Terror on Rural Street Review by HocusPocus (Review Crew)

Please note: this review is for the 2009 season rather than the current season.

Terror on Rural Street

by HocusPocus (Newbie Review Crew Member) after attending on Friday, October 9, 2009 at about 3 p.m.

Submitted: Monday, October 12, 2009

Fun Factor: High Fear Factor: High

Review

Two elaborately dressed 15ft tall creatures greeted us as we approached the ticket window for this venue. Scary for some and very entertaining for others. The tone of this venue for me fell pretty much right in line with this encounter. For those who love to be ghoulishly entertained and occasionally surprised you'll be quite satisfied with this year's Terror on Rural Street.

Many of the of the other reviews that have been posted do a great job of hitting the highlights for this venue. I attended this haunt with 11 of my friends and everyone had a great time. The fun and scare ratings indicated on this review reflect the collective feedback I received from everyone.

Favorable Comments from the group included:

** It was great to see that many of the rooms have been changed from last year.
** The clowns really creeped me out!
** I had a blast hamming it up with the actors.
** That trick floor really freaked me out!
** Loved the grave yard & waterfall.
** Just when I thought we reached the end there was another room!
** One word...Vortex!
** the quick witted 15ft tall Frankenstein eloquently singing America the Beautiful stole the show!

Rather than to leave you wondering why Terror on Rural Street didn't receive a perfect score the following comments were made:

** Caught up to the group in front of us and then got caught by the group behind us.

** felt rushed as the group behind us frequently entered the room before the actors in our room were finished.

** Often times heard what was going on in the adjacent rooms.

** I was stuck in the back of my group of 6 the entire time and missed what was going on in a few of the rooms. I was particularly bummed to have missed the scare at the grave yard scene.

** was a little confused about when we should proceed to the next room as the actors continued to perform and did not provide any indication that they were trying to scare us away.

Signage / Visibility / Location

You can't miss this place as it's right off the main drag in downtown Hartford. Flashing signs point the way. Great location. An abundance of well lit parking and a warm place to hang out while you wait. The court yard between the waiting area and the entrance really set the tone nicely!

Wait Area / Line Entertainment

By far the best line entertainment around. A 15ft tall Frankenstein with a quick wit and an opera style singing voice....are you kidding me??? A heated waiting area with concessions is also a bonus.

Actors' Performance

We had a lot of fun interacting with the performers. Some may have been a bit young or inexperienced which may explain the pacing issues indicated in the comments above.

Sets Scenes / Props / FX

A nice variety of sets and some pretty descent special effects. For those of you traditionally checkout a few different haunts every year you'll appreciate a few of the rooms which showcase some creative concepts. Compared to other haunts, many of the rooms here were relatively quite spacious....a nice perk for those who don't particularly enjoy being squeezed into a room when your grouped with complete strangers.

Length

Not the longest haunt I've been too but at 16 minutes I felt as if I got my money's worth.

Crowd Control

There wasn't much of a crowd when I attended but there were several law enforcement officers present so I'm sure nothing would get out of control if there was one.

Most Memorable Moment

By far the 15ft singing Frankenstein in the parking lot...not that there weren't any memorable moments in the haunt. I'll leave those for you to discover.

Summary

As always, this haunt did a solid job of entertaining everyone in our group. A great venue along with a nice variety of sets, creative ideas and descent special effects make this the minivan of haunted houses. It may not have all the bells and whistles to knock everyone's socks off but it will definitely satisfy your thirst for a ghoulishly good time.

View all Terror on Rural Street reviews

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