Reapers Revenge Review (2018)

To break Reaper’s down more categorically, the cast here is just spot-on and embrace whatever their characters require. The iconic characters on the Hayride are particularly well cast in body size and movement. It feels like the legendary slashers just jumped out of the movie; Jason is a beefy wrecking ball, Michael Myers is tall and lanky, and so on. As mentioned above, the actors continuously climb aboard the wagon and they CAN touch you unless you choose to take a safety necklace and in that case, they will still get in your face. The actors make you feel as though part of the show and, on the night that we went, we rode with a number of visitors from other haunted attractions; owners, actors, and operations people who all understand and love the haunt life broke out in applause for the skills and efforts of the actors.

The scare actors are into their roles, whether they are just doing jump scares or out in the open in the Lost Carnival or Pitch Black to deliver storylines or characterization. A lot of times, they are just there to further space out the groups, but they use that time to stand out as a character in a scene rather than just going through the motions. It feels like there are a thousand scare actors here because they are all doing something and doing it very well!

The actors in Lost Carnival are all about character and interaction, whether they are carneys or other characters related to a circus or desolate carnival, everything about them fits into that scene. After the Carnival, you will re-board the wagon. Along the way, there are more scenes from movies and the characters here in the second part are starting to get more aggressive, more physical and darker where the first part was fun. This part is now more serious and threatening.

The characters outside Pitch Black were interactive. Before entering you will encounter the doorman who will talk to you and he is great with improv. I guess he’s some sort of supervisor. Right after that, you will meet a janitor outside of an elevator. This area wasn’t really for scaring but it was a good way to interact with guests and talk while setting up the real scares that were waiting for us.

We want to give a shout-out to the Vampire Lady at the bridge as she was spot-on with her natural sounding Transylvanian accent.

Reaper’s Revenge is pretty easy to spot as it sits right off the highway. It is also very easy to navigate and safe. The wagon will take you to where you need to go. There is a break between attractions and this break is important because, after the long wait for the hayride, you’re basically going non-stop with little queuing up again so it’s a chance to catch your breath and, after going through Pitch Black, you will literally need to catch your breath!

The staff were very friendly and helpful and it’s obvious that they care about customer service. The most impressive sign about how much they care about their guests, and it may seem strange, but it’s the availability of porta johns all over the property. They start at the security line at the parking lot and are even strategically placed in parts of the queue line and at the start of every subsequent attraction. It’s just an extra touch that lets you know that the folks here have thought about every aspect of the experience. There are also lots of food options like the Pizza Shack, and it’s all at reasonable prices.

You will be in the outdoors a lot so be prepared for the weather.

The overwhelming visuals and sounds that you are presented with here when you arrive mostly comes from Sector 13, the government facility. It’s the last attraction you get to and by making it unavoidable to see and hear as soon as you enter, they put their grand finale in your mind for the entire time. The loud helicopter blade chopping sounds, the loudspeakers with warnings and instructions, the fog, the fire, the lasers from the guard atop the high walls all comes together and sets the atmosphere. It does a great job foreshadowing what is to come.

The Pitch Black line has sort of a factory facade which looks just amazing. It really is well detailed, making it look very cool and realistic.

The atmosphere was remarkable and we knew we were, without a doubt, at a haunted attraction that was set on frightening all souls brave enough to board their wagon to take on all four attractions.

The special effects here are all over the place. From awesome fire effects and fog everywhere to laser lights, projections, and an excellently-done green laser swamp (in a huge area), there is so much to experience here that you may need to go through more than once just to see it all.

All of their effects were used well. The Hayride was fun and featured things I haven’t seen on a hayride ever before. Everything was big and over our heads in multiple quantities so that, instead of five bodies hanging over the trail, they have 50. Want some pumpkins? They put out a hundred in all shapes and sizes including one enormous one. Also, this hayride was full of big fire effects right from the start and all along the first part of the hayride, along with lots of fog, projections, and other special effects. If they dropped you off after this part of the Hayride alone you will still go home Happy.

The trail includes an actual working, full carousel and an old-school fun house out in the middle of the woods. The Carnival section offers excellent visuals and an extra level of detail from the other parts that were placed out in the woods that added to the environment even more. I didn’t think it even needed this much, but they took the extra step to make it stand out more.

In Pitch Black, it was very dark, but there were some places with light, one in particular with chainsaws which caused sparks in a very narrow, metal-lined hallway, which was impressive.

Sector 13 was very impressive. Just when we headed into the building, we were faced with its 30-foot walls that are made of types of metal with barbed wire on top. There were heavily-armed guards with lasers up on the walls and down by the entrance were loudspeakers were blasting warnings and instructions. This was an interactive attraction where we stood up against a wall for decontamination and there was a lot of noise, heavy vibrations from the floor, and grinding sounds while fog (decontaminating gases) sprayed in.

There are four main themes at Reaper’s Revenge and each theme is perfect and cohesive. The characters and scenes tell the story and set the atmosphere.

