OVERALL RATING :

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RANK #9 out of 21

RAW SCORE : 7.781

RATING

REVIEW

So this was our highest ranking haunt from last year and of all time. I went with high expectations, as I did with all of the haunts we visited this season. My favorite part about this haunt has been the incredible set. This year, they were not able to use many of the cool buildings or sets. We walked around them but it wasn't the same. Instead, it was mostly outside and black walls were put up.

I would have rather seen more outdoor props rather than the indoor props outside. If you are outside you should feel outside, especially if you can see the sky the whole time. If you are in a room you should have walls and a ceiling. The set was lacking this year. For what they had to deal with, they did a good job.

Everything was split into two haunts this year. I would have rather seen all the work gone into making one great haunt, like last year's. The actors still did a great job. The chainsaw guys were awesome. All of them got me. I jumped onto Scarica at one point. They came from all over and it was truly scary.

I hope that they will be able to return to using their buildings next season. I will wait until next season before I go back to this haunt.

PROS

Chainsaws and suspense

CONS

Set was lacking and needed more actors

RATING

REVIEW

By now, practically everyone knows of the problems Scream Park endured to get their haunt open this year. The fact that they were able to open is to be applauded and they pulled off a decent haunt, which we reviewed early in their season. That being said, I did feel let down by many, but by no means all, of the actors. The ones with minimal face paint and no costume to speak of were disappointing. For the most part, they were pretty energetic, so a few costume adjustments and the acting score could be ratcheted up a couple of notches.

The sets and effects were pretty good, though it was disappointing to have to go around many of the buildings. The length, if you take into account both haunts, was pretty good, though I think not going into the buildings made it seem a bit more rushed. The best thing about the haunt was the amount of chainsaws in the Mouth of Madness part of the haunt. I really don't know how many there were, but two of them cut me and Dayvid off from the group and ran us into each other! That was awesome! That just goes back to my theory of the chainsaw being effective if used in new, imaginative ways. Overall, this haunt received an 8, which is really good and I personally would rate it pretty good. Add the paintball arcade and Scream Park offers up good fun!

PROS

Multiple chainsaws

CONS

Costumes, each haunt too short, had to go around buildings

RATING

REVIEW

There are two separate haunts to explore this year at Scream Park. The first one started off with a train ride, which was a good idea but wasn't executed properly. The seats were uncomfortable and I honestly felt like a 5 year-old riding the kiddie train.

It has its moments before they dropped us off to continue on foot, but I was more distracted by the fumes from the chainsaw and the dust in the wind to be really surprised. Crawling through a hearse was a great idea. I felt that every actor had a chainsaw which is overkill.

The second haunt stepped it up a bit. My favorite was the outhouse girl (watch your step), the trampoline guy, the clown from House of 1000 Corpses, the come-to-life scarecrow thing, the industrial sewer pipe, and the commando gunfire scene. However, my biggest gripe would have to be the blatant 93.3 advertising right in the middle of the haunt - really takes away from the haunting experience and reminds you that Clear Channel really is everywhere.

The owners faced some restrictions from the Fire Inspector which prohibited them from using any of their actual walkthrough buildings. The owners did the best they could do to resolve them under the circumstances. Despite the setback in set design though, the makeup/creature design needs to be stepped up. As well as the overall enthusiasm and realism behind the actors. A lot of actors were just wearing black face paint and T-shirts - there needs to be more creativity there.

PROS

Creative set design, average length (20-25 minutes total for both haunts)

CONS

Acting, makeup design, 93.3 advertising in middle of haunt

RATING

REVIEW

What's scarier than the chainsaw man? How about seven chainsaw men!

As I understand it, Scream Park has had to overcome a lot of setbacks this year for their haunts, and they pulled off a pretty good show. Though not as good as their past reputation, Scream Park did provide good scares and some creative ideas for their haunt this year. At one point there was what appeared to be a corpse hanging lifelessly on a fence. When it turned out to be a real person there were blood-curdling screams that could be heard for miles.

There were many unique and original approaches to the Scream Park haunts, which made for a lot of good scares and a good time in the attraction. At one point, guests will have to climb through an old hearse wondering how many bodies this car has carried to their final resting place. What made this a particular creepy experience is there was an actor who made this horrible screeching sound in my ear as I climbed by; this was beyond creepy and gave me the willies.

