2010 Haunt Reviews: Spider Mansion

Spider Mansion
18301 West Colfax Avenue
Golden, CO

Spider Mansion has been completely revamped from the mid-grade haunt I a few years back into one of Denver's best. The key to their success is the line spacing - they space the groups out almost too much, to the point where you are pretty well guaranteed a lengthy wait in line. Once you get inside, though, it's completely worth it, as the sense of isolation is much greater than in most haunts. The other thing they do very, very well here is misdirection. I can't even count the number of times I warily eyed one part of the room, waiting for someone to jump out, only to be assaulted from another direction. They have retained one gag from the old Spider Mansion, which features a character (Samara from The Ring a few years ago, Michael Myers this year) repeatedly and silently disappearing down a series of hallways It was the best thing about Spider Mansion before, and. . . well, it may still be the best part - but there's a lot more competition. If you don't mind waiting in line, or you want to spring for the VIP tickets, which also get you a brief ride in the back of a hearse, I very highly recommend this haunt.

9/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: House of the Headless Horseman

House of the Headless Horseman
66803 Hwy 285
Pine, CO

This haunt isn't really working at the level of most of the other, more professional haunts I've been to this year, but they do a lot with their limited resources. Sets are simple in design and concept, but feature a tremendous amount of detail, which I suppose sums up the haunt as a whole, it's unambitious, but very well executed, particularly by the actors, who really give it their all and know to to more than just jump out and scream. The only real complaint I have is the very beginning, where a somewhat bored-seeming man read the introductory legend to us from a sheet of paper. Didn't do much to set the mood, that's for sure. If you happen to be way out in the middle of nowhere (that is to say, Bailey, CO), there's no excuse not to visit.

6/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: The 13th Floor (with Blood Shed)

The 13th Floor (and Blood Shed)
4120 Brighton Blvd
Denver, CO

This haunt seems to be constantly praised by the national media, and I can't quite figure out why. I've attended both of the last two years (I missed the first year), and both times it was solid, but very underwhelming. To be fair, this year, a lot of the problem may have stemmed from some really atrocious spacing issues that I encountered. It's hard to be scared when you're seeing the scare reset itself as you walk in. I tried to hold back, in order to avoid this, but then the next group caught up to us. And then we ran into the group that was two ahead of us. It was a complete disaster. I'm not citing the spacing issues as an excuse, though, because it isn't really excusable – that's the sort of thing that needs to be accounted for in the design.

They do have some really neat effects that you don't see a lot of, largely dealing with the illusion of great height. There are also some really impressive large-scale animatronics. Given this, I'm going to give a split rating for the first time.

4 (my experience)/8 (my guess at what you'll experience, if you get lucky with the spacing)

2010 Haunt Reviews: Decimation

Decimation
I-25 and County Line Road
Centennial, CO

Decimation is another first-year haunt, and they're off to a strong start. It's a lot more brutal and rough than many of the others, featuring the most extreme gore of any haunt I've seen this year other than (maybe) City of the Dead. They still have some kinks to work out, and I hope that they find a better space (currently, it's in a mall building), but it's a solid experience as it stands, with a few surprising elements that I haven't come across before (there's a particularly interesting hallway, and a really cool costume effect right at the end). It's a little short, though. Recommended with some reservations, and I expect even better from them next year.

7/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: The I Scream Factory

The I Scream Factory
3280 Brighton Blvd
Denver, CO

The I Scream Factory, a first-year haunt, has a lot of potential. They have a large, isolated space that could be used very effectively, and they have worked out the secret of creating a very disorienting atmosphere through the use of darkness and music. Unfortunately, they haven't done much to build on these assets, as most of the haunt is woefully underpopulated. In addition, their one somewhat novel idea, the multiple paths you can take at the end, is undermined by the fact that the split is controlled by a standard employee with a flashlight, which completely breaks the mood – you may as well be heading into an entirely separate haunt. All of that said, I do want to give credit to the acrobatic boy on the school bus, who was very creepy – but I certainly can't recommend the haunt.

