OVERALL RATING :

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RANK #20 out of 21

RAW SCORE : 6.281

RATING

REVIEW

I don't even know where to start. It may just be my high expectations, but this haunted house needs help. The entrance is very poor. The line for waiting is thrown together. It's a chain link fence that looks like it is falling over. The black wood walls are visible and it is just not very professional.

It is very hard to get into the mood when just paying attention to what is beyond the set. The hauntgoer should never be able to see the old carpet or walls from the previous dollar store that used to be there. The actors definitely need help on how to scare and some better tactics to deliver them.

There are some parts with details but the bareness of the rest of the haunt washes it out. There is not much change from years past. The train is cool but is getting too predictable. At least they took out most of the vortex tunnels.

This haunt needs to invest more into the set design and focus on things that are scary. I would not tell anyone to go to this haunted house.

PROS

Train ride

CONS

Bad set and actors, maze at the end is never-ending

RATING

REVIEW

The thing I like most about CarnEvil is the theme. Who didn't wish as a kid that they could tag along with Shaggy and Scooby and the gang and sneak into the abandoned amusement park/carnival? That's exactly the feeling the CarnEvil has. The haunt starts out with a train ride to a carnival that is inhabited with everything from the creepy fortune teller, to wild dogs, to (what else?) psycho clowns.

The acting is about average, but at least I felt the actors were putting some energy into it. The character that stands out is the train conductor (I think that's what he is, anyway). That actor seems to be really into his role and has fun in the process.

The props and sets are decent and I came away feeling almost dusty and dirty, which really added to the realism. The thing I find most annoying is the maze at the end. It's fun for about 5 minutes. After turning down the same hall for the fifth time, and seeing the same two clowns over and over, my patience wears pretty thin. Maybe it's just my aversion to mazes with black painted walls, but maybe they should put in a "chicken s**t" exit for those of us whose patience is running out.

Overall, this is a decent haunt and one of the few down in the area, so it's great if you can't/don't want to drive far. The fact that they stick with their funhouse/carnival theme adds points in my book.

PROS

Keeps with theme throughout, "train", old-tyme funhouse feel

CONS

Maze at the end, not enough actors

RATING

REVIEW

Well, I hate clowns, especially clowns with lots of teeth, especially when that demented circus music is playing. But for as much as I hate clowns, this haunt could have kicked it up a notch on the scare factor.

That's not to say I didn't have fun, especially since this one was in a strip mall. The actors were forgetting their lines, but at least they were trying.

There were creative rooms involving fake doors and different optical illusions. Set design was decent but was obviously low budget. Some people don't like mazes, but the maze at the end was fun for me - perhaps because I actually figured it out before it got annoying. That, and the fact that I got separated for awhile from the group and was being chased by a few clowns with chainsaws - who didn't seem to mind sticking it in my face. As much as chainsaws are used in every haunt, they can still get me if they're used right.

PROS

Freaking evil clowns, fun maze at end

CONS

Lack of quality set design, actors forgetting lines, timing was off

RATING

REVIEW

(SPOILER ALERT)

I have always found those automatic fortune-telling machines a little freaky. That fake lady with the turban on her head just gives me the willies. Worse than that when the fake-looking lady is actually a real person inside it has now become one of the creepiest things I have ever seen.

All in all not a bad haunt with a "choose your own adventure" of paths and scares. The length was good, and almost too long as I got lost and separated from my group. The psycho slayer clowns were no help either as the helped me get more lost and would just disappear.

In this case, more actors seen less would have made the scare factor and acting a little higher. We saw the same clowns over and over and they didn't go away. A word of advice to the monsters: Once you startle someone, the surprise is finished and it won't work again!

I will say that I enjoyed the haunt and I certainly won't ever look at a fortune-telling machine the same again.

PROS

Some original ideas, monster interaction

CONS

Plywood construction, missed scare opportunities, not enough monsters

RATING

REVIEW

This is the first time I have seen this haunt, and it has some good potential. The name implies that we would be seeing a haunted carnival, and we did. I just felt that the theme wasn't maintained throughout the haunt.

The train and elevator are good ideas, but both lacked the details that would have made them great.

There is one hallway that gets smaller as going through it, and I felt like I had wound up in Wonkaville. It was a cool effect. There was also an area that looked like a backlot from a movie or a swamp, I still cant decide which, but it was pretty decent.

Costumes and makeup could be improved, and the actors could do better to stay in character. There are some places that made me feel like that would never end, but that could be changed with some fresh ideas.

There is a maze at this haunt which was interesting for the first minute or two, but quickly became annoying for me as I am not a big fan of the basic mall maze.

This haunt has the potential to pull off some great scares, but it lacks details and consistency.

If you're really, really scared of clowns, this one may be for you.

PROS

Train, clowns

CONS

Lack of details, maze

RATING

REVIEW

I probably should have mentioned this in my bio, but I'm starting to learn that I like clowns in haunted houses. I enjoyed Carnevil for that reason as well as others.

Overall, this is a pretty good haunt with an interesting use of space and some elements of movement which I found interesting including a train ride. For me, the scariest part was an innate fear of being trapped. Throughout Carnevil, I wanted to escape from the various mazes, tunnels, falling walls, and cages.

The sets weren't exceptionally detailed in most places. I remember the black light maze covered in florescent paint at the end most vividly because we were stuck there for a while trying in earnest to escape.

Despite some missed opportunities by actors at the beginning the maze, characters at the end worked really hard to keep you running and did a good job.

PROS

Clowns, rooms that move, scary if you don't like clowns

CONS

Sets weren't very innovative, theme wasn't solid

RATING

REVIEW

The theme behind this haunt is great, and if you haven't seen it before, it's a decent haunt that's worth seeing at least once just so you can say that you've been to the evil CarnEvil.

Despite the sparseness of the set design, the atmosphere was authentically creepy. I saw many spots where an actor could have provided a scare that would have made every room a success.

Some of the actors were great, others were not as great. I especially loved an extremely tall clown and a room where I couldn't tell which clowns were real and which were fake.

The maze at the end was long, and somehow managed to be both fun and frustrating at the same time. One of the clowns had me looking for quite a while for a secret button to open a wall. I think I was the last person in our group to find my way out of the maze, but I liked that the maze was decorated and presented a fun challenge.

PROS

Evil clowns, good atmosphere

CONS

Lots of missed scare opportunities

RATING

REVIEW

Overall, this haunt was decent, but there was nothing in it that really stood out to me or made it extra special. They did a good job of sticking to a theme, but honestly, clowns just don't do it for me most of the time.

A great prop in this haunt was the big spider that dropped from above right before entering the vortex tunnel. That totally caught me off guard and I did scream. I also liked the fact that they made us crawl through the vortex tunnel. It's just something different and I always dig originality in a haunt.

The train and the elevator are also some cool scenes, and the actors did a decent job at it. The psychic in the glass case with the ball was good too. She did break character once, but after that she did a good job of making me feel uncomfortable when she proceeded to follow me creepily down the hallway that gets smaller and smaller.

The maze at the end was obnoxious, though. It was way too long because we couldn't find our way out and we were stuck in it for what seemed like forever. By the time I got out, it wasn't fun anymore...I was just disgusted with it. Getting lost for a short while would have been fine...maybe there should be a few more hints as to where the exit is. Overall, not bad, but not great either.

PROS

Stuck to a theme, pretty good props and set

CONS

Maze was too long, lacked in scariness