Scared In Jersey Review (2017)

When first arriving to PNC Bank, audience members are made to go through metal detectors and a security check before even entering. Tickets are sold outside of the venue and, when we attended, they were running about 35 minutes late to open. There aren’t any signs to direct audience members where to go and the lack of decoration on the outside of the venue makes it not feel like a haunted house. Once inside the gates of PNC, there are full restrooms, merchandise trucks, food trucks and plenty of alcohol options available at a separate price. Inside the Devil’s Midway, there are stocks that audience members can take photos inside of. Also, there is no form of queue line entertainment or any other form of entertainment for audience members besides alcohol options. Parking is available on-site but comes at a high price.

While sitting and waiting for Old Mother Leeds’ Cottage to begin their play, I was expecting some high-end animatronics or some crazy special effects to happen during the show, but that never happened. In fact, not much of anything happened. Once inside the Pine Barrens Maze, there was some smoke and lighting effects, but they didn’t add anything to the scene or hide any actors. This haunt entirely lacked creativity and wow factor. Lighting was used to light walkways, but did not really set the scene or add any scenic elements to the maze. During the Blood Drums, special effects like smoke were used. The lighting was strictly concert lighting that did not go to the beat of the drumming or follow any form of design. Overall, the special effects could have been bigger, especially for a venue that is used to doing lighting and special effects for their concerts.

Scared in NJ creators claim that they are the first haunt that uses the theme of the Jersey Devil. This is false, especially in Southern Jersey Pine Barrens where there are numerous haunts where the Jersey Devil is rumored to have been born. The haunt uses their play at Old Mother Leed’s Cottage to set the tone of the Jersey Devil theme. Besides this, there is no evidence of the theme in the haunt. During the Pine Barrens Maze, there is no indication of the Jersey Devil. For an entire attraction to be set in the Pine Barrens, there was no set d������������������cor to match woods or the Jersey Devil at all and it was obvious that we were standing in a parking lot.

If Scared in NJ was advertised differently, I feel that this category could be rated differently. But, unfortunately, this event is advertised as a haunted attraction and we confirmed this during our interview with management. In reality, it is an admission to see a band. In value for a haunt, it is extremely overpriced for the content. It is $25/ person with a fee for parking to walk through a 9-minute maze and see a 2-minute play on the way to a band. If an audience member wanted to attend and hang out and see a band like the creators of this haunt indicated is the reason Scared in NJ was created, it would cost a decent amount. With beers costing $12+ and signature (2 shot) drinks $16+ including the $25 admission and parking, audience members are looking to drop quite a lot of money. Overall, it was inaccurately promoted for haunted house-seekers and disappointing.