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2010 Hauntfest - CLOSED - Event Reviews


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6 total reviews. Showing 6 of 6 on this page.

Page 1

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

Hauntfest - CLOSED -

by halloween after attending on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at about 2 p.m.

Submitted: Sunday, October 24, 2010

Fun Factor: Very High Fear Factor: Very High

Review

Just an awesome haunt! Scary, creative, fun...the total package! If you see 1 haunt this year--make it Hauntfest!

Summary

Great Haunted House--worth the money!

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

Hauntfest - CLOSED -

by gregory_carlson (Newbie Review Crew Member) after attending on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at about 3 p.m.

Submitted: Sunday, October 17, 2010

Fun Factor: Medium Fear Factor: Medium

Review

If you like your haunts loud and over the top, you better visit Hauntfest in West Allis.  Be prepared to be inundated with loud music, sound effects, bright lights and movies...  And that's all before you get into the haunt!


The entrance into the haunt itself is a 'moving' elevator that goes haywire, we were closed in with with a girl who played her part with manic intensity and perfect timing to what was going on in the scene.  It was the high point of the haunt, but don't take that to mean it was the only fun to be had.

This was my first experience with inflatable walls, luckily the other girls in my group had no qualms with pushing me and I easily discovered the way through.  There were numerous dark areas with surprise scares to keep you on your toes.  

Keep in mind, Hauntfest is a "Don't touch" Haunt but that doesn't mean that the others in your group won't push, pull hair, grab shirts or do other things with reckless abandon.  You might want to try and ensure you know everyone in our group so you aren't surprised like I was.  I simply wasn't prepared for 4 women I don't know to go on a crazy rampage the second we were in until the moment we were out.  You have been warned.

Hauntfest is as much an 'Event' as it is a Haunt, passing on the creepy atmosphere and going for the loud carnival.  There were LOTS of young kids & teens to which I think that suited them well.

Signage / Visibility / Location


Hauntfest is at State Fair park, who doesn't know where that is?  Find gate 4 and listen for the haunt sounds/music.

Wait Area / Line Entertainment


There was a large wait area with some seating, movies played on a large inflatable screen and refreshments were available.  That's good, because the wait was very long at about 90 minutes.  Actors were present, most of the screams heard were for the guy with the chainsaw jumping up on people.

Actors' Performance


Let me first state that the actress in the elevator at the entrance was great, she gets groups for a captive performance was the best throughout.  There were a few others that did stand out but some rooms we entered had the haunters standing together talking until they saw a group come through and then darted about, which was a bit of a disappointment and not really gonna scare someone.

Sets Scenes / Props / FX


The balloon walls & ceiling were fun but the best was the shock wall.  Again, the elevator was great but otherwise nothing of note stood out.

Length


Going through the haunt took about 20 minutes.  We were delayed in some areas to keep the groups separate and we didn't see any other visitors while were were in.

Crowd Control


The crowd was large, but with Hauntfest security and police present there weren't any issues.

Most Memorable Moment


Some of the darker areas had 'shock walls' and the group we were with were pushing me into the walls but the most memorable was the elevator at the entrance.

Summary

The loud, over the top atmosphere wasn't exactly for me but if you are looking for a wild night to meet your friends and go through a haunt this is the place for you.

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

Hauntfest - CLOSED -

by Dr Caligari (Newbie Review Crew Member) after attending on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at about 6 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.

Hauntfest - CLOSED -

by Dioxide_Dolly after attending on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at about 3 p.m.

Submitted: Monday, October 11, 2010

Fun Factor: Very High Fear Factor: Very High

Review

I loved this haunt! When we got there, there was a bunch of people in line, but there was a DJ and videos to watch while you wait. They kinda do this thing where they call up your tickets so you dont have to stand in line the entire time. Inside the house, there's always something happening around every corner! My favorite room had these skulls on the walls... they were cutting this guy open!!! I'm going again this weekend with my friends for my birthday! I think I'm gonna ask about working there...

Summary

Its AMAZING. I can't wait to go again.

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

Hauntfest - CLOSED -

by huffypuffer after attending on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at about 4 p.m.

Submitted: Monday, October 11, 2010

Fun Factor: Very High Fear Factor: Very High

Review

I loved hauntfest this year. Every year it gets better and better. It was a wait to get in but at least there was cool stuff to do in the dj room and they had a cool coffin ride that made you think you were getting loaded into a ambulance and taken to a graveyard. The house was cool i never knew where i could turn i kept going thourh wrong doors and hitting dead ends with creepy jumping actors there. the animated head that tells you about the house is awesome!

Summary

It didnt scare me alot but my girlfriend was frightened.

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

Hauntfest - CLOSED -

by katie_kiesow13 (Newbie Review Crew Member) after attending on Friday, October 8, 2010 at about 6 p.m.

Submitted: Saturday, October 9, 2010

Fun Factor: High Fear Factor: Medium

Review


I really enjoyed this haunt this year! We arrived pretty late on a Friday night (around 11 pm), so it was really busy and we had to wait quite a while to get into the house - we got in around midnight. However, there was plenty to keep us entertained while we waited - there is a concession stand, a DJ playing music, and scary movies playing on a giant screen. I actually feel like the wait made the haunt seem scarier because we kept seeing people coming out crying or screaming, so we were psyching ourselves out a bit.



Once inside the haunt, we were put in an elevator (creepy!!!) and moved on to a ton of really creepy and well designed rooms with some great actors. Some people may not agree, but I acually really love children actors since I think they're incredibly creepy, so I liked that in this haunt. And I got a lot of weary looks from actors, too - they relied more on a psychological thrill than jumping out and saying "boo" as often as possible, and I think that's great!



The haunt plays with the senses a bit too; it's difficult to explain how, but you'll understand when you go through. There's a few mazes in this haunt and WOW did we get turned around and confused, but it was pretty entertaining. I liked this haunt more this year than I did last year, so kudos for making it even better this time around!

Signage / Visibility / Location


Very easy to find - it's located at State Fair Park.

Wait Area / Line Entertainment


They use a ticket system, so you don't have to wait in line the whole time. You get into line once your ticket number is called, so that gives you time to walk around and check out all the other things going on. There's a lot of actors walking around scaring people, which is always fun.

Actors' Performance


I really thought they did a good job. Like I said above, it was more psychological and less jumping out and hoping they scare you, and I really like that.

Sets Scenes / Props / FX


I like the scenes that messed with your head - the elevators, the mazes, the tunnel!

Length


We waited to get into the house for about an hour and then it took us maybe fifteen minutes to get through the whole thing.

Crowd Control


They did a good job of crowd control. I'm not sure if they served alcohol here or not, but there were certainly a lot of drunk people and I think I saw a few bottles of beer... but I'd rather they didn't allow it since I saw plenty of vomit. I just don't think haunted houses mix well with alcohol. But they did have plenty of police officers on hand for any problems. Otherwise, it was all pretty well done since they used the ticket system and you didn't have to wait in line for quite so long.

Most Memorable Moment


I think the mazes (both red and white and cage mazes) were really disorienting and a great addition to this haunt.

Summary

Nice job Hauntfest!

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