Screams

OVERALL RATING :

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RAW SCORE : 6.96875

RATING

REVIEW

Screams is the second haunt located at Elitch Gardens this year. It is located on the side of Elitch's where the water park has been built. I'm happy that they made use of the space during the time of the year where the water park is closed.

This haunt it's self is designed with the family in mind. Since that is noted this is not an overly scary haunt but still has its moments.

The actors of Screams were usually pretty good. Even still though, they did not always go for the huge scare and for the most part were fairly tame. There were other small issues with the live monsters at Screams. Most actors did not really have anything very creative to say, but at least were still a far cry from the boring "boo". The door man who gives the haunt rules was much more entertaining than his counterparts across the amusement park. He had a nice costume and got into his character well enough to be entertaining. On the upside, there was still the occasional actor that would still read the body language of the patrons and zero in on the ones that would get the biggest reaction from them. In our group the biggest example was in the circus area. The Clown in there could smell the fear and followed one of our members until he could no longer.

The rooms in Screams were very well put together and quite imaginative. There was not really a central theme of this haunt; it is mostly a display of various places. You may start out with a room covered in standard toys, but they're arranged in a way that makes them feel suffocating. Other places you see are bat caves, vampire caves, rooms covered in spiders. One of my favorites was a hall way with creamy white hands pushing up to the window. The rooms were very good, but there were a bit too few of them. I was surprised when I was finished with the haunt that it was over already.

I had a good time going through Screams. There really was quite a bit that was fun to see. There were cool effects and creative scenes. Even so, I did mark down this haunt based on my general tastes that it was not quite as scary as I'm looking for. While this was a "Con" in my book, this is perfect for younger visitors or people experimenting with the world of walkthrough haunted attractions. For people seeking a milder brand of hot sauce, this haunt may be perfect to tingle the taste buds.

PROS

Imaginative props. Variety of different types of rooms, something for everyone to enjoy.

CONS

Too short. Not especially scary or for older crowds.

RATING

REVIEW

This sister haunt to Brutal Planet at Elitch's is the lesser scary and brutal of the two haunts. While this haunt is more tailored towards younger teens and does not have the gore factor of Brutal Planet, it does still have effective scare tactics and room designs. The mood is set right when you walk up to the line, as the familiar heart beat is thumping over their loudspeakers. Very reminiscent of The Tell Tale Heart. Most of this haunt is identical to last year, but some rooms are still creative and creepy enough to warrant attention. My all time favorite room, probably out of a lot of haunts, is the stuffed animal room. While this sounds like a child's dream come true, it is not. Hunching over and walking through a small entrance with dirty tossed out stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes stapled to the walls and ceiling is just plain creepy. It reminds me of a dream sequence from Nightmare on Elm Street. Other rooms worth mentioning are the clown room with the gigantic menacing stretched out clown face on the wall, and the corridor with hands stretching out rubber latex. The addition of the Ring girl was excellent as well. This haunt is short, which is my main complaint.

PROS

Great ideas for rooms

CONS

Same as last year

RATING

REVIEW

The great thing about Elitch Gardens is you really can make an entire event out of the evening. One of the sideline benefits is a new ride called "Ghost Blasters", which you have to be sure to do before entering either Screams or Brutal Planet! There is also short parade of Halloween characters who work in the haunt that walks the street before hand with a fear factor type show before the haunts begin.

Screams is definitely worth attending just on its own. I was surprised how scary this haunt was even while being family friendly. You and your kids most definitely are not going to come out traumatized, but you will have a lot of fun. The actors may have been holding back a little too much, but there is a tremendous amount of eye candy and cool props that make up for the rest.

The highlights that really stood out to me include a bat room with a large half vampire half bat man hanging from the ceiling, closet like stuffed animal room, a swamp room, a wall that comes alive and of course, psycho clowns. There are great sound effects throughout the haunt too that reminds you, you're not at just any haunt, you are at a theme park that has really made an effort to put on a real show and experience for the whole family.

PROS

Great for family, great eye candy and great sound track

CONS

Actors need a little more energy and could be more entertaining

RATING

REVIEW

Screams, located in Elitch Gardens is a tame haunt meant for the younger crowd that isn't ready for the more adult themed haunts. If you are an adult and you scare easily this may be a good one for you as well. This haunt has random themed rooms that offer different sights and sounds that range from amusing to creepy, but not outright scary. I really enjoyed several of the scenes because they were different from the standard scenes in other haunts which appealed to me because of the creativity behind them.

