2017 Event Reviews

I LOVE this haunt – last year was my first time going, and I ended up going three times! I was so excited to go on Saturday for my first time of the season – and I know it won’t be the last! DOT is truly an amazing haunt – fantastic location, great price, nice and long, but best of all, VERY SCARY! My partner and I went, alone, on Saturday night, during the opening weekend. We waited for about 20 – 30 minutes with general admission tickets, enjoyed a beverage in line as well as the little store they cleverly have set up in the area while you wait. Once inside, we were given the rules in a very creative movie format, and then we were off!

Dominion of Terror is a multi-level, winding haunt that will have you crouching, crawling, descending stairs down to a creepy basement, and walking through a movie set, scary kid’s rooms, a less-than-peaceful nursing home, and so many more scenes. We experienced a TON of well-timed jump scares, and we though the actors had amazing skills of “misdirection” – several times we were distracted by props/scenery, only to be scared moments later. The quality of the “sets”, the rooms themselves, was so detailed and intricate; each room truly had its own theme and they used lights, videos, mannequins, and all sorts of other props to scare.

My absolute favorite thing about DOT, however, is the fact that from last season (even in April of this past year), everything was completely different, both in the content of each individual room and the actual layout of the haunt. Every single room had changed! We were so impressed! Such a fantastic and creative haunt full of dedicated volunteers… I can’t wait to come back again before the season ends!

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I’m so excited to say that this is my fourth year attending this haunt, and every year I am more and more impressed with the creativity, professionalism, and of course spookiness of this haunt – and this year was no exception! From the moment patrons arrive, to their walk to their car, TORS is chock full of jump scares, cool animatronics, and amazing actors.

We arrived around 8:30 PM on Friday, their opening night, in a light and creepy rain. We had purchased our tickets online ahead of time, and we only had a few moments to wait before our group of 4 was allowed to enter, however, in that time we enjoyed interacting with quite a few actors, including a memorable woman with a shopping cart. TORS also offers snacks and drinks in their covered waited area. Once entering the haunt, we journeyed through the shops of Rural Street into the main part of the haunted house.

There were countless memorable scenes, including the “hellevator”, a mystical field of lasers, a scary kitchen, a creepy church, and a live execution. We also loved their animatronics, which were all of amazing quality, but our group did feel like the timing on a few of them was just slightly off (a little behind). All of the actors were fantastic – they were not afraid to get up close, and at times we had to edge away from their touch! Another thing they were fantastic with was communicating our names and using their throughout their scares – front of the line goers, make sure you whisper the name of the most scared person when you pass! Our group was also offered the opportunity to scare some of our fellow patrons toward the end, which is something we adored!

Overall, we had a fantastic time at Terror on Rural Street. I was so impressed with how much they changed from the year prior (and those before that)! It’s clear everyone there is extremely passionate about what they are doing, and we really enjoyed every element of the haunt! I only wish it were longer!

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It was a dark misty October night. Small pockets of fog laid heavy on the country roads. As our path meandered through corn fields we came upon our destination, a farm sat in the darkness with a beacon of light welcoming all who dared to enter, it simply read Shockwave Haunts. After parking we wandered through the grounds a bit and were drawn to a quaint little gift shop to buy our tickets. With the haunt only a short drive from the Metro Milwaukee area, it was well worth the trip. This haunt provided a great value and a setting that I just can't say enough about. You can pick one of the four houses for $10, or treat yourself to all four for only $20. The best part is to enter the houses you walk through the outbuildings of the farm and if you're lucky enough to get the right weather conditions for a perfectly spooky fall evening, it almost feels post apocalyptic.

Bloody Manor was by far my favorite of the houses. in my opinion it did the best job at portraying the horror that the setting of this farm was capable of. As you walked among the outbuildings of the farm, I was put in the mindset of great films like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "House of 1000 corpses". The walk through Bloody Manor strongly reinforced that feeling with it's gruesome rooms and surprise scares throughout. I really would have liked to see them capture the natural environment of the old farm setting more and grow that theme through the other houses.

Dick's Funeral Home was a very unique haunt experience as it was set up to be a more light hearted and comedic haunted house. I found the high level of interaction between the characters and the guests to be a great change from the ordinary and while the other houses on the lot were your typical scare the pants off of them thrill we have all come to expect, in Dick's Funeral home rather than scare your pants off, they would like to make you wet them with laughter. It was a great change of pace house in the middle of all of the terror.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, you still even get a taste of the "flavor of the day" and get a popular clown scare. It seems that even a secluded farm isn't immune from what seems to be one of the most popular creepy crawlies out there today.

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Ambush and Hysteria - Two indoor haunted attractions that run back to back. Characters all over! They put in the effort of making you really feel the moment. From the different scents, the energy from the performers and the effort is second to none! The long passages that twist and turn you around making you anticipate your next thrill! The fear of tight spaces, inclines and descends all on one area. Characters appear out of no where leaving you wondering how they actually got there! As you navigate you find yourself in many different dimensions that somehow flow so perfectly together. No matter if you are leading the group through the narrow hallways or you are the "chicken" of the group you will be scared and scared multiple times!

The special effects in this haunt are second to none: strobe lights, black lights, scents and moving floors you truly don't know what to expect or predict what is coming next! As you navigate through both houses your senses will go crazy and leave you anticipating what is coming next and wanting to see what all is possible!

Stalker - Corn Maze...Not so much! Haunted with characters surprisingly jumping out at you somewhat! In my mind a haunted corn maze would be weaving your way through corn; coming up to dead ends, and trying to find your way out. This is a haunted corn trail. We enjoyed it, but the name is deceiving! Go through the corn trail, come up to haunted rooms that are filled with characters, tight spaces, and detailed scenes.

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