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Ryan (Dr Caligari)

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Other Years: 2010 | 2009 | 2008

2010 Reviews

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Please note: this review is for the 2010 season rather than the current season.

Hauntfest

by Dr Caligari (Review Crew) after attending on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at about 11 a.m.

Submitted: Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Fun Factor: Very High Fear Factor: Very High

Review

I had a lot of anticipation for going to this haunted house. This was my first time to what is becoming a classic. Hauntfest has been known for the attention to detail that they give there haunted house every year. It's got a great location that is accessible to those both in and outside of the city.

It is interesting to see the area usually given away to cream puffs, cows, and nature conservation booths filled with a large crowd gathered together blasting themselves with sounds of horror and enjoying the enjoying zombies and serial killers running pell mell all over the State Fair grounds.

The haunted house that they awaited held nothing back and was nothing short of amazing. The attention to detail in the scenes and the non-stop pace of screams and scares made what probably was a fairly short haunted house seem much, much longer.

Signage / Visibility / Location

Being that the location is State Fair Park, I don't think that most people would have any issue finding this. I did not notice much signage for the actual haunted house near the gate, which may make a person not familiar with the fairgrounds uncertain as to where to enter.

Wait Area / Line Entertainment

For a waiting area, the people at Hauntfest can't have a much better one. The whole area is haunted and you can choose where to enjoy yourself while waiting for the haunted house. You can enjoy music, a movie, or just people watching outside. I will also say that everybody should try out "The Last Ride" while waiting to get to the haunted house. It is a few extra dollars, but it is worth getting a taste for what is going to happen to your mortal corpse after you have left this plane of existence. That being said, I will note some issues. The night I was there, the wait was easily over an hour. If your not into dancing to hip hop or having yourself blasted with music outside (from the movie screen + from the music at the front of the house, which clashed most or all of the time), the experience may leave something to be desired. I think more people fall into this category than Hauntfest would want to think. Some people just looked miserable waiting to get in.

Actors' Performance

The amount of actors inside the haunt and the quality of their performance will leave an impression in me for a while. They maintained their character and their energy at a level that I would not have imagined they could have. The hard work they put into their characters showed. I was especially impressed by one bloody fingered female zombie that worked the crowd the majority of the night. She stayed in character no matter what the crowd did, which is a testament to how good she was. Neither was she an exception, when looking at the other actors. It just helped lend to a truly great experience inside the haunted house.

Sets Scenes / Props / FX

It is hard to get special effects and scenes of this caliber outside of a major amusement park. Whether it is walking through an 'outdoor' scene with wood chips underneath or staggering through a disorienting cage maze, the little touches that are added throughout really help put you, mentally, into the scene which they create. They utilized animatronics, but only to flush out the environment of a scene, which is often better than making it a centerpiece, as I have seen done in a lot of haunts. This place is character-driven and the effects take a back seat to them, but this tends to give a better experience for a live-action haunt.

Length

It seemed longer than it probably was. I thought the length was appropriate for the fast pace of the haunted house, which may have left one overwhelmed if it had been too long.

Crowd Control

I was given a ticket without any instruction. The individuals working with the haunt were not that helpful with communicating to people what was going on, which led to large quantities of people looking lost after getting in. It also led to a lot of people asking: "Where is the Haunted House?" In all honesty, the staff looked overwhelmed the night I was there. Luckily, the crowd was fairly well behaved and there seemed to be little issue other than confusion.

Most Memorable Moment

Besides "The Last Ride" (which I will remember for a long, long, time), there were many good scenes in the haunted house. It would be hard to pick my favorite. It probably would have been trying wrestle my way through the great morgue scene that they put on. Body bags are creepy.

Summary

Stellar haunted attraction, though the somewhat unpleasant wait to get in tended to take away from the experience.

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Please note: this review is for the 2010 season rather than the current season.

The Haunted Barn

by Dr Caligari (Review Crew) after attending on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at about 7 p.m.

Submitted: Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Fun Factor: Very High Fear Factor: High

Review

Ahh...The Country...Rolling Hills...The sweet smell of freshly cut silage...The red barns....The Zombies.....

...Zombies???

Yes, something sinister has arisen out in Stoughton and it has taken over the farm. The adventure here doesn't just leave you inside, but it takes you outside into the dark, mysterious woods behind the barn. You get to experience all the trappings of a rural haunting.

I arrived early at the farm, which I had little difficulty finding. I enjoyed the wait watching the different families wait to get into the haunt. I was actually surprised at the amount of families there, as most of the crowds at the haunts I have frequented as of late have tended to the high schooler/college-aged groups. I have, usually, seen more adults/kids inside the haunt, than waiting in line. It actually was a relief to me to see families in attendance. It is diversity of ages here and the atmosphere of the haunt reflected that.

The haunted barn actually was a barn, with all the trappings of a barn and scenes which seemed to depict a more rural way of haunted living. This does not mean that the haunts special effects were any less than the larger, more big budget haunted houses. The special effects here were great and more effectively used than in many other places.

It was also cool having an actual outdoor graveyard and outdoor haunted woods, rather than having to put up with a cheap, indoor imitation.

I enjoyed my experience and recommend this haunt to anybody in the area. It could be considered a long ride from the city, but I think you will enjoy it, as I did.

Signage / Visibility / Location

The atmosphere of the haunt borrows a lot from it's surroundings. I honestly can not think of a better place to have a haunted barn. The Haunted Barn is right off of Hwy 51 near Stoughton. There is a big, lit up sign nearby to direct your attention to the activities at the farm. I had no difficulties in finding it, even though I am all that familiar with the surroundings.

Wait Area / Line Entertainment

There wasn't much of a wait at the Haunted Barn. They had several different snack stands from noted area vendors. They also had a small gift shop where they were selling small Halloween items. A few spirited actors worked the crowd. It was a great experience, which got you in the mood to see what was setting people screaming inside.

Actors' Performance

Very good. Everybody knew their lines and you just really never know where these actors will pop out from.

Sets Scenes / Props / FX

Really good, realistic scenes for the setting that you're in. Like I say, a lot of their props and scenes borrow from the setting they are in, which is a nice touch in an age where haunted barns seem to want to be just haunted houses in a barn. The people here who set this haunt up also take you up/down/around all over, which creates this really disorienting effect, which just adds to the experience.

Length

It was a very good length. Over 30 minutes total.

Crowd Control

There were no crowd issues outside the haunt. The pacing in the haunted house, due to the fact that the groups ahead of me seemed to be going really slow and the groups behind me were faster paced, had some issues. It was such that, by the time I got out, I think I had run into several different groups total.

Most Memorable Moment

Going down a dark hallway and suddenly noticing that zombies seemed to be surrounding me on every side...even above me...

Summary

Overall, a really enjoyable haunt. The trip to get there is worth every mile.

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