On the Hayride, you will encounter movie villains and iconic horrors. The further the ride takes you, the darker things become. At one point, there has apparently been a problem so everyone has to get off the wagon and pack into a security shed; what happens from there is a surprise. You will eventually arrive at a bridge that’ll take you to the Lost Carnival which provides a side show with clowns among other things. This is a very apparent theme. Next is Pitch Black where it is completely dark and run down. It is meant to prey on your fears and senses and that’s exactly what it does! Your last stop is at Sector 13 where there is a lot of Sci-Fi to experience. You are aware of it the minute you walk up the path to the haunted attraction as it is clearly a government/secret station/lab building complete with searchlights, lasers, a really loud helicopter noise and fire high atop one of the walls. They give you instructions in a militaristic commanding tone: what to do and what not to do, which really helps set the tone and theme for the experience.

Reaper’s Revenge was scary throughout, especially in Pitch Black.

You can choose to be touched on the hayride. I would like to mention there was a point where two guys came on the wagon and grabbed one of my teammates by each of his legs and dragged him on the soft hay into the middle of the wagon and sort of tormented him and threw hay on him. It was shocking and was unexpected for sure, but the loose soft hay, which by the way made for an extremely comfortable ride, also provided a way for him to be able to slide easily across the wood in his hoodie. The same thing happened again when the chainsaw people came on and actually touched the bars of the saw against our limbs. The ending is strong; you come to a castle, the wagon stops for what feels like 5 minutes and a very theatrical finale full of effects sends you on your way out.

For the Carnival, this particular part of their world is more about presenting the theme and atmosphere and less of startle scares although there are some that are extremely effective including the sneaky clowns wearing masks. If you’re not sure if it’s a prop or a person you’re probably gonna guess wrong. The Carnival also has a strong ending to it.

At times, Pitch Black can be overwhelming with the total darkness that is increased by noise and vibrations of the walls and all the stuff that touches you (and sometimes stuff that’s wet against your face). You are put in an elevator where something goes wrong and, when it lets you out, you will now be in almost complete darkness. There are no lights in the beginning; it is literally pitch black and there is no way to see anything. Worse than that, the other sensory things they have going on makes your mind play tricks on you. The music is so loud that you can’t even talk to each other, which makes it harder to find your way. It’s 10 minutes of being absolutely terrified of losing the person in front of you and being completely lost. So now you are doing little steps in order to hang onto the person in front of you while trying not to step on the back of their feet. I’m not sure if I took a breath the entire time I was in there. I felt completely disoriented and things were hitting my legs, sides, and in my face – all in the dark so we didn’t know what it was. We had a moment when we emerged where I could not find one of our teammates. We searched around the area for 5 minutes before heading to go back into the building and he finally came out with the third group that had come by. Apparently, he got turned around and had to be grabbed by an actor and turned in the right direction. That was also probably the scariest moment I ever had at a haunted attraction, actually losing a team member for real. I love pitch black and I hate it at the same time, and it is definitely the scariest part of the four attractions. But, since each one is so different in their own way, they all added to provide a different experience.

In Sector 13 they will check your ticket and, once again, offer a protective glow necklace. If you don’t want to be touched, I would recommend it here as they touch early and often in this one. They let about 20 people in at a time. The hallway has spotlights, those lasers and the the only thing they’re missing here is vicious guard dogs barking at you with their sharp teeth. They split our group up in this one, yet again. One member was put into a freezer while my other team member was put somewhere I didn’t even see. Then I had a lab tech or doctor girl kind of direct me towards another room. Once in the room, I was placed into a cage next to another cage. I asked the girls in the other cage how long they had been in there and they said, “I don’t know, about 2 or 3 minutes.” Other people were pulled out of a freezer next to the exam tables, including my other teammate who was put on another table and examined with tools for a few minutes while another team member emerged in a larger cage across the room. He was then pulled away into the next room and we literally did not see him again until we exited the attraction. Finally, my other group member was allowed off the table and was brought into the cage with me where we then proceeded through the rest of Sector 13.

They also will touch at this point – not in a bad way, but the actors will get up on guests or touch their face or head, or just other things to distract from what exactly is going on in there.

There is so much entertainment value in the attractions as well as the main area here. In the lengthy queue line, they show movies on a full-sized outdoor screen on one side and hillbilly karaoke on the other side for entertainment during the long wait.

I can’t say enough about this attraction and it is without a doubt one of the best ones I’ve ever been to. Our total tour time came in at over two hours! If you get there early and you’re able to do general admission to get on the hayride, it’s only $45 for all four attractions, which is an absolute steal as that would put it at just over $10 for each attraction. This is unbelievable given the number of things you get to experience. I will gladly go back to this one and pay the extra $25 for VIP to go on the Hayride faster… even if makes it a $70 price tag because it’s a great value.

Reaper’s Revenge was completely worth it and it lived up to the reputation and all the things we had heard about it. I almost want to go back again this year. I’m already planning on bringing a group with me for next year so I can show them one of the best if not the best haunt in the country!