The Haunted Hydro is two haunts at a great price. The centerpiece is The Haunted Hydro itself, an old decrepit hydro electric plant which may, indeed, be haunted. The second attraction is the maze called Industrial Mayhem. In addition to these two haunts there are a number of other associated activities on the grounds. Crazy Bob, his cast members, and staff will insure you have some screams and laughs, perhaps a few tears and a lot of smiles during your trip to the Haunted Hydro
We have always appreciated The Hydro’s emphasis on character training and development. Their Haunted Hydro High School has produced some top notch cast members over the years. This year is no exception. As always the actors who work the grounds and queue are among their best character actors and demonstrate skills of engagement at their creepy best. Additionally, some cast members within the two themed haunts are due some special recognition. At the end of our excursion when we compared notes, one character stood out to us all- we called him the ‘Puppet Master’. Manning a ‘Punch and Judy’ style puppet theater he demonstrated a well developed character utilizing all his props with great effectiveness. He made us laugh. He made us jump. He engaged and surprised. Great job. We also loved the ‘Grave Digger’ a great mix of Monty Python and Igor from Young Frankenstein. As for sheer creepiness, the ‘office woman’ manning the computer surveillance had the look and the ‘Ring-ish’ movement to provide a chill.
With the training that goes on that allows the inexperienced to work with the experienced, it can lead to some spotty scares and character development. There are those who are very good and those who could and need to do much more. However, on the whole we applaud the cast of The Haunted Hydro.
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Because the Hydro allows its actors to do their own make-up and costuming, the same is true of costuming that is true of cast. Some of these cast members have been at their art for a very long time. Moreover, they don’t have 30 other actors they need to get into make-up. Consequently, you will see some really fantastic make-up and costuming at The Hydro- a demon complete with wings, a zombie with no eyes, a humanoid with a grotesque set of teeth to name a few. However, you will also see a portion that are far less developed with little context for the haunt they are in. We applaud the exploration of creativity, but would encourage more consistency.
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The Hydro does a LOT that other haunts could learn from when it comes to customer service. They are always working to provide a complete experience for their customer. The Hydro’s locale is a little out of the way for most. The last thing you want to do is have someone travel a half hour or better to get there, only to spend 20-30 minutes on the grounds before leaving again. The Hydro gets this so they try to provide an experience that keeps the customer engaged and entertained for as long as they stay. Arrive at the opening and you will be treated to their Ghoul-a-bration pre-show complete with fire breathers and a rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. There is a food vendor and a Tarot card reader to keep you entertained. There is a paintball gun range where you can target ‘body parts’ and monsters who taunt you from behind a piece of plexiglass. There is a small museum of remembrances from their twenty year history, as well as a merchandise booth. Take your swing at a car with a sledge hammer or risk a spin at the wheel of chance. This is all in addition to the two haunts on the premises. As always, The Hydro is up to code in all areas of safety, last year installing a new alarm system that provides voice instruction for exiting. They train their actors and staff in first aid and make the safety of the customer a priority.
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The Haunted Hydro has a great location. It’s 100+ year old hydro electric plant is a fantastic backdrop for a haunt. It is an imposing structure when lit with it’s trademark red and green spotlighting at night. As for the interior, the Haunted Hydro is also at its best when it allows the actual interior of the hydro be the centerpiece and create the atmosphere.
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The Haunted Hydro has never been about special effects. If you are looking for giant and expensive animatronics, this is not the place. The Hydro is all about creating scares through the use of their cast. We applaud that emphasis. We find that few haunts effectively use their animatronics, counting on them for little more than a ‘wow, look at that’ factor. The Hydro does utilize a lot of ‘old school’ special effects such as strobes, drop-downs, and textures among others. It also mixes in some original effects such as a crawl-thru hearse.
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While there was a theme of sorts to the night, we ultimately decided not to factor in their use of theme. They utilized a 20th anniversary theme which some of us who have been around for awhile thoroughly enjoyed. Additionally, their secondary haunt, Industrial Mayhem, had a theme of a different group of monsters (vampires, zombies, etc.) each weekend. This was however a very general theme. Neither of these really contributed to what we consider a use of theme in a haunt which we consider a unifying storyline that adds to the character of the attraction.
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Though we enjoyed our time at The Haunted Hydro, we would not classify it among the scarier haunts. There are definitely some good startles and some creepy moments. The fun factor is high. Crazy Bob is always entertaining as the sideshow barker and some of the cast are wonderfully weird in their roles. Small children would definitely be frightened (though they do provide a child-friendly opportunity on Sundays). For middle-school on up (younger if they’re brave), the Haunted Hydro is the perfect induction into the world of haunted attractions.
1333 Tiffin Street, Fremont, Ohio 43420