OVERALL RATING :

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RAW SCORE : 6.938

RATING

REVIEW

The awesomest part of the haunts a Elitch Gardens is that you don’t just get a haunt, you get the entire Fright Fest experience. I loved seeing all the actor s terrorize patrons at every turn and marveled at their costumes, make up and the skills that went into each careful crafted character.

The people inside Screams were just such characters. I was delighted to see everyone from an aged Miss Habersham style bride to Hannibal-esque asylum patients. Elitch certainly took advantage of their ability to create great characters and sets filling room after room with bats, stuffed animals and all kinds of other props. There were beautiful/horrifying moments as hands pressed through fabric, Likewise there were incredible tricks where emaciated bodies that could never be human came to life. I loved how Screams kept trying new ideas, and more importantly trying to out do the old ones haunt fanatics like me have come to expect.

By the end of Screams I knew it was a good haunt when I rounded the last corner only to find a family cowering from a chainsaw wielding maniac. It takes a lot to make the played-out chainsaw that scary, and I think Screams puts that much in everywhere.

PROS

Inventive scenes with intense props

CONS

The timing is only best for those in front (but is awesome for them!!!)

RATING

REVIEW

Screams, at Elitch Gardens, is a classic, family-friendly haunt. That isn't to say that there aren't any scares. There are...especially if you're in the under 13 age group. This haunt consists of a lot of different scenes that have no connection to each other. Each room is just meant to be enjoyed by itself. Some of the more memorable ones this year include the little man shackled to a gurney, the stuffed animal room (yes, stuffed animals can be creepy), the floating skulls, the bat cave with man-sized bats, and the extremely odd old lady and wolf combination. I also really enjoyed the unnerving heartbeat thumping very loudly at the entrance. For me, that's one of those classic Halloween sounds that both frightens me and gets me all excited for the haunting season.

There were a few places where they used strobes effectively to disorient us. Also, one spot was completely dark which is a very unnerving feeling...to not be able to see past your face and walk blindly followed by who-know-what is pretty scary in my opinion. The acting was decent and the bride character had a few good lines which made me laugh in the "I-better-laugh-so-she-doesn't-kill-me" kind of way. This haunt, which is included in the price of admission to Elitch's, is a lot tamer than many, but the classic Halloween-ishness really makes up for it.

PROS

Classic Halloween scenes and scares

CONS

Not too scary, many scenes from years past

RATING

REVIEW

Out of the two haunts at Elitches, this is the one definitely for younger children. There isn’t much here in terms of scare for the older crowd, but younger kids will most likely enjoy the rooms and effects. Small changes here and there did make this haunt a little more interesting to walk through this year. I thought the room with all the gigantic stuffed animals (well, they certainly have a surplus at Elitches) was a great idea, but lacking the follow up I was expecting – lets hide an actor inside one of those huge teddy bears, or even better, all of them. I thought there were a few rooms like this: where they could have been accentuated by having an actor. Like the bat cave room. If that gigantic bat hanging from the ceiling was actually an actor and came to life, it would have been a great effect. Some rooms from last year are back, including my favorite trick, the hands on latex. At one point our group winded down a long pitch black corridor and I took the opportunity (as you should too) to hunker down and scare my fellow critic behind me. Unfortunately, she told me that this was the only real scare she had through the haunt. It terms of acting, I thought they did a fine job for their parts and scenes. I think a majority of them were used to scaring little kids and did not know how to adjust those scare tactics to older grownups (am I grownup now? jeeeez) . Length is on par with the average, and considering this haunt is free with admission, it’s still worth checking out and getting the most out of your money.

PROS

Really good for younger children

CONS

The inverse of the above statement – not good for the older crowd

RATING

REVIEW

It is a cold night, it is a wet night, it is a great night for haunting. The façade of this haunted house is ominous and forbidding….the THUMP  THUMP THUMP of some terrible heart is beating and my own starts to beat a little harder;  in unison.  The Door master has a wonderful costume does a good job of setting the mood.

There are great dark, foggy places. Sound is used effectively and the actors did well keeping things moving, I didn’t notice any timing issues. There were some great strobes and a couple of the performers got me really good.  I was digging the spiders, the vortex (how does a spinning tin can make me so disoriented?). After being to so many haunted houses, it seems harder to be scared or surprised and I am increasingly of the opinion that “BOO” and “RARGH” are overused. Some variation of bizarre noises would  go a long way toward spiking the adrenaline.

