The Scare Zone

Blood Asylum 

This mazes adds a new layer to the typical asylum theme with a creature running rampant throughout a mental hospital killing the other insane inmates. The addition of the creature brought some life (or death) to the story line and this maze also had the most grotesque scenes at HOS. They didn’t hold back with the blood and guts inside this deranged prison. When we went through this maze our timing was a little off as we got caught behind a slow moving group but their terrified reactions were fun to watch and also attracted an onslaught of monsters. They must of heard in the break room that they had some live ones as the further we got through the more and more monsters we encountered. For us the scares seemed a little redundant and there were no real recognizable or memorable monsters just bloodied inmates and officers. Call us crazy but this maze could of been better.

Ratings:

• Haunt Design: 2.5 skulls
• Theming: 2.5 skulls
• Scare Factor: 2 skulls

Overall Rating*: 2.5 skulls 

Circus of Superstition 3-D 

This maze was fantastic! As all of our haunt stalkers know by now, we find the clown theme to be tired and not scary. However, this maze has cleverly combined the Trickster icon and the park’s 13th anniversary with the theme of thirteen superstitions being showcased inside a circus filled with crazed clowns. Unlike the typical clown mazes where they try to be silly while scaring you, these clowns are sinister and pure evil. Lead by the Trickster who snidely welcomed us inside , we really felt like we were testing our luck in this maze. Inside, we were treated to superstitious fears such as opened umbrellas, broken mirrors  black cats, hat on a bed, spilling salt, and cracked sidewalks. The clowns attacked from all directions and some, on bungee cords, sprung out and got extremely close to us. On top of all that, this maze was in 3D bringing a whole new dimension of fear with the dramatic transitions from florescent bright rooms to dark passages, causing a very disorienting effect . The finale of the maze was one of the most suspenseful and heart pounding scares of the night with a walkway surrounded by ax wielding clowns. Seems we were pretty lucky to get out in one piece. 

Ratings:

• Haunt Design: 4.5 skulls
• Theming: 5 skulls
• Scare Factor: 4.5 skulls

Overall Rating*: 4.5 skulls 

Zombie Mortuary

Zombies is another theme we usually don’t find to be scary, but once again HOS has found a way to revive the living dead with the Zombie Mortuary maze. What was unique about this maze is that it isn’t set in some obscure post apocalyptic world but instead it’s in a place where zombies should call home, a funeral home. There were numerous surprise scares from below and the top, our favorite kinds. The sets were highly detailed too, taking us from the front door of the funeral home, through a chapel of grieving widows, into the embalming rooms, past the opened mortuary tombs and finally six feet under inside our own grave. The final scene inside the grave was one of the most haunting and memorable of the night. After the trip through Zombie Mortuary we think we’ll opt for cremation when the real time comes.

Ratings:

• Haunt Design: 4.5 skulls
• Theming: 5 skulls
• Scare Factor: 4.5 skulls

Overall Rating*: 4.5 skulls

Nevermore

This was one of the mazes we were most looking forward to. This maze had incredible atmosphere and visuals but instead of being scared we just wanted to linger and look at all the details as we tried to figure out which of Poe’s Gothic tales we were experiencing. It’s obvious that more focus was placed on the design instead of the scare tactics. The costuming in this maze was immaculate and a lot of it reminded us of Disney World’s Haunted Mansion with mysterious bookcases, changing portraits and ghostly statues which would “suddenly come to life”. Many of the same scare tactics were repeated through this maze and while it was startling at have the statues lunge at us, this scare tactic became predictable fast (just look down at their feet to see which one is real). The highlights of this maze were the disorienting strobe light room themed to Poe’s The Mask of the Red Death and the room of The Black Cat. Overall, we would say that this maze was solid but as Poe said himself, “There are certain themes of which the interest is all-absorbing, but which are too entirely horrible for the purposes of legitimate fiction”.

