the unique scenes were imaginative and were great at flowing. One scene closed and the next opened in intriguing ways, like a vault door or a freezer. It really felt like we were exploring’ someplace. We knew what each scene was individually, but we didn’t always have a great understanding of why we were there. There was a clear descent into stranger and wilder places, and we very much enjoyed it. There were just a few places where we paused with confusion as to what was happening or why we were being chased by a shark in a hospital.

Nightmare’s Gate Haunted House is terrifying and fun in all the right ways. We were startled, shocked, spooked, grossed out, and made to laugh throughout. With scares covering the whole group from high and low, you won’t be able to hide behind your friends in this no-touch haunt! The balance of humor and creeps and scares is right on point.

Some veteran haunt goers will likely be ready for many scares when and where they happen, but the cast reacted and handled it very well giving us surprises either way. Any downtime either built tension or allowed us a moment to breathe and enjoy the beautiful sets. We aren’t sure if we missed the scare in the last room or if it was just a gentle transition out of the haunt. Overall, the pacing throughout the haunt was excellent.

With all the gore and frights and doom and scares, Nightmare’s Gate is all about having fun. This is a very well rounded haunt that will keep you laughing and screaming in whatever combination you want.

Our walkthrough was a tad on the short side, about fifteen minutes, but most groups will probably take a bit longer. The fun doesn’t start or end at the queue, and we spent the whole drive away talking about our favorite parts. We think that the twenty-five dollars per ticket is a very fair price! Team NecroNomAPeach is very happy to recommend this haunt!