Haunts come and haunts go. The good ones will stay around and hopefully become a part of your Halloween traditions. Over the past several years we lost some really great haunts, but many of the staples are still in operation and doing quite well. Green Bay Fear has quickly become one of those staples, getting bigger and better with every year. And with the death of one local haunt, they quickly have become one of the top dogs.
Most in the Green Bay area will fondly remember the Morgue which was located in Hobart. (R.I.P.) As legend has it, in 1923 there was a plague that hit the area hard that many residents died from. So much so, that the school was used as a temporary morgue. One day a woman unlocked this morgue, only to realize all the bodies were mysteriously missing! Stranger yet, zombies were reportedly roaming around the school. The woman with the morgue keys guarded the zombies for many decades, luring in new flesh for them to eat. When the Morgue went away recently, this Morgue Witch was homeless after 22 years until Green Bay Fear let her prey… I mean play, with those that visit their grounds. Fear already has the memorable characters Mr. Jingles and Mr. Nice Guy, among many others. The addition of the Morgue Witch has put this already excellent haunt into a league of their own!
It was a windy and somewhat cold night when we attended, so we opted for the Fastpass to skip the lines. It’s been a good 4 years since I last attended GB Fear. At that time, I loved all the detail and different attractions… but the scares weren’t there for me. After all, you go to a haunted attraction to jump a few times! I’m thrilled to say that this visit had me jumping! After attending all four of their events, the biggest thing that changed was the ACTING. If you haven’t been to GB Fear before, let me be your tour guide!
TWISTED TRAIL: A walk through the woods. Sounds peaceful, right? WRONG. Twisted doesn’t just describe the path you walk, there are some scary and demented things lurking in there! The trail is dark and downright spooky. We found a nice little bunny rabbit in the woods, but it turned out he was some sort of demonic aberration that really had me jumping! You’ll come upon a bridge and a little shack along the trail, which sounds quaint, but they are nothing of the sort. At several times we were ‘lost’ in the woods. I’m not sure if this was by design, but there were a few times the actors that pointed us in the right direction. We all let out a sigh of relief when we exited the trail with all our limbs attached. The trail took about 10 minutes.
MR. JINGLES FUNHOUSE: What once seemed like an after-thought in the past has now become my favorite part of Green Bay Fear! When Mr. Jingle’s not singing to patrons or blowing up balloons, he’s inviting you to visit his world. Upon entering, we couldn’t see anything with all the sweet-smelling fog everywhere. You have to feel your way around, and there were several times we came to a dead end and had to back track. Nothing but a white mist surrounding you… until a monster is in your face! No clue how the actors could see us, but they kept jumping out of nowhere scaring us. It took us about 10 minutes to get through.
MUSEUM OF ODDITIES: The museum is setup like a side show trailer from the days of old. It has pretty much stayed the same since I last attended, except for some new props. One nice change is that they have an actor explaining the different things you are seeing. We were in and out in about 5 minutes.
SHAWANO MANOR: The Manor is where it all started for Green Bay Fear. I didn’t want to leave the foyer, it looks amazing and really sets the mood for what you’re about to go through. Most of the rooms in the Manor are very well lit, which is great because you can really see the attention to detail with the rooms and props. They will have you jumping throughout your visit with air canons, sparks, and good old fashioned scares! We made it through the Manor in about 15 minutes.
Signage / Visibility / Location
Easy to find right off Hwy 41 in Green Bay. There’s a sign you can’t miss as you approach.
Wait Area / Line Entertainment
There’s a nice fire you can warm up at and a good selection of things to eat and drink. We also were able to watch The Apocalyptic Sideshow, which was a nice surprise! And then there’s Mr Jingles, a staple of Fear. He was singing, dancing and entertaining a crowd as they waited. Ever hear ‘Sweet Caroline’ sung by a deranged clown? You’re missing out!
Actors' Performance
All actors were on que and were always in character. Some were funny, some were down-right terrifying! In talking to the Operations Manager at the end of the night, she divulged that their volunteers have an acting coach. They take their roles seriously and it shows! In the 4 year since I last attended, the actors have make the biggest improvement and really made the night for me.
Sets Scenes / Props / FX
The scenes for all attractions at Fear are top notch. Most noticeably in the Shawano Manor. The lighting of these props also help set the mood and is done perfectly!
Length
You can attend any of their attractions at your own pace. We were there a little over an hour, but there’s many things to see and do. You could easily make an entire night out of it.
Crowd Control
You can start at any attraction you want, which really helps with the crowd control. If one attraction has a longer line, you can simple go to another attraction where it’s shorter. There’s also the Fastpass option, which will put you to the front of the line for each attraction for only $10 more!
Most Memorable Moment
I won’t give away which attraction this was in, but at one point an actor dropped out of no-where directly in front of us. It completely took us by surprise and had us all falling backwards screaming and then laughing.
Green Bay Fear is part haunted house, and part twisted carnival. They are unlike any other haunt in the state and worth every penny you’ll spend there.
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