Scarevania Haunted House Review (2015)

Similar to last season, Scarevania’s 50 volunteer actors and actresses created the crazy that we experienced during our walk-through. This attraction has indoor and outdoor sections and the difference in acting techniques in each area was a night-and-day difference. The ones inside gave us high-energy performances as several of them grabbed at us with hysterical laugher, climbed up the walls with menacing grins and one even swung from the ceiling over our heads! However, their actual dialogue and interactions with our group suffered since the majority of them used all-out screams and the aforementioned laughter to increase their intensity. Some did manage to convey pleas for help or ‘come back’ as we exited their areas. In contrast, things calmed down quite a bit in the outdoor section. Instead of the high-impact, in-your-face techniques seen inside the building, the exterior cast used more direct threats toward our group and interacted with our responses much better. Along the most believable, intimidating and verbally interactive were the butcher and ‘Husks;’ our encounter with the latter was also very funny and entertaining! Despite those good run-ins, many of the other outside actors used generic dialogue, particularly, ‘Wanna play?’ and blankly stared when we asked what we were going to play, in return. Such sayings aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but it came off as ineffective when so many of the actors used similar scripts and didn’t reply with things that justified their positions. Working at applying more character-related dialogue and responses to potential customer interaction, as noticed with the Butcher and ‘Husks,’ would help create a more unique and believable experience with the actors.

The costuming at Scarevania primarily consisted of genuine clothing articles that have been grunged up and distressed to fit their scenes and some, like the dentist, featured some added blood for believability. Pretty much every one of the actors in the indoor portion of the haunt looked like they belonged in their respective scenes with black-and-white striped outfits in the jail scene, medical scrubs in the dentist area, dresses in the doll/mannequin room, etc. Makeup work mainly consisted of darkened eye sockets for a sinister effect, a few sported blood and wounds on top of that and several unique masks were scattered throughout both sections of the attraction during our visit that helped make for some very unique looks! The characters in the outdoor portion, however, seemed to compile their costumes mainly with articles that can best be described as distressed, semi-formal attire. Dresses, gentlemen’s jackets, and even some fedora-style hats were noticed during our tour that just didn’t seem to fit the various scenes out there’ or, at least, in a way that was made understandable by our review group. Casual clothes were found along the trail as well, but a couple of masks did help create some differing looks during our visit. Among the most memorable for their looks included ‘Death’ himself, ‘Husks,’ the butcher, the inmates, the dentist and, last but not least, the ‘Easter Bunny.’

Scarevania is a very easy haunt to find, just look for the decorated truck sporting their banner near the road and, from there, just follow all the bright lights! Parking is a bit limited and dimly lit, so be careful when navigating that area. Parking is also free! The ticket booth is the first thing you will come to and the rest of the grounds are very easy to get around. Haunt memorabilia was available for purchase in the ticket stand and, if you are interested, you can get your fortune read or play some games for an additional cost. Two fire-breathing clowns were actively entertaining the crowd (and keeping us warm) as well as Tipsy the drunken clown who was running ‘Scary-oke’ at the Carnivale Cabaret stage (which was, at times, truly a scary experience). If you are brave enough to showcase your talents via karaoke in front of the entire waiting line, you just might win a free shirt for doing so! There are plenty of interesting photo opportunities in the queue area and several characters were entertaining those waiting to enter as well. If you arrive hungry, concessions are on location and they sure do smell good!

Each year that we visit Scarevania, they’ve added more and more to their atmosphere! A ‘patched-up,’ truck complete with a large Scarevania banner, sits near the road while the hue of multi-colored, carnival-style lights glowing in the distance beckoned customer presence! The atmosphere of this place is very fun, bright and colorful, but the giant, decrepit rocking horse, grim reaper, Frankenstein and Scarevania’s awesomely-wrapped hearse still kept the haunted house sensation flowing. Scary-oke loudly echoed through the queue area as the crowd sang in united talent to random tunes (which just so happened to be ‘Ghost Busters’ upon our arrival). The exterior of the building is also decorated exceptionally well. You’d have to stare at it for a quite a while to see it all and you still might miss a thing or two!

The majority of the effects found at Scarevania have been built in-house. Although the haunt strives for originality, a few purchased items are present including an animated mannequin and a screened ‘seclusion.’ Other than the real screaming and menacing laughs that were heard all the way though the indoor portion, only a few actual sound effects were heard; in the past, loud, hard rock music was heard in many of these areas. The outdoor portion of the trail was very quiet and made it very easy for us to hear what was up ahead. All of the scenes inside were well-detailed and strategic lighting was placed in several areas to help showcase the tiny details better. Other effects that we incurred were a dinner surprise, padded cells, a tree monster, a bloody murder, a butcher shop, a vintage hearse and more!

From beginning to end, Scarevania is a creep show created from the imagination of the haunt’s mastermind, Brian Blair. We have been to this attraction many times but, this year, things seemed to be much crazier than in previous seasons. Almost every single character here was either having some sort of mental breakdown or wanted to inflict violence on others. Mix those characters with all the wild props, masks and d������������������cor that Brian has constructed and you have one very original show! All in all, this haunt didn’t seem to follow an actual storyline (though, we could be wrong) and, instead, showcased Brian’s ingenuity throughout most of the attraction, especially the indoor area. This haunt is extremely unpredictable so believe us when we say you just never know what you might come across here! Some of this bizarreness involved Santa Claus, a human/rabbit hybrid, a ‘husky’ ladyman, an interestingly-placed and occupied outhouse, ‘Death,’ random dead animal parts and multiple giant sculptures that you’ll just have to see to believe!

No sooner than we ‘grabbed Satan by the nipples’ and entered Scarevania, we were greeted with an effective distraction! Additional scares were delivered from multiple levels including several weapon encounters, dark timbers, intense acting, ear-piercing screams, and operative acts of violence that included a large, wooden cross being used to choke someone! A few other distractions were used to catch our group off-guard as well, mostly by the numerous characters that were found in a single scene working together. The atmosphere inside was heightened all the way through, which kept us on our toes and made it a bit tricky to predict some of the scares. Those who focused on us did so to everyone in our group, although many of them went about their rampages without directly involving us (we just witnessed them). The finale of the attraction arguably served as the most intense portion of the attraction and involved a triple-chainsaw hurtle that you must plunge through to make it to safety!

General admission tickets to behold the depraved creations and individuals within Scarevania will cost you $12.00 per person. It took our review group approximately 13 minutes to free ourselves from this unearthliness, bringing this value to 1.08 minutes of entertainment per dollar spent. Not only is this among one of the cheapest attractions that we go to, but they pack in a fun atmosphere to entertain you as well! It may not be among the longest of attractions, but this is one of those places where you might go through and then stick around for a while! They had a fortune teller, a carnival-style game, stage entertainment and plenty of original photo opportunities. If you are easily offended, some of the scenes may bother you, although it seemed that there was still a younger crowd waiting to enter, despite that. If you’re looking for original creations and characters that create an intense atmosphere in the Muncie, Indiana area, be sure to stop by Scarevania and ”grab Satan by the nipples!’