Final Scores – By Category:

Cast (20% of Final Score): 7.48

Costuming (10% of Final Score): 7.64

Customer Service (10% of Final Score): 8.93

Immersion (10% of Final Score): 8.15

Special Effects (15% of Final Score): 7.99

Scare Factor (20% of Final Score): 7.49

Entertainment & Value (15% of Final Score): 8.63

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Final Scores – By Attraction:

The Haunted Mine: 7.86

Returning for its second year after a decade-long hiatus, bigger and better than ever, The Haunted Mine, located in Tarentum, PA, is a very unique haunt as it primarily takes place in, you guessed it, an abandoned mine, that is also said to be genuinely haunted.

Legend has it that twenty-eight miners lost their lives in this stone labyrinth, with three bodies never recovered from this rocky tomb. Now guests can explore these claustrophobic corridors, encountering many disgruntled souls of the lost miners trapped by a mine that seems to have a mind of its own.

The Haunted Mine featured roughly 32 actors dispersed throughout three different sections. We did not notice much downtime, but a few more actors wouldn’t hurt as the haunt is large.

We encountered typical clowns in the funhouse, many of which just lurked or popped out. One clown let out a loud boisterous scream, and another told us to enjoy the funhouse in a creepy voice. In the new cemetery, demons and revenants materialized. A large monster appeared statue-like before briefly turning around and following us, banging a metal pole, a hellhound just looked at us as we walked by, and the dead welcomed us as we moved further along. A female banshee introduced us to her dead horse (Jeremy), a witch offered to be our tour guide, and a gravedigger even offered us two free tombstones if we wanted to change our names to Nathan or Jake (the names on the stones); not a bad deal in today’s economy. As we left the cemetery, a shadowy cacodemon swept up behind us with a surprising “Hello!” After being visibly spooked, he teased us and stated that he did not know that “a hello could be so scary” and started to rattle off other ways he could have scared us.

In the mine, we saw mine workers who had become eidolons, some wielding chainsaws (quite close to our faces and heads), one stating he wanted a “souven-ear.” Other phantasms looked from beyond, staring at us as potential victims. We were told to “hurry up” and that their friends “were hungry,” while others invited us to play hide and seek and told us that if we were found, “[he’d] kill us.” I thought we were in the clear until another spirit appeared and proclaimed she “ate him” while holding up a foot, but then she said that the “butcher was still coming for us.”

Most actors provided their lines and actions believably and convincingly. A few actors were a little dull in their delivery, but all in all, we felt the actors provided solid performances with some unique dialogue and actions.

The apparel seen in the Haunted Mine mainly consists of tenebrous clothing, hoodies, black shirts, and jumpsuits made up a majority of the costuming.

In the funhouse, we were greeted by a gentleman with cool colorful light-up glasses. Inside were some actors with more elaborate clown-like apparel, with green and orange fluorescent skull face paint. In the cemetery, we saw a guy dressed like an old civil war guard with shadowy cloth covering his face, and another guy almost looked like Abraham Lincoln, with a black trench coat and a black top hat, wielding a shovel. A demon creature had a magenta mask that featured horns, and a witch wore her classic garb. In the mine, some workers had charcoal faces, while others had masks similar to Bane from the Dark Knight. There were two men with mandible skull masks and even a character in a rat mask. Finally, there were a few characters in flannel shirts and jeans.

The costumes were adequate, some more aesthetically pleasing than others, but no costumes completely pulled us out of the show as noticeably bad. We wouldn’t mind seeing a little more detail next time to help add realism to the characters.

Google maps led us to the area where the mine is located. It is a little confusing as they share an address with another haunt not affiliated with them, The Shadows (which we did not review this season). There are signs from the main road directing to each haunt. Parking was better this season with the addition of parking attendants.

We did not notice anything hazardous as long as the rules were followed. The parking area is very dark, so mind your steps. Inside the mine, the ceiling is low and hard hats are required. This is a natural cave, so you will faceplant into solid rock if you run into a wall. There is a small mine car that you ride in, and if you stick out your arm, it will now be a prop. So follow the rules and use common sense.

