2018 Event Reviews

Soul Reapers, located at the Kenosha County Fairgrounds in Wilmot is back for their third season. I reviewed Soul Reapers two years ago, and really enjoyed it, though it was small and lacked a few things that I thought would improve as the years went on. I decided I would check out Soul Reapers again this season and see what has changed, if anything, since their first season in operation.

Soul Reapers has a vibe that I can only describe as home grown. Walking through this haunt, I was able to take in what was put into making this haunt, and I could tell that they didn't have the budget of a mega haunt like Abandoned. That being said, Soul Reapers has added on since my visit a couple years ago, which was one of my few criticisms of this haunt. The unfortunate thing is, Soul Reapers is still a home grown haunt with a small budget. My major gripe with Soul Reapers is that it was too lit that whole time. As someone who goes to haunts pretty regularly, rule number one for me is, make it dark! I've mentioned in reviews in the past that I rarely get "spooked" and I have a high tolerance for scary stuff, but when I can't see anything, then I'm on guard and thus more likely to get rattled. For a haunt on a budget, darkness seems to be the obvious choice, but Soul Reapers didn't go that route. What Soul Reapers lacked in size and sets, they did make up for in actors. A lot of the actors seemed young, but they certainly committed themselves to their roles. I give the actors an A+! Soul Reapers is reasonably priced, with tickets ranging from $15 for general admission or $20 for the fast pass, which I highly recommend since the general admission line was moving at a snails pace; this is something that certainly hasn't changed since my last visit. We opted for the fast pass and were into the haunt relatively fast. There were some actors that roamed the lines, but nothing like the last time I was there. We were in and out of Soul Reapers in less than a half hour, which makes it still too short for my money.

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This haunt has been around forever, and every year it is put on the Sheboygan Jaycees. Eight years ago when I first started writing reviews for Haunted Wisconsin, I reviewed the Dominion of Terror and loved every minute of it. This year felt like a perfect time to check it out again!

I’m an old school kind of guy. So much so, that when someone at this haunt said ‘Welcome to the DOT’, I had a flashback to the terrifying Department Of Transportation to get my license decades ago. Now that would be a scary haunted house theme! But this DOT is the Dominion of Terror, and it is just as terrifying!

Haunted House:

The haunt starts out with some school teachers going over the rules of the house. This was one of my favorite parts of the haunt. They were hilarious! Then we were set free to roam around their huge multi-storied building.

There are many dark mazes in this haunt. How dark? How about pitch black! There’s also many tight corners and dead ends. Other areas are extremely bright and some strobes are used. There was one prop at the Dominion of Terror that I have not seen in many years, and that is the bridge through the spinning tunnel. A decade ago it seemed every haunted house had one. Now, not so much. It was nice to see it again!

There were many times we bumped into the group in front of us and behind us. This haunt is extremely popular so I realize that they need to keep putting groups in every few minutes in order for everyone to go through it. One room had a few girls that were crawling around on the ground. I swear one of them was double-jointed, it was creepy! It seemed as though we were in the DOT for a few hours. It's a nice long haunt with lots of detail and packed with great actors! - 30 minutes

Escape Room:

This room runs at 7pm, 8pm, and 9pm. That only leaves them 15 minutes to reset the room for the next group, and our time was delayed a little bit. You have 45 minutes to bust out of this escape room. Easy you say? How about adding a little twist to it, like putting a zombie there in the room with you? That takes an already tense escape room and doses it with gasoline! Every 5 minutes, the chain holding the walking dead gets a little longer. There is a mad scientist in the room to oversee everything but overall you are on your own!

There are only 3 times per night the DOT Escape Room is run. For this attraction I recommend signing up online and paying through their website. That way you are guaranteed to get in.

I can’t really say too much as I don’t want to give anything away, but let me say this: If you like Escape rooms, and you like haunted houses, you will LOVE this.

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There is something new in Brown County and it has me just as excited as a Green Bay Packers win! Revenge, a haunted attraction located not far from Green Bay, took the haunt experience all the way to the end zone. If you are not familiar with the area, you are going to need a GPS to locate this attraction. This is a more rural part of Brown County filled with deer, so be careful when driving. Revenge is not as highly “advertised” as some of the other Brown County haunts so it makes it one of the “better kept secrets”.

The setting is an amazing 1903 barn that is used for events (weddings, corporate parties) when the ghouls are away. When you arrive there are some treats for purchase, a great photo opportunity (see photos) and the wait is inside so you do not have to worry about bad weather. No ghouls roaming the lines, but there are four large screen TV’s playing some great horror flick videos while you wait. Our wait was a bit longer than expected, but we quickly realized that it was because they only send your group (large or small) in at a time and make sure to time it so that all actors are ready to draw the next victim’s blood.

We walked in, I was relaxed … not my first time at the haunted rodeo. It took about 30 seconds in and I could feel my heart starting to race. When they say their haunt is “like being in a horror movie”, they do not mean poorly dressed actors with some little red balloons. If you have not seen some of the newer horror movies (The Domestics), you may not know what the scenes are mimicking, but I promise you will leave feeling as if you escaped a real life horror movie. I was scared … as hard as that is to admit, Revenge truly “scared” me and those in my group. If you are like me and say you do not “scare” easily, this haunt is for you. This haunt is not recommended for those looking for just “fun”, it is intense! After I attended, I spoke with a few others who have been to Revenge and they agreed. Actors inside were plenty, brilliant and we had no down time to catch our breath. Every inch of this space was used and it took a surprising 20 minutes at a very fast paced to escape. Revenge has definitely earned its spot as a favorite in my book!

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My all-time favorite haunted house was always the Splatter Haus when it was located in Two Rivers. No other haunts could touch it! They had their scares down to a science and you definitely got your money’s worth. Since then, they lost their lease at that location and moved to Sheboygan. In the years following I heard stories about how the haunt was now located inside semi-trailers, how it was much shorter, and how everyone wished for the Splatter Haus glory years. I never did attend the new location for several reasons: The biggest being that it was hard to justify an hour drive for a haunt that lasted under 10 minutes. But another was that a part of me wanted to remember the Splatter Haus as it was: A top-notch haunted house that will literally scare the sh*t out of you. But then I read that this year was their last year. After seeing that, I had to attend one more time.

It was a clear but chilly night. Standing in line was nice, like the calm before the storm. It’s amazing how you can go from being underwhelmed while waiting in line to a sensory overload as soon as you walk through the door. You are instantly transported from a Sheboygan parking lot into your worst nightmare. Music is blaring and it’s pitch black at first. From the first scare on, your adrenaline kicks in and your body launches into a ‘fight or flight’ type of mentality.

There is no wasted space in the Splatter Haus Hell World. You go from one room to another, and each room packs a good scare. They are still spot on with their scares, and they have always been the master of the ‘distraction scare’. These are some major scares that still get my heart pumping as I type this!

It was thrilling and intense. But then, just like that, it was over. You walk out of the trailers and you’re back in the run-of-the-mill parking lot. I wanted to go through one more time! It was too short for me to properly say goodbye. But luckily there was there was one more attraction we could go through...

Zombie Assault

You walk into a small 8 seat bus and take a seat. With monitors all around you, you are again suddenly transported. This time you’re in the middle of a zombie attack! They come from everywhere, hell bent on getting you. You can hear them, see them, and even the bus gets in on the action as it feels you’re moving. I won’t give anything away, but it was a very cool and unique experience!

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