It should also be said that on a whole, the Fright Fest experience was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the ghouls and vampires in the ‘streets’, they had something spooky to see everywhere. Fog billowing across our path, little details like the fountains flowing with blood and the black lake. Great fun! I also enjoy watching people interacting with actors, some get seriously disturbed. I like to laugh at hose people!

PROS

Overall this is a great haunt. It has everything it needs to do it’s dirt

CONS

Nothing really stood out

RATING

REVIEW

One of two haunts at Elitches again this year, Screams is the tamer haunt for the younger crowd and those faint of heart although a couple of the scenes were a bit intense even for some adults.

There were some interesting changes, and I thought that they were an improvement.
There is no theme here, just a random series of rooms with creepy sets. I was hoping the flow from one room into the next would have been more connected, but that was not the case.

There were some areas that seemed to lack activity, actors, or energy from the actors that were there. Some spaces though were very well done. Some of my favorites were the bat room, the strobe lit room with the white faces, the white walls that were alive, the room where the phone rang incessantly (not for kids), and the swamp area.

This is a haunt that has something for everyone’s taste and has some interesting rooms to see. Definitely good to see if you are already visiting the park, but don’t look for high volume scares here.

PROS

Some cool sets, interesting ideas

CONS

Some lag spots, some areas not for kids

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt didn’t really make me scream. I kind of laughed all the way through. But I still thought that the set design was great. In some parts the scenes felt kind of childish and I wasn’t scared, but they would probably be good for families with children.

Most of the time I just walked aimlessly, because the actors didn’t really seem to get into the haunt. I don’t know if there really was a theme, but I liked the creativity in some of the rooms. The bat room was sweet. So were some of the funny scares, but I felt like the chainsaw was slower then my grandma and not scary at all. I hope to see them step it up next year. All in all I think this is a haunt that you would take your family to, but isn’t scary to the seasoned Haunted House fan.

PROS

Bat room was sweet

CONS

Not scary, everything else could use some work

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt was pretty good overall.  It had a lot of individual things that I really liked that I think work well with this haunt.  In the front when you're waiting in line, there's a steady heart beat.  I don't recall any other haunts doing this, and I absolutely loved it.  It definitely added to the suspense, but I think that they could have carried this out a little further with some drama/action.

Another listening effect they used was a telephone ringing within the haunt.  You could hear it ringing a few rooms from where it actually was, and it definitely builds up suspense the closer you get to it.  However, when we got to it, I was disappointed in the scare...it had great potential.  There was one room that totally stood out to me and I just have to mention it.  It was a room filled completely with huge stuffed animals!That was so cool, but again, I feel that a bigger scare should have come from it.  Other great things that stood out were the bats, the ghoul masks amongst the trees, the bride who made me laugh, the old lady who lifted her skirt up and there was a monster under it, and the darkness.  Actors just need a little work, and more needs to be done with the scares.  Some great ideas and aspects of a haunt, it just needs to be pushed more.

PROS

Good effects

CONS

Scares/acting need work

RATING

REVIEW

First I must speak to the fact that Elitch Gardens has really stepped up the Frightfest for me this year. I really loved the set design around the park. There were some really cool moving props, creepy scenes, bloody water, and lots of fog. The actors lurking throughout the park were really wonderful too. There were at least two unnerving stilt equipped ghouls running about. These guys could do things on their unusual appendages I’ve never seen before. I would say its worth spending a day there for the free haunted house and great fall fun alone!

Screams is the “free” haunted house I speak of. With the price of admission you can get into this fun haunt, ride all the rides and enjoy other special Frightfest activities including a magician that might ask you to spend some time with his snakes.

The haunt itself is pretty good and clearly did the job of scaring the pants off its family oriented audience. There is some great sound design and a few unique set design elements I really loved taking in, specifically the mask room, ghostly hands, stuffed animals and granny’s skirt surprise stick out in my mind. There is also a really great dark section that gets you prepared for the final spook scene, which I highly recommend for those who like their chainsaws!  Overall the acting could be stepped up a bit. I felt that most of the scares were simply surprising and didn’t build on good acting. But the sets still stand out with strong props and great sound effects, which add up to a pretty good scare for families and teens!

PROS

Great fun for families, good sound design!

CONS

The actors could have played up their parts more