3/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: Field of Corpses

Field of Corpses
13251 West 64th Avenue
Arvada, CO

Each year, Field of Corpses manages to cram a bit more detail, a few more props, a couple more turns into their haunt. The sets themselves are nearly overwhelming with all the little bits and pieces. Despite this, Field of Corpses remains very much actor-driven, to the point that they even send you through with a guide. This is both a blessing and a curse, as on the one hand, it makes for a more unique experience, but on the other, the quality of that experience rests heavily on one actor. The first year I went, I had a fantastic guide, and it was one of the very best haunts. The second time, the guide didn't seem to really want to be there, and it was very disappointing. This year, my guide fell somewhere between the two extremes, as he was enthusiastic and got into the role, but also tried to rush us through much of the haunt. As a result, my experience was fairly middle of the road. If nothing else, Field of Corpses is worth a visit just to see what they've built - but it's important to note that you can never be sure how effective it will be on the whole.

7/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: Haunted Field of Screams

Haunted Field of Screams
104th and Riverdale
Thornton, CO

Haunted Field of Screams is a solid but unspectacular haunt, larger than most and populated with a small army of actors, but featuring a bit too much repetition and generally unimpressive makeup and costumes. The basic structure is a walk through a cornfield, with periodic trips through various small buildings. The focus of the haunt is on the cornfield itself, as one would expect - after all, it provides a sort of production value that you can't easily recreate. Unfortunately, it's the most repetitive and dull portion - someone steps out of the corn, maybe yells or growls a bit, rinse and repeat. The varied environments inside the buildings allow for a little more variety, so it would have been nice to see more of that. Still, if you have a thing about corn, or you're a jumpy sort to begin with, you'll definitely get your money's worth out of this one.

7/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: City of the Dead

City of the Dead
7007 e. 88th Ave
Henderson, CO

City of the Dead is much the same as it was last year - but that's generally a good thing, because they really nailed it last year. Unfortunately, there have been several small changes for the worse, which prevent me from rating it quite as highly as I did before. First, they eliminated most of the pre-haunt area. I really enjoyed the sort of undead carnival atmosphere last year, and it really set the tone for the haunt itself. Second, this year's Judge was not nearly as effective as lasts. Most importantly, though, they redesigned the layout just enough so that you no longer get that first, mind-blowing look at the entirety of the City. Like I said, though, these are little things, and there's still so much that they do well. The actors are all very aggressive and do a great job of sticking to their characters. The sets and makeup are across-the-board fantastic, probably the best in town. It was all so effective and realistic that my haunting partner very nearly had to bail out halfway through because she just couldn't take it. It's not a haunt for the faint of heart (as with last year, it's by far the most disgusting haunt I've seen), but if you're looking a little rougher, you probably won't do better than this.

9/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: Primitive Fear

Primitive Fear
5155 East 64th Ave
Commerce City, CO

In addition to renovating the 13th Street Manor, the good people at Hauntplex have also recreated their signature haunt, Primitive Fear. The results are not quite as impressive, but it's still a massive step up from what had become a reliable, but boring old standby. Primitive Fear now features a much more cohesive setting - essentially, a network of underground tunnels - and, to my eye, a much improved level of detail. There is a hallway of shrouded corpses very early on that is legitimately breathtaking, and the old sewer tunnels have been redressed and reoriented in a much more satisfying way. I cannot emphasize enough how pleased I am with how Hauntplex has stepped up its game, and I hope they can keep it up.

8/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: The 13th Street Manor

The 13th Street Manor
5155 East 64th Ave
Commerce City, CO

I first visited the 13th Street Manor four or five years ago, when it was brand new. The early advertising and buzz indicated that it would take place entirely within a single mansion full of secret passages. This turned out to be true - at least, for a little while, right at the beginning of the haunt. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. This year, however, the 13th Street Manor has been completely remade from the ground up, and I'm thrilled to report that it makes good on the promise made so many years ago. There are few things I love more than architectural horror - secret passages, spaces that shouldn't be able to exist - and this haunt makes good use of the concept. They have moving staircases, passages inside of fireplaces, a maze of doors, and plenty more, all built into a very convincing mansion framework. The actors play things a little different in this haunt than in most - there's not much jumping out of shadows and making loud noises to be had. Instead, they play the creepy harassment card, oftentimes trapping you in a room and refusing to show the secret exit until they think you've had enough. It's all fantastically done - my only concern is that, on a weekend where there are more people attending, certain aspects of the haunt (particularly the maze of doors) could cause spacing problems and ruin much of the effect. Still, based solely on my (mid-week) experience, I have to say that this is easily my favorite haunt so far, and probably still will be once the smoke has cleared.

