FRIGHT FEST 2015 REPORT
I went to SFA last night to experience this year's Fright Fest! They have a total of 6 mazes ($16 for a wristband to enter them, $35 for express), 4 scarezones, and a few Halloween shows. Thought I'd post my thoughts on this year's event. For a Saturday night, crowds weren't bad at all. We only waited 30 mins for Superman with 2 trains, and about the same for the most popular haunted house. First up, I'll review the scarezones :
NECROVILLE : This is the scarezone in Mardi Gras that accompanies the Voodoo Curse maze. Wasn't too impressed with this one. Didn't see many characters walking around and not much in the way of theming. 1/5 Skulls
ZOMBIEVILLE : One of the better scarezones! Themed to a zombie apocalypse and being located right by the ride, this one had larger amounts of theming than other scarezones. Many zombies roaming around scaring the pants off people! 3/5 Skulls
GHOST TOWN : My personal favorite, this one is themed to a haunted old western town. Lots of fog and darkness in this one, which made for a lot better scare opportunities than some of the brighter, more open scarezones. Lots of old miners and ghostly saloon gals were walking around which was a good compliment to the existing western scenery of Coyote Creek. 4/5 Skulls
CARNEVIL : Your typical clown-themed area. The clowns weren't doing much except standing around and smiling, which would be very creepy if you're afraid of clowns. I am not, so I thought this area was very boring. The theming and detail were extensive and extraordinary but sadly the lackluster characters brought this down for me. 2/5 Skulls
Now onto the main draw of Fright Fest, the houses!
SPIDER OUTBREAK : One of the smaller houses, this maze isn't anything amazing but it does it's job well. Themed to an old house infested with spiders and creepy-crawlies, this maze relies more on a Creep factor than Gore or jumpscares, One scene was especially my favorite and was very claustrophobic. Located in an out of the way location, this house had no line when we visited around 9pm while other houses around that time had 20-30 minute waits. Due to the nonexistent wait time, we ended up doing this house 4 times! 3/5 Skulls
TERROR TOY SHOP : This was one of the best houses of the night! Themed to Christmas at the North Pole gone horribly wrong, I thought this was one of the most creative and entertaining houses I've been in. From evil elves to a visit from Santa Claws himself, this one scared me a few times. This house was very successful at morphing the Christmas holiday we all know, and turning it into a demon-filled gore fest. We did this one 3 times because we liked it so much. Definitely the second best haunted house of the event! 4/5 Skulls
TWISTED FAIRYTALES 3D : Although this house utilized the 3D gimmick, it didn't accomplish the effect well. I actually didn't notice anything really 3D until the second half of the house. I also noticed this house was sending in people a lot slower than others. Why I'm not sure, but it was noticeably slower. Other than those downsides, this house was creative and fun. My favorite scene featured Little Miss Muffet and gave me quite a startle. Seeing all the storybook characters as psychopaths was fun and refreshing after spending so much time at Disney mwahaha. Overall, not amazingly executed but had it's fun moments. 3/5 Skulls
VOODOO CURSE : This maze had great potential, but fell flat. Not many scares inside and the ones that were there all got the 3 people in front of us, not us or anyone behind us. There were open areas that would've been prime character placement spots but just seemed strangely empty. Secondly, for a house themed to voodoo, it seemed more like a generic haunted house than something themed to a voodoo curse. In fact, the only thing that struck me as related to the theme was seeing a man dressed like Dr. Facilier from Princess & the Frog. This house could be a lot better if they added more scares and actually added voodoo/swamp/New Orleans themed elements. 1/5 Skulls
AFTERMATH : Toxic waste and zombies! What would a Halloween event be without them? Yep, this is your generic Zombie Apocalypse haunted house except painted with gallons and gallons of dayglo. This house struck me as more corny than scary. Strange elements like a robot and a room painted with flames made this house feel disjointed. Plenty of characters about in here, but not many scares. In my opinion, there was only one good scare and it was near the end (NOTE : watch out for the barrels ) I went through 3 times to see if I would end up liking it since there was no one in line, but it ended up seeming less and less creepy everytime. Oh well! I just realized that while it was themed to zombies, characters weren't dressed as such. They looked more like clowns or dolls splattered with neon green paint. Odd. 1/5 Skulls
THE HAUNTING OF HALL MANOR : Ah, the highlight of the event. This attraction is a long trail through the woods behind the park and boy is it scary! There is a point where you walk past the original Hall Manor from the 1800s, all broken and crumbling (still standing due to it being historical, the park can't tear it down). It's genuine theming that the park tied the storyline of the trail to. If you don't know, Six Flags America has an official ghost named Eleanor. She died in her house back in the 1800s when she was just a child, and the land where the park was built was her owned by her family. That part of the story is proven fact, but legend has it that while building the park, a bulldozer accidentally ran over her tombstone and cracked it, causing her to curse the park. This trail plays off the legend as you walk around the former Hall grounds, she appears numerous times. This trail is more creepy than outright scary, but the location in the dark woods is highly effective. Overall, this was my favorite house. 5/5 Skulls
Welcome to Gotham Ci..err..CarneviL!
Quit clownin' around!
the Stage Fright Magic Show! An entertaining show, and featured some creative Halloween themed illusions!
The Soul Snatcher! The host of this year's event, he and his minions are awakened at The Awakening show and roam around through the night.
Did somebody say cheap 3D tricks?
Cheesy zombie haunted house? Check!
you remind me of the man! what man? the man with the power! what power? the power of voodoo! Who do? Oh you do you do!
Milky Way : the official candy bar of demons and psycho-killers?
