Got to go to opening night for Haunt last night so here's my review. I didn't do Skeleton Key so no reviews from me on that. I'm going to keep my feedback short on the repeats since…well, they're repeats. You already know what's happening. I'm going from the order I've gone through.
Paranormal Inc.: This was the best house last year by a mile. Although the novelty has worn off of being new, it's still a pretty solid house. There were a few small tweaks, but from my experience on the "left side", it's overall the same. Still pretty good. Grade: A
Voodoo: So as soon as we entered the kitchen scene, which is right before you enter the swamp, the maze audio suddenly stopped, the work lights came on, and the fire alarm went off. We probably should have mode on, but we waited outside for a good 20-25 minutes before they let us back in. I felt like there were several scares missing that could have made it a lot better. What's odd is that they had the maze start off where Skeleton Key was last year. So the room you paid $75 to see last year is what we saw this year. Heh. I think it's time for it to go, but I'll still give it props for having the most unique, and one of the most nicely done sets and layout done for KSF. While I didn't get many scares, the talent was still energetic. Grade: B-
The Tooth Fairy: Same as last year. Descent sets, some cool effects, monsters were apparently finding their groove. The highlight of the maze was seeing someone I knew working the scene with the dental chair. He grabbed me and had me lie down in the chair with the light in my eyes and pretended to drill into my teeth. I jokingly screamed in pain. That was a lot of fun. Other than that, it's pretty jaded to me. I always thought the scenes inside of the kid's house looked wonky. Overall: C
Trick-or-Treat: We skipped it. Ran out of time and was a low priority considering this is the fifth year of its run. Probably time for it to go.
The Red Barn: After knocking out the backstage houses, we decided to hit up one of the new ones. the theme was very simple as the whole building was the "facade". The layout felt slightly similar to Pinnochio and had a lot of similar elements to the Slaughterhouse….like, a LOT. I'm pretty sure there were some reused props in here. It felt like this got the scrap end of the budget with Cooke's two big-budget mazes and the Skeleton Key rooms. While the talent seemed to be energetic, a lot of the scares were predictable. It didn't help that the guy with the chainsaw at the end wasn't working. That was a bummer. House design didn't do much for me. Scares were kind of "eh to me. This was the weakest maze of the night for me. Overall: D
Dead of Winter: Wendigo's Revenge: This was the worst house last year. Very boring, not scary, and too bright. This year, they realized that they don goofed last year and addressed the issues. Scares were improved and there was some really cool effects added. If you got some bad scares in there, the effects made up for that. They fixed the issue of it being too bright by splattering blood and chopped up bodies everywhere. I got a few good scares in here, but like most of the KSF mazes, it's hit-or-miss. I did get some good ones in here. Overall way better than last year and not the weakest maze anymore. That honor goes to the Red Barn. Overall: B-
Gunslinger's Grave: I like the design of the maze. There were some good scares. I feel like this maze has run its course. Once again, they had us walk through the skeleton key room at the beginning. Feel sorry for those who blew money on it last year. Overall, it's "eh". The Master Splinter ending fell flat. Overall: C-
The Hanging: Finding Gory: Since Bill and Ted is gone, this will have to do to get my spoof fix in. This show depends entirely on how aware you are of internet jokes and pop culture. So if you're not keen on those, then the show may not impress you. I thought a lot of the stuff was pretty funny but the premise seemed broad and unclear. It's not Academy Award-winning comedy, but it's a stupid fun show that is pretty entertaining. It was a LOT better than last year's garbage. I won't say who got hung but it was very….unsuspecting. A lot of people seemed to hate it, but I enjoyed it. Overall: B
Elivra: Dance Macabre: Don't care about Elvira. Her shows have always been bloody awful so why bother?
The Shadowlands: I've always wanted to see a high-quality Japanese maze for the longest time, so this was my most-anticipated. After waiting in the friggin' long line that lasted nearly an hour, I said to myself, "this better be worth it or ima be mad." Guess what? IT WAS FREAKING WORTH IT! You'll see why the line is slow as molasses when you see it, but WOW. Talk about a step up in production value. The sets were beautiful! I was convinced I was in a small Japanese village/forest/house. Lots of HHN-style trigger scares in here. They even had creature effects that looked like something you'd see in an HHN house. On top of that, the Special FX were REALLY cool! The scares, sets, environment, SFX, lighting, and everything was VERY well done! Looking at the structure from above, I always feared it would be too short. They utilized that space fantastically well. I didn't think it was possible for Jon Cooke to top off Paranormal but he did! Well done. This house alone was worth it. I'm glad I did the other ones first and the best one later because it was amazing. You will not be disappointed. Even if you get a bad run-through with scares, you'l appreciate the effort. Overall: A+
Black Ops: Infected: Well because I didn't know better, I did this maze last. I ended up waiting 90 minutes in line. The line sucked, but I'll take it anyway over the horrible system the last two years. At least this will give you a chance to see their flagship attraction that they make such a big deal out of. Well, before going in, I have heard of other haunts that have done a "laser tag" maze and failed miserably. Busch Gardens had one and it sucked. Knott's did a few several years ago in the past, and they sucked. Infected was awesome, but I didn't think it would work in a maze setting. Turns out it did, and it was a LOT of fun. I even got some good scares in here with the adrenaline rush of trying to shoot the zombies coming at me. The sets were great, but I couldn't stop to appreciate the detail since it was such a rushed, "Go! Go! Go!" experience. I enjoyed the heck out of it and it was a LOT of fun. The only downside was that there was no way to check your score. Overall,it was great. Lots of great FX, gameplay, sets, and scares. Another don't miss. Overall: A
So there you have it. KSF was a lot of fun this year. Most of the new content was pretty solid aside from one stinker. The returning mazes were descent although some of them really need to go. It was opening night so I feel like a lot of monsters were trying to find their groove. There were some missing scare opportunities and that's just the price to pay for not having a rehearsal of EP night. The event is worth checking out just for Shadowlands and Infected so go see it!
Oh, and get there early and hit Black Ops first thing. That's going to have a long wait. Then hit Shadowlands. I'll be going a second time tonight so I look forward to seeing it again before I go back in Mid-October.