Haunted Review by Ash: Nightmare Forest - SPOILER

I have another yummy review for you haunted house freaks (hey, it's a term of endearment!) to devour. This time, we headed out to Nightmare forest in Otter Creek Park (a LONG drive from my neck of the woods!) to visit the Hollywood ghouls.

NOTE: There is a spoiler toward the end of this review, so you've been warned!!

Now, I'm an easy sell for the most part. I might be harder to scare than some, but it's easy to please me one way or another. (Yeah, that totally didn't sound dirty.) But in my opinion, there was just a lot wrong with this experience.

There were some good things. There was a sideshow dude there swallowing fire and introducing us to a "real life mermaid" and he was pretty damn entertaining. It was a GREAT idea to have this guy (or any distraction) while waiting in line. It makes the time go by faster and you're still being entertained. Very amusing, and a great touch. 

(Not actual dude we saw, this pic is courtesy of Google Images.)

Alas, that was kinda where the pluses end. We were unfortunate enough to be told to join four other people and we were in the back. Okay. Fine. I'll deal, after all, there's a lot of people waiting in line. But my complaint here is that for the entire first leg of the journey we were in the back, and ALL the scares were the kind that jump out at you and they were ALL aimed at the first two or three people in line. Michala and I got to watch everyone else get scared, and when we went past, it was like they said boo in an afterthought. Like, "Oh, hey, didn't see ya there...boo, and stuff." That wasn't just not scary, it was boring and annoying. We got nothing out of the first half of the haunt. So when we were waiting in line (AGAIN) halfway through the forest, we managed to bitch until the group let us up front. We finally got to go through again, excited to be up front and looking forward to getting scared, and THEN they decide to start focusing on the back of the group. We bypassed a good chunk of the scares in the second leg of the trip because the guy and girl in the back (who was initially in the front) were getting all the scares. What the hell?! Are you kidding me? I think I squeaked a few times because something jumped out at me, but the scare factor was completely gone. Nothing really scared me, and the whole haunt was reliant upon the "BOO" factor. I was so disappointed.

Now, I have to mention quickly how much walking and non-scary parts there were between the scenes. I get it. You want everything to be on its own, not one scene rushing into another, and that's all fine and dandy. But even IN the scenes, there wasn't anything scary, so we ended up walking through an empty scene and through an empty gap between scenes. If we were lucky, the other folks in our group got a few screams. Then to make matters worse, we kept catching up to the group in front of us, while the group behind us kept catching up to us. Their timing was WAY off, and neither our group or the groups around us were running or taking too long. 

***Lastly, I have to give a spoiler on the final scene. If you don't wanna know, you should stop reading now.***

***SPOILER ALERT!!!***

The Purge. I had SUCH high hopes for this. Even the person who made us wait in line (for a THIRD TIME!) said it was the best part of the haunt. Yeah. Right. They ushered a group of about fifteen of us into a room together, didn't tell us anything, there was a TV running the EAS warning about the Purge, and then two chicks wearing nightgowns and masks came in and started circling us. It wasn't scary, and I was asking Michala what the hell was going on and if I should be scared or what. One of the girls said I was the first to die because I wouldn't shut up. Okay. I'm down with that. I'll bite. So I pushed her buttons. She pointed a fake gun at me and pulled the trigger, and it was fucking LOUD. She was like, "Are you scared now?" My response? "WHAT? I'M DEAF, YOU MORON!" Then they let us go and we all walked out of there asking what the hell that was. It was the biggest waste of my time I've ever encountered. I'm not kidding, what the actual fuck was that??

Sorry for the language, but it really bothered me that we drove that far to only be disappointed and irritated. And deaf. Let's not forget that. Not to mention that I don't think it's very funny or entertaining to pull a gun on someone, whether it's real or not. That wasn't cool. Personal opinion, of course, but had they not let us out right away, I might have grabbed the gun from that bitch and shoved it down her throat. Guns are not funny. They're not meant for a haunted house. I don't take it very well that I was "shot." And after such disappointment. I keep using that word because that really is all I can think of to describe it. Disappointing. Well, that, and a waste of time. 

I cannot in good faith give this haunt anything more than a 1 star. It was an embarrassment to the haunted house industry. Nightmare Forest needs to step up the game or get the hell out of the scaring business, because they have failed. Miserably.

Haunted Review by Ash: 7th Street Haunt

It's here!! It's finally here!! The first haunted review of the season - are you excited??

First up we have the 7th Street Haunt. For starters, the outside was changed up a bit, having victims - er, guests - line up outside by the parking lot first, then you're sent down into a covered area, which for the cooler weather that's coming soon will be great, but our visit came on a day when it was over 80° so it was more like an oven! But I thought it was nice how we kept moving in little bunches, because we got the feeling of progress while waiting out turn. It was a nice touch. The photo op was goofy and fun, and another nice treat while waiting.

It was the same basic concept as previous years, which is still a unique idea that helps 7th Street stand out from other haunts. It has a theme of toxic destruction transforming the fictional town of Fort Harmony, KY, into a town of zombies and freaks. Michala and I were in the front of our group of six at first, then switched to the back when we learned one of the girls was a haunt virgin - it was her first time. And it was hilarious watching her get the Hell scared out of her!

Not actual couple, I borrowed this from Google images.

The scare factor was a little odd for me. Anyone who has been following this blog or my Facebook page or the Locally Louisville Facebook page knows I'm petrified of clowns. There weren't many of those, however the theme of the haunt doesn't allow for a lot of clowns, so that was okay. There was a lot of misdirection, so while you were looking at the creepy thing in the corner trying to figure out what it was, you didn't notice the creepy dude sneaking up behind you just before he scared the bejeebers out of you. That was clever and effective. A lot of the scares were designed to get the first couple or three people in the group, while the ones in the back of the group mostly got to watch, but there was a considerable effort by many of the actors to get the whole group.

The one thing that 7th Street never fails to deliver is the detail. The props, the scenes, the costumes, the makeup, the visual effects - there's just so much intricate detail in everything it's visually stunning. I really can't put it into better words than visually stunning, because there's a lot of hard work, time, effort, and dedication that goes into this haunt.

All said and done, I felt this haunt delivers a unique experience and some good scares. It is definitely one to check out. I give this haunt 4/5 stars overall, and highly recommend giving it a chance.

-Ash

Look Out For Haunted Reviews!!

Pardon the late notice, as my office has been in shambles for a week, but we have not one, nor two, but THREE haunted reviews for you coming soon!! Michala and I visited a few haunts lately and oh boy, do we have a lot to say! Stay tuned, because you'll get reviews for all three haunts posted as soon as we possibly can!!

"But Ashley, what haunted houses did you visit?"

That, my dearies, will only be revealed as the posts go live, so make sure you check back often!

First Haunted Review of 2014 Coming Up!

IT'S ALMOST HAUNTED HOUSE SEASON!!!

Is anyone as ready & excited for this as I am??

So this weekend, Michala and I are headed to one of my personal faves, the 7th Street Haunt. And it's gonna be epic. 

Who's ready to scream?!?!