10/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: Bloodlust: The Homecoming and The Suffering

Elitch Gardens Fright Fest
2000 Elitch Circle
Denver, CO 80204

The Suffering

The Suffering is basically a redress of brutal planet, only a little less so (some of the budget seems to have been shifted to the second haunt). It was, in a word, underwhelming. As with any haunt, there were a couple of good scares, but the timing of the animatronics was off, and the sets themselves pretty much just amounted to wooden corridors with some paint. I do have to give credit to the actor who pretended to be animatronic, and to the surprise hidden inside the air-cushion tunnel, but for the most part, the design and implementation of this haunt just seemed lazy.

4/10

Bloodlust: The Homecoming

This haunt, on the other hand, was a little more like it. It is built into the locker room building for the water park, so transforming it into a ravaged high school wasn't too much of a stretch. As a result, the whole thing felt much more real than The Suffering. The actors seemed to be a bit more on their game as well. It wasn't anything special, but definitely the superior of the two haunts and worth visiting.

6/10

Of course, you can't get into the haunts without buying a ticket to Fright Fest, and getting access to the entirety of Elitch Gardens for the night. The whole place is seasonally decorated, with fog machines, gravestones, and red-tinted water. They also have several actors roaming the park to provide scares. I've always found something magical about amusement parks after dark, and during Fright Fest, it's just that much better. Even with underwhelming haunts, Fright Fest as a whole is a terrific experience.

Fright Fest
9/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: The Asylum

The Asylum
11425 Community Center Drive
Northglenn, CO

I love the Asylum. Year after year, they never let me down. I think there's a very simple reason for that. In one word: Performance. At the Asylum, they are by necessity unable to put on the sort of grandiose show in terms of props and sets that you'd see at, say, Frightmare or City of the Dead. It is, after all, a tent in the parking lot of the Boondocks Fun Center. They deal with this by keeping the sets dark and relatively simple, then populating them with what is probably the best set of haunt actors in the state. They consistently managed to find the sweet spot between jumping out of the shadows and growling (scary, but shallow) and playing characters (not so scary, but more interesting), giving us the best aspects of both. My only disappointment with the haunt was that, unlike the other years that I've attended, there wasn't one notably clever bit that stuck with me afterward - but the entire haunt was so solid, it isn't really an issue.

9/10.

2010 Haunt Reviews: Dungeon of Terror

Dungeon of Terror
1741 E 120th Ave
Northglenn, CO

Although this is not the first year that Dungeon of Terror has been open, I had never heard of it until the same day that I visited. Unfortunately, I think there's a reason for that - while I can appreciate the effort put into it, it's really just not up to the level of the more well-known haunts. It felt unfinished and awkward, from the line and entryway that lacked any sort of atmosphere or preparation for the haunt to come to the points at which you step outside of the structure briefly, and find yourself out in a plain field, in full view of the parking lot.

This is not to say it's a waste of time. The actors were generally enthusiastic, so you will get a few decent jump scares. A lot of effort clearly went into some of the rooms, and there was one (with the outer space aesthetic) that was very effective. It just doesn't come together very well, lacking that level of polish. Really, I'd say it felt like an overgrown home haunt. I did enjoy it, but I can't recommend it.

3/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: Frightmare

Frightmare
108th and Old Wadsworth
Westminster, CO

Last year I gave Frightmare a rating of 8/10. This year, I may as well do the same, because that's basically what it was – more of the same. That's not a bad thing by any means, as they do what they do very well, and they do mix it up just enough to keep things fresh (the final segment in the farmhouse is completely different from last year), but it does mean that Frightmare may be more of an “every other year” haunt, where the cumulative changes will make it a more distinct experience.

