Ever wonder what the Salem Witch Trials were like? How a chat with Charles Manson would go? Check out the House of Bathory and you could experience these and many other nightmare scenarios. Every turn takes you into a different situation throughout various dark times in history. The dialogue and interaction with the actors make you feel like you stepped back in time. There are plenty of scares along the way. I never knew what to expect the whole way and even to the frightening end which had us running out into the street.
Signage / Visibility / Location
Just about 10 minutes off the freeway by downtown Manitowoc and easy to find with navigation. We had no problem spotting the place since it had three hearses parked out front with various ghoulish decorations.
Wait Area / Line Entertainment
The wait area is waiting on the side walk. There weren’t any live actors for entertainment when I was there, but the hearses had many displays to keep you occupied. The storefront type windows leading to the haunt had displays and music was playing.
Actors' Performance
Probably the best I’ve seen this year. We were taken into all kinds of different eras and scenarios throughout the haunt. Each was heavily acted and each one pulled off their character perfectly. The children acted well, whether they had spoken dialogue, creepy singing or just grabbing your ankle for a fright since touching by the actors was allowed.
Sets Scenes / Props / FX
The interior decorations and props were excellent in taking you into a different world, and there were plenty of them. There was excellent detail from the walls to the costumes. They even added heat and smoke at one point to add to the terror of the situation they were creating which I won’t ruin. Props included a vortex and a cool slide down to another level.
Length
The length was approximately 20 minutes. The scenes they took you to had plenty of dialogue and the haunt encompassed three floors so it lasted and was worth $15.
Crowd Control
There wasn’t much of a crowd when we arrived but they had someone out there communicating with the people in line and making sure things were flowing fine.
Most Memorable Moment
There were many moments I enjoyed but I think the one I loved best was right in the beginning. When a little puritan girl “befriended” us, then when we walked into another room with two adult puritans, she grabbed my wife’s hand and told one of them she was the witch. Which lead to a trial and many frights.
Overall it was a unforgettable and a truly scary haunt. I wasn’t sure what to expect since the outside felt more like a storefront instead of a house, but as soon as we were lead up the stairs we were taken into a past world. We then moved on through all floors of the building to other worlds and situations. The acting was impeccable and I loved how we were involved in the situations, dialogue and then sent screaming. The House of Bathory is one of my favorites this year and I’ll go back next year.
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