Ratings:

• Haunt Design: 4.5 skulls
• Theming: 5 skulls
• Scare Factor: 3 skulls

Overall Rating*: 4 skulls 

Vampire Casino Ultimate Gamble: Condemned 

Back in 2007 Taste of Blood was one of the most unique Vampire mazes we’ve seen with the blood suckers hiding in an underground subway layer. Since that time Vampires have really fallen out of vogue and it seems they’ve decided to retired inside an abandoned Las Vegas casino… um-kay. We like that HOS has found new ways to spice up various themes such as the clowns and zombies but this time around they should let the vampires stay in their coffins. The maze is based inside a dark casino where one member of our group is given a flashlight and is supposed to guide  the way. The concept is cool and we give them an ‘A’ for effort but the actual effect fell flat. One problem was they gave the flashlight to some kids who were too scared to lead the way but also wouldn’t pass the flashlight to someone else. Since the maze actually had enough light to see without the flashlight, we just left the group behind in hopes of finding some menacing and scary vampires. Instead, without the flashlight to signal to the vampires that we were coming we missed just about every scare and they missed us. We will say that this maze did the Vegas theme better than HHN’s Penn & Teller New(KD) Vegas but that isn’t saying much. Hopefully next year they pay their light bill find new ways to re-illuminate these children of the night.

Ratings:

• Haunt Design: 2 skulls
• Theming: 2.5 skulls
• Scare Factor: 1 skull

Overall Rating*: 2 skulls 

Nightshade Toy Factory: Mutation 

Awww, it’s the evil toy and doll maze. As I write this review I’m starting to think that maybe HOS had no originality at all, instead they’ve just mastered remixing popular haunt themes. Nonetheless  this maze was very fun and packed with a lot of scares. It was also rather long with room after room filled with what else; diabolical dolls, mutated teddy bears and possessed playthings. The maze also had a double ending with a chainsaw chase out that lead into a chamber with two side by side vortex tunnels. Like in any typical horror situation, our group split up and each tested our own fates inside the respective vortex tunnels. To it’s credit, The Nightshade Toy Factory really makes toy and gifts that keep on giving and killing.

Ratings:

• Haunt Design: 4 skulls
• Theming: 3.5 skulls
• Scare Factor: 4 skull

Overall Rating*: 4 skulls 

Alone

The deranged Master Alexander Daedalus opened Minotaur Storage to house his vast collection of “cultural” remains. But now his sinister obsession with hoarding has expanded to stockpiling people. Escape this lunatic’s labyrinth or you will become part of his collection. Can you make it out ALONE? 

In an effort to save some money we opted to do this maze as two instead of Alone.  This maze was not cheap as it cost us $60 ($50 for completely alone) but it turned out to be a worthwhile experience. While we found it to be a little pricey as it was only $25 just 2 years ago,  it was obvious that the demand was there as it was sold out and there was a good number of disappointed guests who walked up expecting to get in but couldn’t.

Going in we were apprehensive and had no idea what to expect. I had experienced the Trapped maze at Knott’s Scary Farm earlier in the season but HOS has been doing this VIP maze experience for the past two years now. The maze didn’t have the typical monster jump from around the corner or “boo door’ type of scares. Here they play with your senses and the scare actors work their hardest to make sure we were uncomfortable and disoriented. This is a maze of wills and courage. As you’ll see in our ratings we really liked this maze but we don’t want to spoil it. We’re not sure if it’s the same year after year – we imagine it is. So, for those of you who plan to visit HOS next year please skip to the end and for those of you who want to take a room by room trip with us just highlight the following text to read on.

** SPOILER ALERT**

When we arrived for our appointment time the host gave each of us a fake body party as our admission ticket. There were a few people ahead of us and every 5 minutes they would let the next party in. We noticed that just about everyone was going in as groups of two or 3 (economies of scale).  Outside the gate stood a tall imposing guard who showed no emotion whatsoever. His demeanor gave us the clear indication that this maze was going to be no joke.  As we anxiously waited there was the sound of cats loudly screeching and crying which was both unnerving and annoying. When it was our turn he opened the gate and silently followed us for a few yards before disappearing in the fog. We made our way down the foggy tree lined walkway with the cat cries getting louder.

At the end of the path  we were confronted by a hillbilly man who had real snot hanging from his beard. It was very disgusting  to see that goo dripping out of his mouth and nose and disturbing as he got close, too close, to our faces. He never spoke. He just laughed, grunted, and screamed at us. After a few minutes he gestured for one of us to sit in a chair that was next to a tape recorder. He played a tape which explained the story of house’s owner, Alexander Daedalus, along with a brief safety spiel. The story sounded simple, we’re going in to see his collection of items and we’re not supposed to touch anything. 

