Please note: this review is for the 2018 season rather than the current season.

Dominion of Terror

by wm (Senior Review Crew Member) after attending on Saturday, October 13, 2018 at about 8:30 p.m.

Fun Factor: Very High Fear Factor: High

Review

This haunt has been around forever, and every year it is put on the Sheboygan Jaycees. Eight years ago when I first started writing reviews for Haunted Wisconsin, I reviewed the Dominion of Terror and loved every minute of it. This year felt like a perfect time to check it out again!

I’m an old school kind of guy. So much so, that when someone at this haunt said ‘Welcome to the DOT’, I had a flashback to the terrifying Department Of Transportation to get my license decades ago. Now that would be a scary haunted house theme! But this DOT is the Dominion of Terror, and it is just as terrifying!

Haunted House:

The haunt starts out with some school teachers going over the rules of the house. This was one of my favorite parts of the haunt. They were hilarious! Then we were set free to roam around their huge multi-storied building.

There are many dark mazes in this haunt. How dark? How about pitch black! There’s also many tight corners and dead ends. Other areas are extremely bright and some strobes are used. There was one prop at the Dominion of Terror that I have not seen in many years, and that is the bridge through the spinning tunnel. A decade ago it seemed every haunted house had one. Now, not so much. It was nice to see it again!

There were many times we bumped into the group in front of us and behind us. This haunt is extremely popular so I realize that they need to keep putting groups in every few minutes in order for everyone to go through it. One room had a few girls that were crawling around on the ground. I swear one of them was double-jointed, it was creepy! It seemed as though we were in the DOT for a few hours. It's a nice long haunt with lots of detail and packed with great actors! - 30 minutes

Escape Room:

This room runs at 7pm, 8pm, and 9pm. That only leaves them 15 minutes to reset the room for the next group, and our time was delayed a little bit. You have 45 minutes to bust out of this escape room. Easy you say? How about adding a little twist to it, like putting a zombie there in the room with you? That takes an already tense escape room and doses it with gasoline! Every 5 minutes, the chain holding the walking dead gets a little longer. There is a mad scientist in the room to oversee everything but overall you are on your own!

There are only 3 times per night the DOT Escape Room is run. For this attraction I recommend signing up online and paying through their website. That way you are guaranteed to get in.

I can’t really say too much as I don’t want to give anything away, but let me say this: If you like Escape rooms, and you like haunted houses, you will LOVE this.

Signage / Visibility / Location


Very easy to find. In a good location right in the city, and all the people waiting in line is a good indicator that you're at the right place!

Wait Area / Line Entertainment


There was a wait to get tickets, and then once you're inside there's also a nice wait area. This is an extremely popular haunted house, so I recommend the Fast Pass! Otherwise you will be waiting for hours. There were several creatures lurking about as you wait, but the most memorable was the 'little girl' wandering around outside. I tried to get a picture with her, but she was not having any of that. She was always on the move, except for one time when she crawled around on the ground. I was able to snap a picture of her quickly and then she was off again running and spinning around like a demon possessed. Later as I looked at my pictures, I was terrified at the image I captured of her!

Actors' Performance


The actors did a great job, especially considering this is an all volunteer haunt. Some stood out more than others, like the clowns and that darn dentist!

Sets Scenes / Props / FX


The sets and props at the Dominion of Terror are built every year by volunteers. This is a home grown haunt with lots of attention and time put into it! Every room is different from the next!

Length


Haunted House - 30 minutes
Escape Room - 45 minutes

Crowd Control


There were numerous times that we caught up with the group in front of us, or the group behind us caught up with us. Part of that was probably by design, as the maze has you so turned around you don’t know where you’re going!

Most Memorable Moment


At one point the maze had us feeling like we were going in circles. In fact, we bumped into the group in front of us! They were convinced that they were going the wrong way, so they started going backwards!

Summary

Between the haunted house and the escape room, you can easily spend a night at the Dominion of Terror. It's a great time and a great fundraiser! I promise I won't let 8 years go between my next visit!

View all Dominion of Terror reviews

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April 19th, 2024 10:40 a.m. CDT 24.01