Fright Manor 2010 Review

Fright Manor has been operating in some compacity since 1982. That’s nearly 30 years of terrorizing the people of Indiana. If you’ve sustained a successful haunted house for that long, you must be doing something right.

This is City Blood’s 2010 review of Fright Manor.

What’s Good About The Haunt?
In 2009 Fright Manor consisted of 3 different haunts which were Psycomanthium, Southport Sanatarium and The House at The End of The Road. This year the creators of Fright Manor are focusing on the two haunts , The Abandonment and Psychomanthium. Your trip into fear begins when you crawl through a tight sewer tunnel. From there you’ll be witness to unspeakable atrosaties, crazed ghouls, mad men and scenes that can only be found in the darkest corner of fear.

Fright Manor features popular scenes and rooms that people expect when visiting a haunt. This includes a nuclear dump, Camp Crystal Lake, Freddy Krueger’s Boiler Room and the typical horror movie themed rooms you’ve come to love. But fright Manor doesn’t just stick to tried and tested scenes. You’ll experience a humorous dentist’s office, a chain maze, various dark mazes and the brand new exorcism scene. This is a great addition to Fright Manor which signifies that you’ve survived your trip through terror. As an award you’ll receive a Fright Manor T-Shirt.

Fright Manor has some dedicated actors that have been working for the haunt for many many years. One of the returning favorites is Wolfie. He’s a blood thirsty werewolf that only seeks the blood of the innocent while growling of course. Even owner Tom Angrick helps out as the mad dentist inspecting for cavities as you try to escape his twisted dentist’s office.

Fright Manor has an array of eye catching animatronics and unique special fx. Rooms are filled with animated zombies, a shaking bridge, claustrophobia tunnels, a rampaging dog and more. New this year are additional crawl through tunnels where you’ll come face to face with some real demented actors. At one point you’ll crawl on your hands and knees when suddenly a light flashes on and a poor soul under glass can be seen trying to free himself. Fright Manor has a good mixture of animated scares as well as some decent actors.

What’s Bad About The Haunt?
Great lighting is the key to bringing detailed scenes to life. Many of the rooms at Fright Manor suffer from dim lighting and are just too dark for their own good. This haunt has some eye catching scenes, but some of the props can barely be seen. Using LED lighting will make the scenes more dramatic and memorable. This of course will force the builders to add more detail to scenes since everything will be much more visible.

There have been some new additions made to Fright Manor this year. One of the biggest is the additional crawl through tunnels and spaces. I like this aspect of the haunt since you are left vulnerable on your hands and knees without a clue of what lies ahead after you exit the tunnel. The problem with these new crawl through areas is that there are too many of them. After you’ve crawled through the second tunnel, these areas start to lose their impact and instead of being scary, it’s frustrating.

I would remove these crawl through tunnels since there are going to be older people going through the haunt or people with disabilies that will have a difficult time crawling on their hands and knees. These tunnels take you out of your comfort zone, but you want people to have fun and not feel that you’re haunt is more hard work than it’s worth. Replace one of these crawl through spaces with an actor or startling prop.

There were quite a few times where I would enter a scene that had a sign painted on the wall instead of a real sign that’s been nailed to the wall. Painted on signs make scenes look cheap and give customers a bad taste in their mouth. This is a $20 haunt, so everything should be top notch.

Customer Service:
This year the price of Frigh Manor has been increased $2. For $20 you get to tour 2 haunts that form one big event. If you survive you’ll receive an “I Survived Fright Manor” T-Shirt. So with the price increase you’re getting a high quality T-Shirt that’s a little momento of what you’ve experienced at the haunt. Even with the free shirt, the price of admission is still pretty steep. $15 would be a more reasonable price.

After you exit the haunt you’ll notice that there’s a concessions table full of goodies and drinks. This area could be better lit and have prices that are visible. I can see how quite a few people might walk past this area since it’s so dark and a little unorganized.

Final Thoughts:
Fright Manor has undergone many changes over the years. It once took place in separate buildings at the Southport Little League Ball Park and since 2009 the entire event has been inside one single building at South Meridian Street. There have been major changes. Some have been good and others have been bad. But when it comes down to it, Fright Manor is one of those haunts that’s good Halloween fun that people of Indianapolis return to every fall season. It’s fun and frightening. It’s Fright Manor in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Length-9     Design-7     Props/Animatronics-8    Acting-8    Scare Effect-8

Official Score – 8.0

Fun Facts:
*Fright Manor Haunted House, began as the Haunted Gym in 1982.  Tom Angrick and Matt Barrick started this haunted house at the Lutheran High School. It ran from 1982 thru 1984.  They did not have many props, but it was an old school with a creepy basement. 

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