After the taped message was over, the mute hillbilly became more irate and took out a butchers knife and quickly motioned us into the house. Once inside it was immediately obvious that the design quality of this maze was on a whole other level.  After going down a hallway a bellhop appeared and pushed us into an “elevator”. It was the typical elevator trick used in other mazes but this version was more frightening as the room suddenly got dark and felt claustrophobic. When it was dark we were also concerned as to where was the bellhop who had stepped inside with us. When the elevator ride was over and the doors opened we were inside an entirely different room. We made our way out of the elevator and into a two-story room filled with padded walls and and flowing white sheets. At the top was a woman who was floating above us wrapped in the sheets. She welcomed us and asked why did we come there. Before we could answer we were assaulted by some psychos who were hidden the padded walls. We quickly ran forward through a steel door that was at the end of the room.

We definitely didn’t end up in a safer place. We were now inside a narrow steel corridor which suddenly began to stretch away from us and the lights flickered. Suddenly a shirtless man with two machetes came running at us, with his blades slicing across the walls creating massive sparks. The lights flashed off and when they came back on he was standing behind us breathing down our necks.  He asked us our names and then started to threaten us with his machetes. They looked real enough and he promised he would cut us.  He then lunged at us and chased down the hallway into the next room.

As we caught our breath we were in a living room which looked like scene out of Hoarders. A lady jumped out at us and started to speak kindly to us. She asked if we want to see her collection of items but warned us not to touch anything. She knew our names and then brought to our attention that the items in the room were all made from skin, human skin! She began to tease that our skin would be good for her collection and we began to make our way down the path through the cluttered room to get away from her. There was another lady who grabbed at us from behind a bookcase and attempted to block our path. We found the exit door and as we left she bid us nice goodbye, slamming the door behind us.

We were now inside a brick wall room with no visible way to exit.  We weren’t sure where to go so we started touching the walls. After a few moments a side door opened and two inmates came in yelling at us for touching the walls. They separated us, taking us into a dimly lit room filled with wooden crate walls and sliding doors, looking like a cattle stockyard. One of us was taken quickly down the hall through the doors and the other was held at the entrance being harassed and asked who touched the wall. These inmates knew our names and we had to find our way through this room with them attempting to block our paths and keep us separated.

At the end of this scene we were pushed into a room where another “kind” lady greeted us. The room was filled with some fancy items and she began to engage us, asking us how do we like the master’s collection. She started showing us various bizarre artifacts and then picked up a giant vase. She spun it around and then dropped it on the floor. “Oh look what you’ve done” she screamed, “look what you’ve done.” We were told that we were in big trouble with “The Master” and we were immediately sent into the next room where a guy was chained to the wall and there was a mad scientist. It seems the guy had touched something as well and before we could say anything he was violently electrocuted in front of us. Another door opened in the wall and we were sent into a chamber where we were face to face with the Master and his pet Minotaur. It seems we’ve met the Devil himself.

The room looked like dungeon and was filled with coffins. The Master sat on a throne and we were told to beg for our lives. We engaged in some banter about who touched what, making us feel like children who were in a lot of trouble. After a few minutes he obviously had enough and commanded the Minotaur take out a giant power drill to “punish us”. The creature brought it dangerously close to us and then one of us was commanded to go into one of the coffins against the wall and wait for our fate. Once inside the coffin a staircase was revealed  which climbed up into a dark room where a Johnny Depp-like vampire-type creature was waiting. When we both got into the room he began to make sexual advances at both us but finally settled on the lady. He practically kissed her and in the meanwhile sent me, the guy, down a dark slide in the far corner of the room. The slide ended in another dimly lit room where a guy emerged from the dark. He suddenly whipped out a chainsaw and then chased us out of the house, one by one for one final scare. We were then standing alone outside the house and followed another foggy tree lined trail back to civilization, so we hoped. 

At the end of the maze we were out of breath, laughing, and shaking from the experience we just had. This summary can’t accurately capture the full ambiance of the maze or the quality of the scareactors. What we liked most about it were the interactions that pushed the boundaries of personal space and comfort. Unlike the traditional haunt mazes, it was also a personalized experience and it seemed like they didn’t want us to leave. It was freaky and somewhat titillating at the same time. We think it’s worth at least one visit, even if you’ve read this. We also recommend that you do try it alone or with no more than one other person. Of all the few VIP mazes we’ve now been in, so far this one is the best.

Alone Ratings:

• Haunt Design: 5 skulls
• Theming: 4 skulls
• Scare Factor: 4.5 skulls
• Fright Value: 3.5 skulls (*$6o up charge)

Overall Rating*: 4.5 skulls 

 HOS Fright Value: 4.5 Skulls

Overall Rating of HOWL-O-SCREAM: 4 Skulls