That said, if you've never been to Frightmare before and you're looking for a haunt in Denver, it's probably one of your best options. It's one of the most consistently effective, owing largely to the desolate outdoor setting. The actors are generally enthusiastic, and they tend to have a larger contingent of older actors, which creates a greater sense of verisimilitude than a collection of high school students would.

Oddly enough, one of the most frightening parts of the haunt was actually not part of the haunt. While we were in line, the ticket-taker told us that there would be a bit of a delay because one of the people going through ahead of us passed out, presumably from fright. This was very disconcerting for certain members of our party, who were already a bit on edge anyway. On the other hand, some of us figured it was just some well-timed William Castle-esque showmanship. Sure enough, though, as we exited the haunt, there was an ambulance. Go figure.

8/10

2010 Haunt Reviews: Reinke Brothers Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion
5663 S. Prince Street
Littleton, CO 80120

Haunting season got off to an early start for me this year with the Reinke Brothers' Haunted Mansion, one of the elder staples of the haunt community in Denver. I typically avoid going to haunts until at least a week into the month because they usually need some time to ramp up and get the kinks worked out - so if you're going early, you kind of have to make allowances for that. For the most part, though, no such allowances were needed at this haunt (although there was at least one room that clearly should have had an actor but didn't). Overall, it was a very solid start to the season, full of well-conceived scares and enthusiastic actors. Special kudos to one guy in a wolf-mask who stalked my haunting partner through the entire last 1/3 of thing.

That said, there were a few things that were kind of disappointing. The haunt is built into the Reinke Brothers costume store, which does work really well - as you exit the haunt, you find yourself in the middle of a cornucopia of seasonal goodies. Unfortunately, the entrance is also inside the store, and it makes for a less than impressive warm-up from an atmospheric perspective, despite the awesome giant animatronic demon next to the door. The haunt itself has no theme, jumping from a mansion to ancient Egypt to the jungle to outer space to an asylum. . . this isn't really an issue for me, but it can be for some, and does lessen the overall tension just a bit. There's also a generally cartoonish vibe to the whole thing - not a bad thing inherently, as it made the whole experience very fun, but that sort of atmosphere is never going to completely blow me away like something really scary will. There was also a very odd mixture of really ambitious, elaborate design and the occasional extreme cheapness. On the one hand you have a collection of more large-scale animatronics than I've ever seen in a haunt before, and on the other, you have trees that are actually poles wrapped in fabric. The problem isn't so much that some of the decor is cheap - it's no worse than in any other haunt - it's just that when everything else is all gussied up, it tends to stand out more, and can be a little distracting and mood-breaking.

Still, none of these are huge issues, and I want to be clear that I was very pleased overall. I would definitely recommend The Haunted Mansion, especially for younger people - I just think there will be better yet to come.

7/10

Haunt Review: The 13th Floor and Blood Shed

6100 E. 39th Ave. Denver, CO
http://getscared.com/

No picture for this one; couldn't get anything to turn out. It was too dark and the signs were all too far away. Which brings up the first thing I want to address - organization and signage. This is the one area where this haunt completely and utterly failed. When you pull up, there are four lines - two for ticket buying (regular and VIP) and two for the haunt (regular and VIP, again). This seems like a good way to do it, but there are no signs anywhere and the lines sort of much together. I would expect that, with a separate ticket window for each type of ticket, they might label each window so that, for instance, someone buying a VIP ticket doesn't wait in the longer regular ticket line unnecessarily. Alternatively, they could have staff directing people to where they need to be. This haunt always has massive crowds (lines around the block), and they really need to figure out how to deal with them better.

But enough about the line - how were the haunts? Kind of a mixed bag. Blood Shed is first, and is the more modest of the two, running probably only a third of the length of the 13th Floor. It was, in some ways, the more effective of the two due to the fact that everything seemed to be running at full steam. The actors were well placed and worked for their scares, sticking with characters and not relying on the simple "jump out of the darkness" effect. Props and sets were fairly minimal with the exception of a few rooms, but what was there worked well. Quite enjoyable, but over far too soon.

After you exit Blood Shed, you are directed to the second of three lines for the 13th Floor (the first was outside, pre-Blood Shed). Entertainment for the line consisted of dancing girls on a stage, which was fairly amusing. Still, the haunt is very strictly designed around a particular theme with associated mythology, and I think it would have been better to spend the line time presenting some of that mythology.

