2014 Event Reviews

One of the best haunted houses I've ever been to, bar none (haunted house is probably a bad term considering the whole tour is completely outdoors). I had so so much fun. If you need something awesome to do this Halloween season I don't think I could recommend this place any higher.
It had EVERYTHING. This includes, but is not limited to... (********SPOILER ALERT for anyone who wants to be surprised by the tour's attractions********) a haunted trailer park with mutants, zombies, Satan's Church (we loved the priest), getting a bag put over your head and wandering around in the dark, a giant slide (complete with dancing bear), riding on a rickety old ski lift, a graveyard, many chainsaws, an inflatable anal exam (Yes, I said it), a haunted carnival, beer tents, bonfires and a ton of fantastic characters/amazing scenes to experience. (*****SPOILER DONE****)
Hands down, the most fun I have ever had at a haunted house (and I've gone to at least one every year since I was 8) I traveled all the way from Madison to go to this so I also decided to buy the VIP tickets. This means we got to skip all the lines and go right to the front (I promise, it was worth every penny) Even without the lines the whole tour took us quite a while to walk through which was fantastic! Nothing felt rushed or lacking and overall I give it an A++ (Although I love them, this is something I rarely give to haunted houses) I actually want to go again, it was THAT good.
This haunted house wasn't "terrifying" per se, but what haunted house is? You know you're not going to die or be touched by the actors in anyway and that's usually enough to keep me relatively unterrified. But scary? Yes, of course it was! I was definitely clinging to my boyfriend throughout most of the haunt and I even found myself screaming at a few points. But on the whole, it was just ridiculously fun. These guys are so into their characters! You will find NO "Boos", "Rawrs" or "Hisses" at this haunt. These guys are professionals with well thought out character names and backstories. You can just tell that they live and breathe the Halloween season and they've got the sort of creepy charisma coursing through their veins that you can only experience at a great haunted house like this. They were also very complimentary telling me that I smelled good (you just don't hear that enough, you know?)
Small disclaimer: This is probably not a place for children for sure. Although I did notice the actors were very good at reading us before we got to them. (Side note: I'm 24 years old) They were able to measure our age and type of humor so it was a lot of fun to see them interact with us and joke around with us. At some points it really felt like we were in on the whole thing which was awesome (if that makes any sense) but they never fell out of character or took us out of the illusion (This is very hard to do without looking cheesy! I used to work at a haunted house as well, I know how it goes). But yeah, I probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone under 15, unless you are with a parent and are mature enough to get that this stuff isn't real (just read through the haunt guidelines, I'm not sure what their age policy is) I also probably wouldn't recommend this to any closed minded parents or people who are easily and seriously offended by language, visuals and/or scenes as well. These are great actors who are just having a great time and living off the moment (and that's what I really like to see and what we want to encourage) So this haunt should be avoided by anyone who is preparing to rain on their parade and looking for things to complain about (why would you even come?)

SO, to conclude... I had an awesome time! I highly recommend it and I hope that my review really got you fired up to go. I'll definitely be coming back next year for another walk through.

P.S. Do yourself a favor and buy your tickets online ahead of time! It will save you a ton of waiting. Also, the haunt was actually sold out the night that I went so I'm really glad i decided to I order the VIP tickets off of their site.

We arrived at the fair grounds little later then planned so the line was a bit long but it seemed to go fast. There was a clown named sketchy with a chicken that one of the girls with us has to kiss. (Gross) we took our pics with him. There were guys with knives running around and a girl who sang us creepy songs. When we go to the front of the line we were rushed into cages and this crazy girl chased our friend around and then there were 3 monsters in the cage with us. The we were sent in a tunnel to enter the house the house looked differnt this year then in years past. The next two were like fun houses we had a really great time

This is my third year going to The Wisconsin Fear Grounds. I was brought again by my friends after a totally scary trip last year being chased clowns.
They did something really cool at the beginning this year. So we didn't have to be outside in the cold, they put us in these cage things (don't worry, there are actors there too), and then they send us in this long hallway before going into the first house, it was a really nice way to keep us warm(er).
It was totally worth the wait!
The actors this year were really fun, they interacted a lot with me this year...although it might be because I wasn't buried in my friends shoulder this year. However, there were still awesome scares, they get me every time. I mean EVERY TIME!
Really fun group time, I will come back again next year for sure to see what new things they will have going on!

This was my first time ever attending The Hill Has Eyes and I must say I was pleased with my visit. This is only the haunt's third year in operation and what they've done with those three years is pretty impressive.

First of all, Hill Has Eyes crew, you need signage on the road at the bottom of the hill directing people to the top - it was very confusing with baseball games going on to know exactly where to go. Once at the top of the hill and parked, however, the environment sets the mood right away... for the most part - a lot of bright lights far away that were confusing, but made sense later on.

The attraction starts with "Hooded" which is a really interesting idea and could really build anxiety if it was done properly. Essentially, you place a black hood over your head and walk down the hill by yourself to the rest of the attraction (oh, and you need to sign a waiver before doing this) with only your hand on a rope to guide you. At first, it was unsettling walking by yourself like this, but there were a few things I didn't like: 1- my hand kept hitting the wooden poles holding the rope; that started to hurt. 2- you walked for a long time without anything happening, so I got used to it and it was no longer unsettling. 3- scares were attempted, but failed because I could hear actors walking on the gravel. And 4- there was no ending to it.... just "take the hoods off and move on." Oh, and what was with the military? Didn't match anything else at the event.... but, nonetheless, a very cool idea and nice way to start the haunt.

