The Dent Schoolhouse-“Charile’s Sanctuary”
Genre: Haunted House
Location: 5963 Harrison Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45248
Runtime: 20-25 min
Website: www.frightsite.com
Since 2006 The Dent Schoolhouse has set the standard for how Cincinnati haunts should be. This is much more than your typical haunt because everything you experience feels real and has moments that are downright scary. We visited Dent late Sunday night and we were ready for one of Ohio’s finest. We were simply blown away after we exited and we’re sure you’ll have a similar experience.
This is City Blood’s 2010 review of The Dent Schoolhouse.
What’s Good About The Haunt?
The Dent Schoolhouse is simply one of the most detailed and realistic haunts in the United States. This haunt doesn’t resort to using animatronics in every scene, but instead seamlessly blends in rusty antiques, gory props and a few animatronics here and there. Props include custom zombie school children from Unit 70 Studios, hanging clowns, a white claustrophobia tunnel from Oak Island, a spinning vortex tunnel, a moving desk, a freaky corpse on an animated mechanic’s creeper and much much more. It’s a sensory overload at its best.
The Schoolhouse is also decorated with authentic decor you would find in an old school from the early 1900’s. This includes old mason jars, dusty books, school charts, a dirty golden apple, a world globe, a real cafeteria food station, playground equipment, a yellow school bus and everything you would find in a real school. There’s so much to see that it’s difficult to describe all the grotesque props and antiques in one review.
This year there have been many new scenes added into the mix. The two most notable are the brand new school playground and the enhanced haunted swamp and hillbilly shack. Since 2006 the first scene customers would experience was an old creepy graveyard. But for 2010 it’s been replaced with a large playground that’s been taken over by the dead. It’s an improvement from what used to be there since it’s much more fitting with the school house theme. Every other haunt has a cemetery, but The Dent Schoolhouse has its very own haunted playground. It’s bone chilling in many ways.
Charile’s lair/basement is also scarier than ever and one of the most intense scenes at The Dent Schoolhouse. The new scenes are great, but the makers of The Dent Schoolhouse didn’t forget about the rooms that made this haunt famous. This includes a haunted classroom, a bloody lunch room, a school councler’s office, the haunted auditorium complete with Unit 70 Studios zombie couple, doctor’s office and everything else you would expect to see in a school.
Just because The Dent Schoolhouse is a great looking haunt doesn’t mean that the acting suffers. This haunt has some of the best characters you’ll encounter at any haunt in Ohio. Returning favorites include Damien Reaper, Fatso The Clown, Callopie, Vice Principal Dan, Zeek and a crazy cast of the most twisted and sadistic ghouls around. One of my personal favorites is Lunch Lady Cookie with her mangled eye. She’s just plain creepy.
There’s really not much else I can say about The Dent Schoolhouse, but wow. Over the last couple of years this haunt has reached new heights when it comes to Ohio haunts and for me to describe anything else would be ruining the experience for you.
What’s Bad About The Haunt?
My only complaint about The Dent Schoolhouse is that some of the scenes have nothing to do with the schoolhouse theme. This includes the new swamp, the returning clown house, an X-Ray examining room and a few other scenes that leave me scratching my head. Also, while the new Detention Hall is a totally different attraction it somewhat takes away from the experience of The Dent Schoolhouse. If you are visiting Detention Hall last, you may leave with a somewhat bad impression of your overall experience at Dent. But I guess this all depends on the customer. I would recommend touring Detention Hall first and letting The Dent Schoolhouse be the grand finale. This is of course if you are purchasing a combo ticket. This is the only way you can experience Detention Hall.
Customer Service:
Josh Wells, Bud Stross, Chuck Stross and the staff at The Dent Schoolhouse know how to run a haunt. They run the place like a fine toothed comb. The concession stand has plenty of goodies like candy, hot dogs and more. Don’t forget to pick up a Dent Schoolhouse T-Shirt. There are many to choose from in their newly remodeled concession stand. The Dent Schoolhouse is well worth $15 considering how incredible this haunt is. For five more dollars you can buy yourself a combo ticket to also experience the brand new “Detention Hall”. This is a great value for a night’s worth of entertainment.
Final Thoughts:
Over the last couple of years The Dent Schoolhouse has become one of the top rated haunts by Hauntworld Magazine, Haunted Attraction Magazine, Fangoria and numerous haunt review websites. This is truly a special haunt and a theatrical experience you shouldn’t miss out on. This is the one and only Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Will you become Charile’s next victim?
Length-9 Design-9 Props/Animatronics-10 Acting-10 Scare Effect-9
Official Score – 9.4
Fun Facts:
*The owners of The Dent Schoolhouse used to run their own yard haunts before taking over The Dent Schoolhouse. They were called Majestic Nightmare and Nightmare Manor.