The Haunt Review (2021)

On the night of our visit, it was noticeable that there was a shortage of actors at The Haunt. This has been a common issue throughout most of the attractions we visit, however, the way The Haunt is designed made it easy to tell. Of the actors we did see, there were a few that stood out in a good way from performance to just having fun. The clowns in the final 3-D area had to be the most interactive and creative with dialogue. They were able to respond with witty off-the-cuff responses when we interacted and made for a memorable time. The Ice King was another good actor who had a particular presence about him, we know exactly who he was supposed to be, however, he was one of not many actors in this scene. Inside the Aftermath area, we had some creative actors giving a good post-apocalyptic war-type essence of sorts as well.

I feel inside the asylum is where it was most noticeable regarding a short staff as well as little interaction. We found ourselves walking by a few actors that seemed to only want to blend in with the scenes as opposed to interact. We did have a couple that followed us into other scenes really well, just wish there was more in-your-face dialogue to go with it. The most memorable character here was one that tried to give us their inhaler because ‘you are going to need it.’ Overall, it was enjoyable in many ways but also plenty of room for a better-quality performance out of some.

The makeup and costume department for The Haunt did bring plenty to the table. From the costumes we did see, they did fit appropriately in their scenes. Most notable was the in-unison feel of the nurses we had seen in the asylum. They had that sort of bandaged-up Silent Hill nurse feel that worked well.

Inside the ‘Aftermath’ portion, we did see a more apocalyptic war feel so there was some camo and war face paint throughout that fit in well. I would say for us a great stand-out costume, again, was the Ice King. It looked complete and well thought out to fit the scene appropriately. What was also creative here was having the actor on stilts to help provide even more of a giant feel when he stood off his throne. Inside the 3-D scenes, clown actors also have the 3-D make-up applied to their faces and costumes to give themselves even more depth to the character. It worked out nicely.

The haunt seems to take major precautions in terms of safety for the staff as well as guests. We found ourselves having a metal detector used before entering to assure no weapons and such would accompany us. Very nice feeling considering some unfortunate situations at other out of state haunts this season.

There was staff available not only outside to help direct traffic but also plenty inside between the 5 themes available. After the first theme, Blood Manor, we did happen to run into a thoroughly excited employee who filled us in on exactly how the haunt operates and the different areas we would be visiting during our evening. We did have a moment of confusion between Aftermath and Frostbite as we were used to the queue system and being directed by staff for line control, however, at the fa������������������ade of Frostbite there were no employees to direct so we just continued right on.

The Haunt also is active on social media as well as their website where all information is to be had. Navigating to and from the Haunt is pretty easy, they occupy inside what used to be a retail store or something along those lines, so it is a big space that works out really well for them. This also, of course, means plenty of free parking and easy to find being between two main streets.

When we pulled up, one of the first things noticed was the well-lit parking lot and loud music playing. They have a DJ booth set up outside for entertainment in the outdoor queue. The ticket booth is along with the building and merch and food trucks are within the parking lot to add a bit of resemblance to a midway. Along with the above, we encountered some creative queue actors to of course help spread mischief and havoc.

The inside queue has much more detail of showing it is an attraction as it has up to a dozen coffins placed within a built mausoleum. When we finally made our way into the queue just before entering, we are greeted by a well-detailed area of the mausoleum with some great-looking ravens perched up high as well as spiders below. This made for a great fa������������������ade entrance!

There seems to be no shortage of props and special effects at The Haunt and are heavily relied on for the experience. Some really great scenes and scares do come out from these effects as well and each theme does provide some unique experiences as well.

Speaking on some opportunities we noticed, some rooms we happened to walk into had no sound at times which took away from effects. There are also plenty of drop-down panels that held great-looking props, however, sometimes we triggered them a little late in passing so only caught glimpses of them before the panel shot back up. There were plenty of great moments throughout we are excited to speak on!

Going in order and speaking a bit on each theme, Blood Manor is a bit more ‘old school’ in approach with the scares. It relies on dark corners and great-looking props to give a vampiric element that remained effective for what it was. I enjoyed the plenty of different animatronics here as they were high quality.

We then found our way to the Asylum. The scenes here and the design of the walkthrough were outstanding. It is unique in the sense that there is a zigzag pattern that leads us in and out of the main hallway that runs rather deep, and we end up going up one way and down the other. So, we have these small scenes that have things such as chimpanzees and mental patients that we walk through and end up further into the main hallway where we are able to see other groups and crazed patients as well.

In the Aftermath scene, it was very chaotic and warlike, which was something new to us. There were some great effects here as well, such as toxic water flowing into barrels as well as a heavily obese prop that the actors almost seemed to worship.

Frostbite is a great concept and has these great effects that play into the idea. A great effect here that gave the impression of a legitimate freeze was lighting behind and above the rooms. With a glacier look and clouded sky, the light blue color behind shines out and makes the scenes here look arctic. Most of the props here also look like they are frozen over, which adds to the sense of an arctic freeze. It is a grim reminder of winters in Chicago -_-.

The 3-D circus area was actually a rather fun one because it worked as a whole carnival experience and gave that impression. We happened to be walking past rigged carny games that had elements of gore to them, which was plenty of fun. We also had some elements of the sideshow as well, which were great touches.

Overall, The Haunt has some great-looking sets and amazing props that complement scenes accordingly. One we failed to mention, as it almost lies between themes, is a fantastic dragon. Really ought to be seen to be believed!

The Haunt relies heavily on props and animatronic scares, so like mentioned previously, there are moments where timing is key and can be missed. The best example is the number of drop panels with props behind. We have seen success in drop panels with actors behind them for perfect timing, but with a prop and a reset, they can be missed relatively easily.

We found ourselves at the end of our line but lagging so far behind (we tend to take our time), we ended up alone after the first theme and then continued to be first through every other theme. We mentioned actors of course, and a lack thereof, but I feel like the score for the Scare Factor could have increased plenty if we had seen just a bit more interaction and attempts at being frightening.