After Hooded, you come upon an open area with a fire pit and what would normally be a bar on busy nights. What was cool about this, was you had time to do the 2 following trails as you pleased, having time to sit at the fire and take a break before or in between the trails. Nice touch!!

The first of the two trails started off amazing. It was a junkyard scene with cars everywhere and actors with masks looking like they were from "The Strangers." What I noticed about this haunt right away, was how raw the environments were. There wasn't anything fancy about the trails, but you were in dark woods with junk and crazy people everywhere which in it of itself is creepy. The first trail had a few good memorable places and really good jump scares, but one thing I didn't understand was the story line... There were several actors claiming it was "their land" and random actors saying they needed help and they were trapped... but I never understood why because my life or safety never felt endangered. It never felt like someone was going to take me and put me with them. Nonetheless, good scares and a good first trail.

The second trail was easily my favorite of the night. Jump scares left and right. It's hard to get me, but this was the trail that made me jump at least twice. As for the two people with me, they were screaming and laughing all over the place. At one point in particular, an actor with a boom stick had my buddy dancing he was jumping around so scared, great job there! The only thing that concerned me about trail #2 was certain points where I couldn't see anything on very hazardous terrain. I remember there being some steps that were unlit that could be very dangerous. But despite that, this trail was great. Again, they used the environment to their advantage. The ending of the trail, which I imagine was some kind of satanic cult ritual was really nifty... but it seemed empty. I think they need to expand on this idea (oh, and they should probably finish the facade so I'm not looking at 2x4's with the tags still on them...). But it was a nice setup for the next attraction -

The scare lift. Really cool and yet there wasn't anything to it. It's literally a really old ski lift and the entrance platform is surrounded by black tarp and red lights inside. I would do a better job of covering up the mechanism on the demon animatronic, but the area made you question whether or not to go on. The actors were handing out fliers explaining the ghost story behind the scare lift (as well as coupons to the bar) which would have been nice to read while waiting in line on busy nights - but we didn't have to wait so we got right on and read later. The lift itself, nothing happened. You just went up a ski lift. This is where the bright lights I mentioned earlier comes into play - the ski lift lights were on. I'm sure they have to be, but it would have been cool to ride in the dark.

Finally, we got to the Carnivore satans carnival end thing.... which was a huge let down. There was no point to this and it was done so poorly, which is a shame cause it had the right ingredients, but whoever runs this part isn't doing their job right. There was nothing psychotic or carnivoristic about this trail. Nothing. There was one actor who said she was going to play darts with my face as the target that even remotely matched the theme. The slide was fun, and might I say the teddy bear at the end of it was hilarious. They had a claustrophobia as your "anal exam" which, while funny, 1 - doesn't make any sense in a carnival, and 2- it was in the middle of the trail with nothing before or after it... it was totally random. The finale of the carnival was what I believe to be a sideshow with several booths setup. I could tell they were short staffed, but there wasn't anything going on. None of the actors were aggressive, I couldn't read any signs, and the sideshow only took about 30 seconds to walk through. To top it all off, they relied on a clown with a chainsaw as the final scare... how many times has THAT been done.... Not every haunted attraction needs clowns... this carnival doesn't work, so find a better way to end your attraction.

I arrived later than I wanted and the place was packed, so I opted for there fast pass or whatever they call it, I really appreciate places that offer this as I hate waiting ,I use it at great America to! The place was cool it was like getting thrown into a slasher horror film in the woods lots of different scenes something scary for everyone kinda deal, and it was really long it took the better part of an hour to get through glad I dressed warm! Our group had a good time!

Really great walk through the woods with a bunch of freaks around a lot of fun

Omg this place has completely stepped it up this year!
I've been going here every year for the last several years, they always put on a good show! But they are really rockin it this year! Definitely worth the time and money. You can get coupons or an early bird special and get an even better deal for all 3 houses.

A group of us drove up from the Chicago suburbs again this year...once again some people in our group definitely got enough scare for their buck! This year they brought these cage/horse stall things back and they creepers start coming at you. We got there on the earlier side for us but the screams you heard while waiting in line had some of our group wondering what we were in for once we actually get inside.

Morgan Manor, the first house, always seems to have a different set up and you never know what (or who) to expect around each terrifying turn.

Then it was on to a modified Carnevil...last year it was just a bunch of circus freaks and this year it was that with a mixture of an atmosphere from a couple of years ago...only MUCH more amped up. If you don't like clowns be forewarned that they are back and more evil then ever...but I LOVED it!

As for Blackout...there are no words. You just have to experience it for yourself.

The Wisconsin Fear Grounds is the only haunted house I'll ever go to! Lots of fun, scares around every corner, great acting & employees, and takes just the right amount of time to finish the houses! The owner of this is also an awesome person and contributes to making this haunted house #1!

For the small price of $5 this was a highly entertaining haunt. The props, staged scenes, and actors were great. I loved that they were not allowed to touch. Lots of great scenes, haunt took about 45 mins to go through. I was impressed and so was my 12 year old son, check out this great haunt.