Once you get through the line, there's a short (fake) elevator ride down to the underground 13th Floor and you reach the third (mercifully short) line - then it's finally off into the haunt. One thing I'll say for the 13th Floor - they have some really nice moments. Some of my favorites included a walk over a bottomless pit, a pitch-black hallway that you have to feel your way through (with bugs on the walls), a giant snake leaping out of a corpse, the spiked wall, and a ghostly bride who kept disappearing around the corner in front of us. The problem is that in between these great moments, there was frequently a whole lot of wandering through dark hallways with nothing happening. Also, there seemed to be some technical issues - at one point, we walked through what clearly was a vortex tunnel, but it wasn't vortexing. Also, near the end, there was a very impressive giant demon monster/thing, but it seems like it ought to have been moving, just a little. Still, overall, I think the good outweighs the bad - but given just how popular the place seems to be, I was expecting a little more oomph.

7/10

Haunt Review: Frightmare

108th & Old Wadsworth, Westminster, CO
http://www.frightmare.biz/

I’ve been to Frightmare twice before. The first year was fantastic, the second less so – but it primarily suffered from the fact that it wasn’t all that different from the first time. After a couple of years off, however, I’ve returned to find that Frightmare is completely revamped – unrecognizable, really, and better than ever.

The greatest strength of Frightmare has always been its location. The outdoor farm fields with the creepy mill and cave and such adds a tremendous amount of atmosphere to the haunt. They’ve never (in my experience) done much with a theme or a story, but they don’t need to. They just have a nice, creepy world. One of my favorite elements this year was a lengthy unlit segment that you have to make your way through using a lantern. Even better, they manage to deliver and retrieve the lantern with actors in character, which was a wonderful surprise. Other than that, there weren’t a lot of particular standout moments, but it consistently solid. Actors stuck to character pretty well and usually did more than just jump out and say “Boo!” The new castle façade for the entrance is not as creepy as the old mine they used to use, but I do appreciate mixing it up. All in all, a strong finish to the night, although I have to admit I kind of miss the old crazy levitating exorcism effect.

8/10

Haunt Review: Twisted Fairy Tales and Your Worst Nightmare

Westminster Mall
5433 W 88th Avenue, Westminster, CO
http://www.twistedfairytaleshaunt.com/

This was another first year haunt, and was put on by another portion of the old Scream Park team. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out nearly as well as City of the Dead, although a large part of that may have been a matter of circumstances – it’s a mall haunt, which is pretty limiting, and apparently came together in a very short period of time. The result has some nice touches, but is far too short overall, is way too sparsely decorated, and doesn’t have enough activity. I think it also suffers from the break into two haunts – you go into the space through Twisted Fairy Tales, stop to get some 3-D glasses from an employee, then go back out through Your Worst Nightmare. The break in the middle is a definite mood killer, and makes the whole thing feel shorter than it really is. Even if it meant ditching the theme, I think one longer haunt would have been more satisfying. The actors also didn’t seem to be as well-trained or enthusiastic as I would have liked. They mostly stood in their positions, waited for us to pass, then shouted out a scripted line or two. One of them, after bumping my leg with a prop, even stopped to apologize. I appreciate the sentiment, but it certainly wasn’t scary.

As for the nice touches I mentioned earlier, I feel I should point some of them out. The haunt started with a long, twisty black tunnel that was so dark you had to feel your way through. I liked this, as it acted a sort of sensory palette cleanser, and helped mitigate some of the effects of being in a mall. The giant spider was good. There was a white rat-bear-something creature in the sheet room that was a little unnerving. And the final gag (I won’t say what it was) is fairly clever and startling.

The fairy tale theme was interesting and has a lot of potential. I was really looking forward to seeing what they could do with it. Unfortunately, the answer turned out to be "not much."

3/10

Haunt Review: City of the Dead

7007 E 88th Avenue, Henderson, CO
http://www.cityofthedeadhaunt.com/

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I wasn’t sure going in what to expect with City of the Dead, since they are a first year haunt, but they seem to have skipped over all of the typical first year troubles, presenting a slick, well-oiled machine. From what I hear, some of the people from the now-defunct Scream Park are involved in this haunt, which may have helped them get up and running. It also didn’t hurt that someone clearly threw several large boxes of money at this haunt.

