Joy is infectious. When someone is joyful it impacts everyone around them, you can’t help but smile in return. It’s an energy that moves from person to person, wiping out the bad and letting the good shine through. As incongruous as it might feel to attribute joy to an establishment where a character pleaded with me for the right to eat my toes, what I felt radiating from every person and creature I encountered at Terror in Tolleson was joy. Everyone there, from cast members to ticket takers to the guy they put up on top of everything to watch for trouble, truly loves what they do. That love of the season and of horror in general is absolutely impossible to miss, and it’s impossible not to be at least a little swept away by it if you too have a love of the season.
Terror in Tolleson is an imperfect haunt that does so much right that I absolutely adore them. The special effects are a little janky, and the sets have a DIY aesthetic that is not especially realistic, but that’s part of their charm. This is a show put on by people for the joy of doing it, and they do their best to highlight it. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
Rather than stack groups, only one set of people can be in each of their six haunts at a time. This allows their small cast of around 35 people to focus the full weight of their attention on every participant. This makes this haunt feel alive and lived in a way haunts with triple the cast fail to do so. Having a larger cast would almost feel like too much. A small core of diehards is fleshed out by a number of college and high school drama club members, and their energy is to die or kill for.
There is a large variety from cast member to cast member. Some beg and plead for help, others threaten you with weapons. One notable girl did nothing but quietly stand and stare at me. She never moved when I could see her, but throughout my walkthrough of her haunt she would randomly be there in a corner or through a cutout window, just staring. Their banter is top notch as well, from berating me for jack-o-lanterns on my shirt (how could I kill their friends?) to demanding I tell a joke in order to pass through a door in the clown area, I had a blast with them. I especially want to call out the queue actors for the starting line. They made what could have been a dull wait into something highly entertaining and fun.
Costumes at this haunt are good but not great, hindered by their location more so than a lack of skill or energy. This haunt is built on asphalt in Arizona, it is open air, and it can get ridiculously hot. More elaborate prosthetics or costuming can be punishing to wear and quickly sweat through. This led to a number of compromises, from half masks finished with makeup to dark lines running down throats to suggest a more complete look having a full bit of makeup or prosthetic. I will say, however, that everyone had a unique aesthetic. It is not uncommon for haunt actors to blend together after a while, but despite proper theming and similarities in costuming to match their settings I could easily identify each character as I made me way through and encountered them repeatedly. It was good to see, and a marked improvement from last year when the outfits leaned more towards generic.
The love that these haunt owners have for the season extends to a love for their customers. Everyone I spoke with was unfailingly professional and friendly, I felt extremely welcome. They went out of their way to be kind. A trainee jackalope that accompanied me had a PTSD trigger and needed to stop. The second I told them we had to stop, they immediately made sure that she was ok, escorted us out of the haunt without complaint or criticism, and ensured that we felt cared for. It would have been all too easy to be dismissive, sarcastic, or cruel in this situation, but they could not have been nicer. When I went back in to go through by myself, they made sure to check in if she was all right before going back to try to scare me. It is a bit wild to have violent threats replaced with incredible kindness, but that is just the sort of haunt this was, and I was grateful to them for it.
One thing I do need to do is to do ding them for though is communication. This is a touch haunt, and they have various levels of touch available. You can opt for extreme, normal, or no touch, and they will absolutely accommodate you. This is not spelled out anywhere on their website, and if it is on their signage I did not see it. I am not familiar with any other touch haunts in the area; they need to spell this out loudly for customers that might not be expecting it.
Terror in Tolleson pulls a simple trick that I never see, which aids so much in immersion. While you are in line you will be harassed by queue actors and actresses, and during that process they will get your name. That name will then be passed to the haunt actors and actors in the haunt, who will call you by name with their threats and pleas for help. It makes the entire thing immediately feel more immersive and makes you an active part of what is going on. This is not just something that you are walking through, this is something that you are in.
As far as stories go it is loose, but there. There were themes in costuming and the behaviors, but do not expect very much in the way of narrative. The asylum and the clown zone were the strongest, but even those were just “this is a circus” and “this is an asylum.” I did not mind it and it did not detract from my fun in any way, but people may want a stronger story.
They do a much better job in between attractions than the previous year. Actors will harass you in between, but there is also a moment to space out the crowd, take a breath, and prep you to go into the next space. It did not feel intrusive; it always felt like a welcome palate cleanser. Special FX:
The build of this haunt has a strong “theater kid breaks bad” vibe going to it. About everything is constructed with plywood and paint, with minimal animatronics and just a few props. I did very much appreciate playing skee-ball with a human head in the circus, and the fan in the Slaughterhouse was a good bit. Do not come here expecting movie level, soulless props, and scenery, this is not that kind of haunt. Come in expecting a DIY labor of love, if you approach it with that attitude, you will absolutely be rewarded with a ton of charm.
The build of this haunt has a strong “theater kid breaks bad” vibe going to it. About everything is constructed with plywood and paint, with minimal animatronics and just a few props. I did very much appreciate playing skee-ball with a human head in the circus, and the fan in the Slaughterhouse was a good bit. Do not come here expecting movie level, soulless props and scenery, this is not that kind of haunt. Come in expecting a DIY labor of love, if you approach it with that attitude, you will absolutely be rewarded with a ton of charm.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 8
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 8
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 9
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 8.5
Whether a haunted house is scary comes down to energy and fundamentals, and Terror in Tolleson has both in spades. I absolutely could never say that a haunt which reduced a jackalope to catatonic tears is not scary, but as a reviewer I know you need more than that. This haunt and its actors stick to the fundamentals to scare you, and it’s effective. They have built each attraction into a maze designed to disorient and trap you, and ample places for cast members to hide. Banging on walls serves to both disorient you and ensure that the entire cast knows exactly where you are always. They will creep up behind you, scream at you, stare silently, and cry, sometimes seemingly all at once. There is not much of a finale built into most of the attractions, but I was always sent out with a memorable quip or gesture from the cast. They make the whole thing work.
Terror in Tolleson took me just under 19 minutes to walk through. With an entry fee of $35 that works itself out to a Minutes Per Dollar of .54. This is not a great score, but I will say that each minute is absolutely packed. The way the lines are spaced out means that there are no moments when something is not happening and no down time within the attractions. There is no padding here, the only moments you really get to catch your breath are the gaps between attractions. That makes that MPD a lot stronger than the score would indicate. You do not really get anything else for your money, the escape room, face painting, and tarot reading all cost extra. I felt very satisfied with what I got for my ticket though, and I doubt that you will have much to complain about here. Terror in Tolleson is a solid value for your money.
9105 West Van Buren Street, Tolleson, Arizona 85353