The website is located on the Tour-Ed Mine & Museum website. The website is a straightforward page with all the pertinent information; address, cost, and dates.

In the distance of the line, there was a band playing. Along the waiting line, fun lighting and photo ops led to the haunt. We did not notice any line actors this season.

There is not much of a storyline outside of the mine area. However, the driver of the mine car informs you of a brief history of the mine and those who have perished.

During the haunt, we did feel completely immersed, especially the mine; it’s creepy and claustrophobic. The three themes don’t mesh entirely with the cemetery, and mine felt more well-paired than the funhouse area. Not that we did not enjoy the contrast, but the feng shui was a little off, which is not uncommon for most haunts nowadays.

There were areas between haunts, and they flowed well; the short walk between the funhouse and mine was lit by lanterns giving an ominous feel. We would like to see a little more decor or something going on as we waited for the mine car; although a short wait, it felt like something could be there to entertain us.

The mine has some interesting special effects. The sound effects will differ in each section; the funhouse is full of carny music, laughter, and screaming, the graveyard has ghostly music and groans from beyond, while the mine features bangs, intense music, and just overall chaos.

The scenes feature a good deal of details, such as walls lined with decapitated clown heads, LED fireworks, smoke, arachnids, and bodies encased in webbing, making the funhouse feel ominous but also fun. We felt a sense of instability, and it seemed like anything could be lurking around the corner. The graveyard was heavy on tombstones and skeletons scattered throughout, as it should be. Tombs were also plentiful here, as were animatronics popping out of tombstones and watching over the cemetery.

As mentioned, this is a real mine; the ceilings are low, and the walls are tight. They brought the walkways to give a more confined feel. Things like clothing articles or zombified bodies and body parts would often hang from the ceiling. To tie into the story, a human carcass was partially buried in the dirt with a hand and the skull sticking out. Barrels also contained blood and guts, and a meat grinder had appended human limbs. The animatronics were also enjoyable. In the funhouse, a professor was seen drinking a potion and shaking from the effects. A bookcase would appear to fall on you, and we came face to face with a dragon who breathed smoke.

In the graveyard, a zombie emerged from a tomb and tried to reach out to us, and a large pumpkin creature glowed and warned us of impending doom. The mine had the effect that the walls and ceiling were caving in. Water flowed through the mine, and power tools turned on and off by themselves as if being controlled by unseen forces.

The Haunted Mine seemed to provide scares for the whole group. Most of the scares were focused on jump scares, with people hiding behind walls and screaming as we walked past, or spooks would bang on metal objects causing us to jump.

Some actors had creepy dialogue warnings about the butcher. Repulsion occurs at the site of the barrels filled with body parts and the meat grinder. Intimidation occurs mainly with the chainsaw guys, especially when the one stood in our way, waving his chainsaw inches from my face. The hidden attack happened from the rat creature, as he popped out from behind holding a large rat puppet, sticking it in our face. The idea of a bookshelf falling on you is also scary and admittedly made me tremble just a bit. The mine caving in is not only suspenseful but may also trigger any claustrophobia you may have.

Speaking of phobias, there is an entire room dedicated to spiders and their webs if you have arachnophobia. There is even an animatronic spider that may pop out at you when you least expect it. The finale featured a well-hidden individual with a chainsaw that caught us off guard.

We were happy with the scares provided. However, a little more intensity would be welcome to give an extra punch to the shocks.

There was a band playing this evening which was included in the haunt price, as were photo ops. They do have plans to expand the pre-haunt area in the future. We would like to see the line actors return as well.

Tickets cost $20, which is below the average of this year’s ticket price of $25. It took roughly 30 minutes to navigate the mines, excluding the wait for the mine car. This places the minutes per dollar at 1.5 – a great deal for such a unique haunt, placing it above the average of 1.12 MPD.

The Haunted Mine provides fun frights, cool effects, and a one-of-a-kind experience in the area in a natural underground mine. We can’t wait to see the improvements and expansions that are planned for the future. We are glad the mine is back for another year and are excited to see what it does in the future. Hopefully, it doesn’t take another decade off because a mine is a terrible thing to waste