The Dead End (Dayton, KY)
“Kentucky’s New Nightmare”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
The Dead End takes place at the Civic Center in Dayton, KY. There were flashing pumpkins and various characters walked the grounds. The building was lit up with green and blue lights. There’s various signage and skeletons that hang on to the building. You must sign a waiver before you enter in case you were to get hurt. This is one of the few times I’ve ever had to do this with a haunt. You’ll enter a graveyard/corn field that’s full of the living dead. Then you’ll have a chance to get your picture taken in front of The Dead End background. Be sure to have your phone handy because this is what the staff will use to take the photo.
Wait a few minutes and you’re off to enter The Dead End. This is a very short haunt at only 3 minutes. There are typical scenes like a butcher shop, a carnival, a children’s play room and more. You’ll meet different horror movie icons such as Freddy Krueger. This scene was pretty cool. The Springwood Slasher can be seen in his boiler room that’s full of fog and it’s glowing red. You’ll also meet Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Michael Myers will stalk you as you exit the building.
Most of the cast consists of children and young adults. The acting is so so. The small girls in the playroom did a great job yelling at me. Apparently I made one of the demented girls fall and I was scolded for it. It was pretty funny. The carnival is full of interesting sights. The rotating severed clown head in the popcorn machine was pretty twisted. Now, this isn’t a horrible haunt, but at $10 a pop it’s hard to recommend considering that it only lasts 4 minutes. That’s $2.50 per minute which isn’t a great deal.
On Halloween you can meet the actors with the lights on from 6 PM – 8 PM and they’ll be passing out candy. The lights off tour will begin at 8 PM and tickets are $5. This is the price the haunt should be all the time. A portion of the proceeds benefit the Civic Center. On Saturday, November 2nd all proceeds will go toward the family of Corbin Brewer who has a Atrial Septal Defect which is a hole in the heart. He’ll have Open Heart Surgery on November 13th.
The Dead End is a very old school haunt that will take you back to a bygone era. It reminded me of some Jaycees Haunts from my youth, but we just wish it was longer and more creative.
Length-4 Design-5 Props/Animatronics-5 Acting-5 Scare Effect-5
Final Stab: 4.8
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