I liked the toy room quite a bit. Toys in and of themselves are not creepy, but multitudes of them in a small space that leaves you feeling claustrophobic, add a well hidden actor and you have a great scene. Acting in this haunt is good, but not over the top as can be seen in some other haunts. Costumes and makeup were not overly impressive but worked for this haunt. Some of the things that can be seen here are rooms like the bat room which is well done, the swamp area, a white room that comes alive and a very cool large clown.

If you're looking for a large scale terror fest, it won't be found here. If, on the other hand you are looking for a mild mannered haunt that you can take your ten year old to, this should fill the order.

PROS

Great for younger crowd, some neat scenes, actors not too intense for kids

CONS

Some dead spots, space not utilized as well as it could be

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt is great for families, and it's a super addition to Elitch Gardens. I love the fact that it is very family-oriented and not over the top, so children under 13 can enjoy a good scare. The sound effects are neat, especially the heartbeat at the entrance; it builds up the tension just before you go inside. Once inside, they have great art on the walls and really cool rooms, so I would recommend taking your time to enjoy each room. I loved the one with white windows and that looked as if people were stuck on the walls trying to come out of them. They had a lot of props appropriate for the audience (kids); for example, one room had toys that seemed as if they were going to attack you. I've never thought toys could be scary, but I felt very claustrophobic in that situation. It works! They did a good job doing all the different rooms, but there isn't a particular theme that connects them.

The scare tactics were OK. I personally thought they were pretty mild, but I can see that little kids would get scared. I think they could step it up a little bit more by having the actors do more than "boos" and be fiercer. I saw one actor just not having much energy and who didn't try to get into his character—this brings the haunt experience down. In summary, I think it's awesome for kids, but could improve more on the scare intensity. Also, I thought it was short.

Parents should consider bringing their kids to this haunt; they will love it.

PROS

Great for kids, nice props

CONS

Too short, mild scare tactics could be scarier

RATING

REVIEW

The Screams haunted house is one of two haunted houses provided at the Elitch Gardens Theme Park. Even though this haunt was built to entertain a younger crowd it was still a blast.

You begin this haunt with a great actor at the door explaining the rules and what to expect inside. He is dressed to fit the part and definitely gets you ready to begin your haunting experience.

This haunted house, like many classic haunted houses, was filled with a variety of differently themed rooms. One of the rooms was painted solid black with tons of neon hand print, little did you know there was an actor dressed all in black, and covered in these exact same hand prints making it nearly impossible for you to see them, a neat twist on this familiar room. The ring girl and a moss man are other noteworthy sites that you should look for.

Even though this haunt was built for young kids I believe that the scare factor was still a bit weak, and the length was a little short. Other than that a, great place to bring the kids this Halloween Season

PROS

Some good classic haunted house scares

CONS

Low scare factor, needed more actors, length

RATING

REVIEW

Screams was a spooky hunted house for the whole family, a haunted house for all ages. This haunted house gave you a generally creepy feeling with fun overtones. They have characters blending in to the walls that jumped out at, and some that followed you slowly as you traveled to the next room. This haunt is the less scary of the two haunts at Elitch Gardens, and I thought it was nice that they provide this option to Brutal Planet, so that it gives everyone a way to get into the haunting spirit. There is plenty of eye candy, and some classic scares. The sound at the beginning was well done, and built anticipation as you got ready to go in. Because of the lower scare factor, I would recommend bringing the family to Elitch Gardens for the day, and checking out Screams at night. A great way to celebrate the season.

PROS

Great for kids

CONS

Could still have more of a scare

RATING

REVIEW

To begin, I must say that I really like how Elitch's transforms during October. The decorations around the whole park with the roaming zombies and other dead creatures really gets you in the Halloween mood.

As I was waiting in line, I was reminded of Edgar Allen Poe's Tell-Tale Heart. There is a loud heart beat outside of the haunt, and inside as well. This is a great touch; however, it would be even more intense if the beat would gradually speed up, maybe if some heavy breathing was added followed by a window shattering scream. Then complete silence!…or something along those lines.

This haunt has a few cool rooms. I loved the bat/cave room. I would have liked to see more happen here, like a few bats flying at you or something, but it was a great room to look at regardless. The woman with the long black hair, aka, the ring girl that popped out of the wall really scared me. I really don't like that character, and she gets me every time. The stuffed animal room was great too, the clowns were cool, and so was the hallway with the hands coming out of the white spandex at you.

Overall, I think kids might enjoy this haunt. I didn't think it was too scary, and there are probably some kids that could handle it. This haunt is balanced pretty well, as it did pretty well in all the categories we rate on. There is always potential for improvement, but I think it's good to have a haunt that families could attend together. I also think kids would like the new ride there, Ghost Blasters.

PROS

Fun for families or those who don't like pee your pants scary.

CONS

Not pee your pants scary :)