Fear Columbus (Columbus, OH)
“True Fear Is Here”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
It took us around 2 hours to make it to Columbus, Ohio from Cincinnati. There were at least 4 Fear Columbus billboards on the way up. We arrived around 6:18pm and the gates didn’t open until 7:00pm. Fear Columbus is one hell of an organized haunt and they create a party atmosphere you have to see for yourself. There’s lasers, fog and music galore. It’s an impressive production that only gets better once you step foot inside. A haunted house facade is decorated with Halloween blow molds, a raccoon, vulture, gargoyle and more. Suddenly music comes on and it’s synchronized to lasers, glowing lights and music that blares throughout the facility. Lights violently flash.
It’s like a rock concert come to life. The only problem is that the music repeats after a few minutes. This must drive the staff insane and those who might be waiting in the line for a while. Fear Columbus doesn’t have a ticket booth and timed tickets can only be purchased online. Our tickets were for the 7pm time slot. The staff uses headset microphones to speak to guests so you’re able to hear them over the music. We waited less than 20 minutes before it was our turn to enter.
Fear Columbus is a very loud haunt. It’s so loud that it can be distracting at times. The lighting is also very intense especially the strobe lights. It’s a beautiful haunt, but you can’t truly appreciate all the details because of the over the top sound and lighting. Turning the audio down a notch and cutting back on the strobe lights would do wonders for Fear Columbus. Fear Columbus consists of two attractions. These are The Summoning: Darkest Depths and Devil’s Night. Most of the actors you’ll come in contact with don’t use any dialogue because of how loud the music is. They instead suddenly jump out as sound effects are activated at the same time. It’s quite effective at first, but it starts to lose its effect after a while. Some of the characters will lunge or grab at you as well without sound being activated. The timing was off with a few of the characters as they attempted to scare us.
It’s obvious that a lot of money has been spent on making Fear Columbus a realistic experience. There’s plenty of delicious eye candy you’ll enjoy. One of my favorite props is the cheerleader that levitates in the air as onlookers stare. A few of the props will interact with customers and will eve bump into you. The giant crocodile is a must see and there are quite a few interactive monsters you’ll meet along the way. Who doesn’t love to be assaulted by a chainsaw maniac holding one of the largest chainsaws we’ve ever seen?
Fear Columbus has a plethora of scenes that are downright impressive. The elaborate greenhouse is gorgeous and some of the set design is quite intricate especially the schoolhouse and city streets. You’ll walk through the shower stalls, locker room and everything you remember about high school. The night club was unexpected and there’s a startling surprise waiting for you. You’ll also walk through an attic, wine cellar, butcher shop, disgusting bathroom, dining room, garage and much more. The blue light tunnel was very cool.
Total tour time is 11 minutes for The Summoning and 13 minutes for Devil’s Night making the entire experience 24 minutes. General Admission is $29.99, Fast Pass is $39.99 and Instant Access is $49.99. We definitely recommend that your time slot is 7pm since this is an extremely popular haunt. The earlier you show up, the better. If you can’t then be sure to purchase a Fast Pass to bypass the regular line. Parking is free and there’s a security check point where you’ll walk through a metal detector. There’s a Behind the Screams 90 minute tour of the haunt available. Krampus Haunted Christmas Experience takes place on December 8-10 & 15-17. After you’re finished with the haunt, you’ll enter their Fear Gear Store where you can purchase T-Shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, plastic cups, candy, chips, Dippin’ Dots and more. You can redeem your photos there. The first is $9.99 and additional are $4.99.
You’ll enter the midway after you exit the Fear Gear Store. The Midway is wonderfully decorated with a giant inflatable pumpkin and a Fear Columbus photo op station complete with a large light up sign, bales of hay, pumpkins and more. There are games, cookies for sale and what looked like a BBQ booth. The booths weren’t well lit which made it hard to tell.
Fear Columbus is a sensory overload to the max. Do they overdo it with the sound and lighting? Yes, but it’s fun none the less. We recommend that you pay them a visit this year and experience a unique take on the haunted attraction. It reminded us of a theme park attraction you would find in Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights.
Length-9 Design-9 Props-9 Acting-8 Scare Effect-7
Final Stab: 8.4
www.fearcolumbus.com