Over the Edge Fear Factory Review (2016)

Around 35 actors can be found in the house each night to work at scaring innocent customers as they pass through. Because this building is so big, quite a few of these actors were seen multiple times throughout the house. Some of them did this very well, such as the worker with the metal hook on a chain, but many of these cast members were younger and relied on only screaming at us at the top of their lungs, telling us to get out or asking us to play with them… repeatedly. At multiple times, the dialogue consisted of: ‘Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out!’ literally over and over again. Customers have paid to get in, so they usually don’t want to hear ‘get out.’ None of that worked to be scary at all and, when we tried to interact with what they were saying to us, most of them just continued to scream at us. Towards the end of the attraction, there were a few characters who were playing ‘Marco Polo’ with us that served to be somewhat entertaining as we made our way through the maze. A few of the actors did attempt to interact with us, but most of that consisted of mediocre puns about their props or scenery. One clown towards the end that was dressed in white and black had some of the most diverse dialogue out of all of the characters we came across.

The costuming in the factory area of this attraction started off well enough with authentic work uniforms and coveralls that had been distressed to show the dirt and grime that you’d typically see in a grungy work setting. Makeup throughout the attraction was minimal, but helped add an extra touch to the characters’ looks. As the haunt progressed, we started seeing more random characters, like a butcher, clowns of all shapes and sizes, ‘Momma,’ and more. A few latex masks were seen here and there, along with a painted morph suit, a black cloak, light-up tennis shoes, a live doll and more.

We were a bit iffy when we pulled onto a narrow road out in the middle of nowhere that eventually led to a rural subdivision. Luckily, the multi-colored lights that were illuminating the building let us know we were probably at the right place. A sign hanging on the front of the building confirmed this for us as a parking attendant pointed us in the direction of their free parking area… which didn’t look very large. We’re assuming that, when it’s full, you will probably park along the street as best you can. We saw some folks standing in line, but upon arrival, we weren’t sure if this was the line to get in or just the ticket line. Come to find out, there is a single queue line and, when you make it inside the building, that is where you purchase your tickets and the haunt begins shortly thereafter. During our visit, this line moved very slowly. We believe this is due to a shortage of cast members inside who were doing their best to work multiple roles. However, in turn, they weren’t allowing groups in very closely together at all. When we came out of the attraction, the two people who were standing in line behind us were still standing in line. Mind you, it took us 19 minutes to make it though, so this may turn into a very long wait if there are very many people in line at all. It was rather easy to navigate the inside of the attraction, but watch your step on the stairs to enter the building and be wary of a few ramps that are located inside the haunt. T-shirts were available for purchase at the ticket booth, which is also where we found one of the owners of the attraction; she was very friendly and willing to answer any questions we had for her. A stray actor may be seen running around the queue area; we witnessed a clown come from around the back of the building and follow someone to their car!

The pale-colored, pole barn-style building was illuminated with multi-colored lighting and the sign hanging on the front helped confirm that we were at a haunted house. Other than that, nothing else was going on outside during our visit until one clown briefly interacted with a group. Once we stepped inside the ticket room doorway to get our tickets, many different sounds were barely heard escaping from inside that helped in preparing us to enter. Various printed signs and bright, hand-painted warnings, prices and other info adorned the black walls of the blacklight-lit queue room. Right before the group in front of us was sent in, a chainsaw maniac attacked the entrance door from the other side, letting us all know that whatever was on the other side was ready to play!

A variety of special effects can be found in this Fear-manufacturing Factory! Many of the actual factory’s walls were splattered with blood and decorated with various tools, malfunctioning electrical boxes, safety signs (after all, you can’t be too safe), lively barrels, rusty pipes, power tools and rotating lights. As we progressed deeper into the structure, we started encountering other things, like a roasted corpse, a morgue, a strobe reflecting off shiny walls, bubbles, laser effects and a large, maze divided with huge pieces of plastic. In the beginning of the house the only sounds that were heard was a lot of banging and other sounds made by the cast. As we approached the end, creepy clown music was encountered with other eerie sounds that aided in bringing the scenes we could hear them in to life.

Multiple types of frights were used to try and catch our group off-guard as we traversed this large attraction. The factory worker in the beginning probably succeeded at startling us the most, as he was very good at hiding and sneaking up on us! An overhead hiding spot was also very effective and left our group watching in ALL directions as we continued through. Other types that we came across include a drop panel and other unexpected wall surprises, constant banging, random screams, a table and light combination and seemingly dead or fake people that suddenly sprung to life. This is more of an old-school haunt so you never know what they may be using to try to scare you which makes some things harder to predict. The finale consisted of a swarm of clowns and a ghillie-suited creature that tried to lure us into the woods for some free wifi. We were going to follow them but then we thought, now wait a minute…how good would this wifi be in the woods anyway?

General admission to enter the Factory is $15.00 per person. Signs recommended that children under 12 years of age not enter, but younger ones may enter at their parent’s discretion. Scream Passes can be purchased for $50.00 and… we know, you’re probably thinking, ‘what’s a Scream Pass?’ Well, it is a season pass that includes VIP admission each time you visit and a t-shirt! So if you love coming here or live close by, it may save you money to buy one of these instead of paying the $15.00 every time. As stated above, it took us about 19 minutes to make it out of this mad house. That puts the ‘minutes of entertainment per dollar spent’ at 1.27, which is a bit below the average of 1.5 from all of the haunts we were able to attend last season. The large building that houses this attraction definitely has some great potential and we can’t wait to see what all they do with it next! They did a good job at entertaining us during our visit and we are glad we made the trip to check out this new attraction.