PROS

The hearse, chainsaws, chainsaws, chainsaws, originality

CONS

Seemed thrown together, acting was wanting

RATING

REVIEW

This is a haunt that has done an outstanding job in years past, and due to unforeseen circumstances this year has had to revamp their entire haunt on short notice. That being said, this haunt has been divided into two areas, and they are quite different. We started out by taking the train ride, and I felt like I was on the back lot of a haunted studio at times. There were a couple of great scares along the way. There were a lot of actors here, and at times it almost seemed like too many. At times we were completely surrounded by actors. I wish that the costumes had been done better, some were in sweatshirts and face makeup only. After working our way through and getting off the train, we walked the rest of the way and wound our way through tunnels that had some good scares in store.

There was an area that looked like we were walking through a landfill, and it really made me wonder what was hiding in there. There was a hearse that really gave me the creeps as well. The actors were very energetic, and the haunt length was good. Just when I thought we might be at the end, there was another scene to go through. There were some great ideas here, and the energy level was great.

PROS

Actors' energy, some good scenes

CONS

Makeup/costumes, no consistent theme

RATING

REVIEW

Despite a need to change format from previous years, Scream Park is still a reasonably good haunt. The train ride was fun for this girl from the Pennsylvania farmlands who was raised on haunted hayrides. I love the feeling of being confined to a ride and forced to endure whatever the actors dish out. There was no running from the spooks during the train ride!

The sets were, in most cases, rather minimal and laid on a dusty course, but the hearse and old truck were neat additions. My favorite element was the flying boy. I'd never seen this done before and it definitely surprised me!

There was an interesting effort to incorporate the paintball range into one of the two houses and it took me by surprise. Scream Park has a lot of actors who are genuinely working hard to give you a good scare; unfortunately the sets aren't as strong as other haunts around town.

PROS

A flying boy!, train ride, paintball

CONS

Inability to use standing structures means slapdash sets, dusty

RATING

REVIEW

Scream Park is a very good place to have a great time, and a wise choice if you're planning to make an evening out of it. With two haunts and a paintball arcade, there's plenty to do, not to mention lots of great sideshow entertainment on any given night, whether it's special performers or classic spooky movies on the big screen.

While much of the set design seemed thrown together, there were still some great scares. I gave a slight deduction under Actors, not because their performance wasn't great (it was), but because there was very, very little in the way of costuming or makeup to make the actors look like anything other than teens in black grease paint.

Length was very good if you consider Scream Park as a whole. As individual haunts, they were a little bit short.

Overall, while certainly not the perfect-score haunt it's been in the past, Scream Park is still a great haunt and one worth visiting.

PROS

Intense, persistent actors; good variety of scares

CONS

Costuming, set design

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt was broken down into two haunts this year instead of just the one. This isn't necessarily bad, but I do think it would have been better if the haunts were combined. However, I realize that they made the best use out of what they had, and the props and set still worked out pretty good overall.

The first haunt had us starting out on a train ride. I felt like this was a good idea, especially with how they utilized the actors in this area. However, personally, I think that having to walk through a haunt rather than ride creates a greater tension or uneasy feeling that haunts are usually trying to achieve. Everybody has their own preference, but at least this part created a little diversity within the haunt. This haunt had some great props and effects such as the guy who jumped over us on the trampolines, the hearse we had to crawl through which, I must say, had some great actors in, and the scene where they use paintball guns to shoot the plexiglass window.

However, I was disappointed by the fact that we didn't get to go through the House of Wax. I felt like walking around this building cheated me a little. The overall acting wasn't excellent...especially because they recycled the characters and I recognized their faces from previous scenes.

I have to applaud the chainsaw guys, though. That was freakin' awesome! I had seriously come to the conclusion that the chainsaw had lost its scare by being played out. Here, instead of trusting that the scare should naturally come from a chainsaw, they put the scare in the hands of the actors. Instead of just having one guy with a chain saw chase us, they had about four guys with chain saws jumping and going crazy all around...so, if one chain saw didn't get to us, the next one might:)

Overall, a really good haunt.

PROS

Props/set, length

CONS

Acting, intensity