Features:
✓-Free Parking✓-“Old-School” (Low Tech)✓-Original Characters✓-Indoor Waiting Line
How Do We Get These Scores?
Our Rating System
UPDATE FOR 2022: Our former “Atmosphere” and “Theme” categories have now been combined and renamed “Immersion.” Our intent with this is to give more appropriate credit to attractions that have shown a clear focus on achieving and maintaining better customer experiences (both inside and outside the attractions) and developing creative storylines.
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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Final Score: 7.39
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 7.35
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 7.74
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 9
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 7.9
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 6.76
(5% of Final Score) Theme: 7.1
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 6.3
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 7.45
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Summary:
SKreamZ Haunted Attractions opens for its ninth season in the small town of Fairfield, California. We live in Fairfield, so we always look forward to visiting our local neighborhood haunt. It is a charity haunt run by Eric Land, who’s proceeds benefit the Fairfield Police Activities League. Being a small single walk-through haunt, every year SKreamZ assumes a different theme. In recent years, we’ve enjoyed the Toy Factory and the Haunted Hotel. We applaud the courage to change every year, because there are many other haunts who’ll stick to their same old tried-and-true themes, and not branch out. This year, the theme is ‘Karnevil’, which is a circus and sideshow haunt. The optional side attraction is The Last Ride, which is an experience where you lie in a coffin, and listen to the audio reveal a story and the animatronic motors move the coffin in accordance to the audio storyline. For the purposes of this review, we only attended Karnevil.
Cast: 7.35
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 8
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 7
(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 7
(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 7
(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 8
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There were enough actors in SKreamZ, and they all stayed in character, but some actors didn’t seem to be as enthusiastic as other. There was not much dialogue in the haunt, other than the fortune teller who tore our tickets and gave us the house rules, and the victim girl in bed crying for help. The fortune teller was the most interactive, as she had us choose a tarot card and gave us our fortune right before we entered the haunt. There was a clown who did interact with the scenery, as he posed as if he was holding up a barrel and pouring out toxic fluid, but then walked away and the barrel remain in its position in midair. Most of the actors would give us intimidating stares, but a few would jump-startle from behind corners.
Costuming: 7.74
How Did We Get This Score?
Costuming Scores (15% of Final Score):
(15% of Costuming Score) How complete / finished did the costumes appear to be?: 8
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 7.5
(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 7.5
(15% of Costuming Score) How effectively did they use masks (if used)?: 7.75
(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 8
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Overall, the costumes were good. They were complete and finished, with details. The makeup of the clowns was good. There were several masks, and the most noticeable was the little girl in the Momo mask. It has been months since that internet hoax was popular, but that Momo face is still creepy. There was an actor in a full gorilla costume that looked good, and a clown on stilts which made him appear unnaturally tall. In the blackout room, two actors wore all black, except for the Purge LED Masks, which did visually pop out. Overall, we felt the costumes were appropriate for their scenes.
Customer Service: 9
How Did We Get This Score?
Customer Service Scores (10% of Final Score):
(25% of CS Score) How easy was it to locate the attraction, park, and navigate the premises?: 9
(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 9
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 9
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 9
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SKreamZ is easy to find because it’s right off of Pennsylvania Avenue near the Westfield Mall. The top of the building has the SKreamZ banner and various Halloween d������cor. The building is surrounded by a huge parking lot, so there’s no problem driving your car to the location. We found SKreamZ to be a safe attraction, and nothing dangerous could be found. The staff were professional, helpful and friendly, and they were easy to find because they wore black SKreamZ shirts. Information is easy to find because they have an official website and presence on social media. It’s worth noting that since this haunt requires a waiver, the official website offers a printable waiver form that potential guests can print out ahead of time and fill out.
Atmosphere: 7.9
How Did We Get This Score?
Atmosphere Scores (10% of Final Score):
(60% of Atmosphere Score) How obvious was it that you were at a haunted house before entering?: 8.5
(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 7
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We found the atmosphere outside of the building rather mellow. The building is decorated enough to give guests the impression they’ve arrived at a haunted house. Upon crossing the threshold of the front door, we can see the theme of Karnevil, from the poster and red and white circus tent d������cor as we approached the ticket booth. The inside was better at conveying what the haunt would be than the outside. Outside was more generic Halloween d������cor.
Special Effects: 6.76
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 7
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 7
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 6.5
(25% of SFX Score) How well did they achieve & maintain the suspension of disbelief?: 6.75
(15% of SFX Score) How effective were the SFX at providing scares / entertainment?: 6.5
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There was some interesting d������cor in SKreamZ. The red and white drape maze does give the impression of a big top circus tent. This piece of scenery has been used by SKreamZ in previous seasons, and as simple of a design, this haunt is the only one that we’ve seen do this. You can say it’s one of their signature elements. The spider room was cool, with the giant spider on its sort of web thrown with cobwebs and cocooned bodies everywhere. An air compressor blast hit our ankles as we walked by. The toxic barrel effect looked really good. There was an emphasis on black lights and fluorescent colors in many rooms. However, there seemed to be less decoration detail in many of the rooms. The gorilla cage room seemed too sparse in detail. The blackout room played well with the Purge LED masks. Near the end, was a decayed horse prop that looked cool. Sound effects were mostly subtle in the haunt. The effects for the most part, maintained a suspension of disbelief, but we did hit a bottleneck moment 2/3’s into the haunt when we caught up to an elderly group, one of them with a cane.
Theme: 7.1
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?: 8
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?: 7
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?: 6
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This year’s theme was Karnevil. It wasn’t too hard to figure out, because they did promote it on their webpage and social media, and the posters at the ticket booth. The circus and sideshow theme do carry through the whole haunt. The location does not authenticate the theme, because it was once a Chinese restaurant.
Scare Factor: 6.3
How Did We Get This Score?
Scare Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of Scare Factor Score) How scary was it?: 6
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide scares to the entire group?: 6.5
(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 6
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 6
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 7.5
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We’re sad to say this, but we did not find this year’s haunt to be really scary. The clown boy at the start of the red and white drape maze gave a good startle, and the little girl in the Momo mask did look creepy. The other actors who were assigned to startle seemed to lack good timing, and at times lacked enthusiasm. Many other actors would give us intimidating stares, but that only works for us for so long, and we get immune to it. As cool as the gorilla costume was, we wish the actor inside would have done more than just walk up and stare at us. The air compressor blast in the spider room shot our ankles, and it didn’t make as good of an impression as it would if it blasted our faces. Because of the bottleneck with the elderly group, we missed the finale with the chainsaw maniac. He was resetting himself when we arrived in his area. We can’t criticize the finale too much, because after we were done, it was fun watching other guests run in fear from the maniac. It actually is a good gag, but we happen to arrive at the wrong moment.
Entertainment & Value: 7.45
How Did We Get This Score?
Entertainment & Value Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment received during the main attraction/s?: 6.5
(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 7
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 8
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 9
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When asking us about how satisfied we were with this year’s haunt, we must be honest and say we’ve enjoyed previous years more. We’ve always liked the staff and crew, and their motivation for charity is absolutely respected. Historically, SKreamZ has been either hot or cold, and this was a tough year. The toy factory was one of our favorite years, and the haunted hotel last year was really good. Excluding the main attraction, there’s very little entertainment, other than The Last Ride, which costs extra to experience. There is a camera in the coffin, and the feed goes to the outside side wall for guests to watch for free. General Admission is $12, and it’s cheap, and the money goes to charity, so we can’t say anything bad about that. SkreamZ does use their available space effectively, and there are no dead zones.
How Did We Get These Scores
Our Rating System
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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