The Beast Review (2022)

The cast within The Beast was diverse and pretty well-spaced out throughout the attraction, with only a couple of areas that had animatronics but no actors, and some of the lengthier transition areas. Many of the scare actors we came across had fun dialogue and interaction with our group, with the highlights of the night being the more cinematic and involved scenes.

The Ringleader Clown in the castle labyrinth, in particular, was quite entertaining with his dialogue and presence, standing strong as an intimidating figure we had to speak to before we were able to move on, making us scream “THE BEAST!” over and over before allowing us to pass. He enjoyed watching us struggle to escape but did help us with some clues here and there.

When I got to the bottom of the first slide in the haunt, a man dressed in a weathered suit and top hat screamed in my face to greet me and proceeded to poke me repeatedly with his cane, yelling, “SQUIRM, SQUIRM I TELL YOU!” and getting that result. That pushed us into the streets of White Chapel, where a woman was seen running for her life before Jack the Ripper ran over and slit her throat. Afterward, he conversed with us about who he was and promptly cornered me to a rail holding a knife to my throat to be his next victim!

One of the memorable scenes towards the beginning took place in a swamp, and as we were admiring the alligator animatronic, one of the hillbillies asked, “How big do you think he is? I’m guessing 12 inches.” There was also incredible acting involved when we came across a woman ready to burn a witch tied to a stake. The woman proclaimed she was wicked and a wench as the witch screamed and cried that she was innocent, which of course, we took the witch’s side.

The costuming at The Beast was impressive, with high-quality prosthetics and masks that were well fitted to the actors. While it was hard to see in the dark, the werewolf inside the haunted forest had a believable and realistic-looking mask with what appeared to be fur on his arms!

The trio of clowns running around in the Labyrinth had matching patterns and color schemes in their costumes, which was a nice touch, but felt slightly out of place being in a castle when they were definitely more carnival-type clowns. A few human characters had impressive blood/gore special effects makeup, but I would’ve liked to see more distressing in their clothing, given the circumstances they were put into.

The queue actors had some of the best costuming of the entire haunt, with one of the most memorable being another werewolf wearing a full head and torso piece while walking on stilts! My favorite costume I saw that night was a clown dripped head to toe in bright colors, with makeup that looked like she dug under her own skin to carve it into a large smile with several rows of pointy teeth, and plenty of accessories that made her adorable AND terrifying!

It was fairly easy to navigate the premises and find parking. The entrance was lit up to where we could tell which building we had to get to. The staff was friendly and helpful, and my group appreciated the extra steps of security they were taking, including metal detectors and scans everyone in line went through.

One staff member in particular who was working the parking lot was extremely helpful and kind, and even stated he watched over our vehicles to make sure no one broke into them. He was absolutely lovely and made our experience that much better. The staff working the snack area at the end asked us how we liked the haunt and talked a little bit about the building the attraction took place in. It was a lovely interaction overall!

There was a section in the haunt where an actor scared a group ahead of us as they were climbing up the stairs, but didn’t do that to our group as we approached.

The website is easy to navigate, with ticketing information, the calendar, a Q&A section, and a map with the address.

Kansas City has plenty of old brick buildings in its city, but they are not nearly as ominous as The Beast. With its red glowing lanterns illuminating the entrance with glowing letters of the name of the haunt, as you walk towards the building you can see the flickering of lights from the windows above. Below were plenty of actors haunting the queue, snarling in customers’ faces, smashing their shovels on the concrete, and chasing customers in and out of the parking lots. However, something that felt off was that they played country music the entire time we were in line, even as we were leaving the haunt.

The sad country love songs quickly dissolved away as soon as we were in the attraction, and they did a great job immersing us in the set design and putting the absolute most into each area. They kept the groups pretty spaced out at the beginning, and it took us a while before we caught up to anyone. A couple of areas were difficult to navigate and caused a lengthy traffic jam, which broke that immersion for a bit.

The Beast doesn’t follow any particular storyline but did a great job introducing us to new scenarios. Going back to the castle maze, not to spoil anything of what happened, everything played out very naturally and never became tedious to go through. The hint certainly helped us out, though! Some areas I wish were longer just because of how great they immersed us into their world and we wanted to stay in them longer!

The Beast has some of the most memorable set design and use of animatronics I’ve seen at any haunt! Many scenes utilized the building’s natural assets to create an environment I have yet to see done as well as they did here. The swamp area had 3D houses lining the murky waters, and we had to cross over wooden bridges to avoid what was swimming beneath our feet. We had to cross through the streets of London at night as it echoed the screams of a poor woman getting her throat slit. The ancient castle halls became even more confusing at each turn, driving everyone, including its residents mad. It was incredible, to say the very least.

Most of the sound effects were used to build upon or enhance the atmosphere. There were some areas that used it effectively to create a loud, disorientating environment. However, in certain areas, the sound was very quiet or not present, creating some dead spaces.

There were plenty of open areas for customers to explore and actors to utilize, as well as small enclosed spaces that increase anxiety as you push your way through. The use of animatronics was smart and creative, particularly an alligator animatronic that emerged from utter darkness that really scared the daylights out of my group! The Beast had great use of the animatronics to only enhance what they already have to offer. Scenes also utilized strobe lights for disorientating tunnels and fog to consume us into dense forest areas. The attraction used a lot of dark areas to their advantage, but I feel that certain areas should have been better lit to help us navigate.

Overall, we were very pleased with the special effects The Beast showed off, and there were many moments where we were all simply blown away! It’s worth visiting just for what they created alone.

The Beast provided plenty of scares and entertainment. This attraction is not afraid to get in your personal bubble with direct interaction, poking and jabbing at you with canes or the animatronics themselves bullying you as you pass.

The Beast will mess with your mind the further you descend, leaving you with a sense of hopelessness that you’ll never find your way out. Many completely unpredictable moments will scare the absolute daylights out of you if you’re not paying attention or you’re distracted by the wrong thing.

It’ll keep you on your toes as each turn was completely different from the last and doesn’t dare let you keep your guard down. Going through slides, climbing into fireplaces, escaping the never-ending halls, and finding the right door to get out alive, you must be ready for whatever this haunt throws at you if you want to escape!

It took our group around 33 minutes to get through The Beast, with a single admission ticket running $32. It took about 15-20 minutes to get in on opening night as we bought tickets at the door, but you can buy tickets online to shorten that time. They have plenty of ticketing options and other add-ons you can include.

This haunt is a bit on the pricier side but does provide a longer haunt experience with top-of-the-line set design, architecture, and incredible animatronics. Once you go down the slide at the end of the attraction, you walk through a small section with a couple of smaller animatronics before being released inside the restaurant turned snack stop at night. I would say this haunt pairs best if you also visit The Edge Of Hell and/or The Macabre Cinema Haunted Attractions to get the most bang for your buck. I’d imagine it’ll only get busier the further into the season it gets, so save some time by buying tickets online!

We were very impressed on our first visit to the Beast. We had no idea what to expect going in, and we left with a memorable experience. Overall, it’s definitely worth a visit this Halloween season!