Before discussing the haunt proper, I’d like to mention the waiting area. They’ve set up several tents with vendors and food, as well as a hearse with coffins and zombies that you can have your picture taken with. I didn’t partake in anything, but I really appreciate it nonetheless because it gives more of a carnival atmosphere to the whole event. They also handed out a great prop souvenir, the Departed News:


This was probably intended to help people pass the time in line, but it was too dark to read in there. Still, nice touch. Fortunately, it was a moot point for me because, perhaps because it was early in the night, perhaps because it was early in the season, or perhaps because of the ridiculous cold, there were not very many other patrons. We only had a 10 minute wait, tops.

So – on to City of the Dead itself (SPOILERS here, primarily about the overall structure of the haunt). They have two major elements working in their favor here: Theme and scope. More than any other haunt that I can recall (outside of the movie-based ones at Universal Studios), they set a theme for the haunt and stick to it, start to finish. The idea is that there is a city hidden within Denver, which is just like any other city except that it is populated by the dead. You start out walking through a military checkpoint and security station, through what can only be described as undead customs, and finally emerge into the city. This is where that second element comes into play – the scope of this haunt is amazing. When you first emerge into the city itself, you find yourself at the end of an entire city block, cars and all. I’ve seen sets this big before, but not at an indoor haunt where everything has to be built.

For the rest of the haunt you wander in and out of buildings, passing through the barber, the butcher, the nursing home, the school, and several more. The actors in these scenes were generally pretty impressive – I’d say about 80% had settled fully into their characters and seemed well able to improvise interactions once they got through their scripted material, which is a pretty good percentage. I was also impressed that they would sometimes follow you around, popping up again in unexpected places far from where you first saw them. Also, the scope of the thing again came into play here – there were a tremendous number of actors, including several who seemed to essentially be part of the scenery, just wandering around the background looking creepy.

Eventually, you wind up escaping through the sewers, thus maintaining the theme and story to the very end. Extremely impressive the whole way through, which some shockingly elaborate costumes. Be warned, though – it’s much more of a gross-out haunt than most that I’ve seen, and it is quite disgusting at points. That just added to the fun for me, but your mileage may vary.

10/10

Haunt Review: The Haunted Forest

45250 North Delbert Road, Parker, CO
http://hauntedforestparker.com/

Somewhere out in the wilderness near Parker, marked by a barely-illuminated sign, lies the Haunted Forest. It’s a bit difficult to find, and a bit pricy compared to other haunts ($20), but it’s absolutely worth the trouble and the cash. Unlike most haunts, the Haunted Forest doesn’t take place in a warehouse, or in a densely packed cornfield. It’s a long, meandering path through the woods, marked only by yellow police tape. The experience is kind of like taking a nice 20 minute hike, except that sometimes people chase you with chainsaws. They get a surprising amount of mileage out of the parts of the trail where nothing happens – to be honest, it would still be pretty spooky even if there were no actors.

Once you factor the actors in, though, it gets a little bit terrifying. They are generally few and far between – but they take advantage of the space to make sure that every person counts. My favorite encounter involved an actor in a Michael Myers mask who came at us from behind. Because of the sparse layout, he was able to wait until we were well down the path before moving, and was therefore able to reach a full charge before announcing his presence (with a really creepy grunting/snorting sound). In a situation like that, it’s pretty hard not to just run away as fast as you can – and, in fact, during one of the later chainsaw chases, I kind of managed to twist my ankle while doing just that. This is not a complaint – it’s a testament to the effectiveness of the haunt.

Like the Haunted Mines, there were a couple of early season kinks to work out. The actors in the big schoolbus setpiece that ends the trail weren’t ready for us, so we wound up standing outside it for a bit. The graveyard toward the beginning of the trail also didn’t seem to be completely up and running – there were some exposed electronics and patches where it seems they probably meant to stick another strobe light. All in all, though, these were pretty minor concerns. We were told that they expect to get much better as we approach Halloween, but they’re already in pretty good shape. I loved this one.

9/10