The Dent Schoolhouse (Cincinnati, OH)
“The Year of Fear”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
2021 marks the 25th anniversary of a haunt taking place inside the old Dent Schoolhouse. You’ll notice right away that something is a bit different about this year’s haunt. The building has a new glow to it because they’re now using LED lighting with DMX control to make the outside of the Schoolhouse stand out more than ever. There are also more pumpkins inside of the Fall Festival Queue Line. There are nearly 500 jack-o’-lanterns each using their own pixel light. Close to 20 booths are decorated with everything from a kissing booth to a bobbing for apples booth. It’s unlike any queue line you’ll see.
Animated portraits of students decorate the wall with those who are no longer with us crossed out. The Dent Schoolhouse is an immersive haunt with scares coming at you from all directions. A ghoul flies over head as you duck for cover. This is one of the most detailed haunts in the country with scenes that will make you cringe and others that will make you laugh. Students stare, laugh and point their fingers at a misbehaving boy who has his ass beaten with a wooden paddle. There’s a maze made of desks stacked on top of each other and the library has book shelves that fall as you walk past them.
Much of the haunt is themed after a haunted schoolhouse, but not every scene follows an exact theme. Walk through the catacombs decorated with over 4,000 skulls. A massive necromancer monster causes a girl to levitate off of a table. The Halloween spirit is alive and well at The Dent Schoolhouse. An old dusty room features old Halloween decorations and heads carved like jack-o-lanterns hanging from the ceiling. You’ll feel like you’ve entered an actual schoolhouse that’s been taken over by ghouls and monsters that would make anyone shake in their boots.
The Dent Schoolhouse has been infested with tarantulas, cockroaches and snakes. One girl is strangled by a python that lifts her up in the air as she screams her head off inside the greenhouse. You’ll explore different scenes inside the schoolhouse such as the bathroom, shower stall, school dance, circus, sewer and more. The laboratory is incredible. It features Doctor Dent and his experiments. You’ll see an electric chair and a Frankenstein Monster known as DS5 is reanimated.
You’re going to see things at The Dent Schoolhouse that you won’t anywhere else. The garbage heap made of human remains and the bubble maze are great examples. The Dent Schoolhouse is a haunt that more than deserves the recognition it receives from magazines, newspapers, news programs and other media. This is an awe inspiring haunt that will make your jaw drop.
Total tour time is 17 minutes. General admission is $20 on Thursday and $25 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A Fast Pass is an additional $20 and Front of the Line is $30 additional. Queen City Slaughter Yard is only open on Friday and Saturday. We unfortunately weren’t able to experience Queen City Slaughter Yard since we visited on a Thursday when it was closed down. Please visit www.frightsite.com for information on Special Events such as Ghost Tours, the Lights on Tours, Lights Out Tours and A Christmas Nightmare. Groups of 20 or more get $5 off admission. There are plenty of concessions available such as T-Shirts, hoodies, mugs and more. Visit www.thespookyshop.com to enter Dent’s online Gift Shop called The Spooky Shop. This is where you can purchase all your favorite Dent merchandise online.
There’s food and drinks available onsite. This includes hot chocolate, popcorn, Carmel Apples, pumpkin cookies, soda and more. Save your photo card to pick up your group photos. Parking is available at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and The Christ Hospital. The Dent schoolhouse is like no other. The detail is off the charts, the props are some of the best and the characters are creepy as hell. It’s simply one of the best haunts around.
Length-8 Design-10 Props/Animatronics-10 Acting-9 Scare Effect-9
Final Stab: 9.4
www.frightsite.com