This year Fright Manor has changed locations and with a new location many things have drastically changed. Some for the good and some for the bad. But overall it’s still one of the best haunts in the Indianapolis area. With time it should improve and gain back the crowd it used to have. This is the review of Fright Manor.
Length-9: Fright Manor consists of 3 different haunts that have been combined to create one lengthy haunt. These haunts are Psycomanthium, Southport Sanatarium and The House at The End of The Road. After you are done experiencing all these themed areas you will have been inside Fright Manor for around 20 minutes.
Props/Animatronics-8: Fright Manor has always been known as one of the most technically advanced haunts in the state of Indiana. Props you’ll see is a feasting werewolf, a tight claustrophobia tunnel, various skeletons and ghouls, an evil granny and much more. Although these are some expensive and impressive props many aren’t lit very well and you aren’t able to really appreciate them to the fullest extent. Adding small mini spot lights to illuminate these props would really help.
Design-7: Since Fright Manor had to move this year, the design has drastically changed. Since it’s all taking place inside one building the 3 haunts are a little hard to tell apart since they don’t have their own facades before you enter. There are some interesting scenes such as a nuclear wasteland, a clown house, insane asylum, Ring room, Werewolf Forest, Camp Crystal Lake and more. Some areas are a bit too dark and a few times an animatronic was used to replace a scene instead of having more decor for that room. Fright Manor seems like a haunt that would benefit from a storyline that people could follow from scene to scene. Better theming would help greatly.
Acting-8: The acting is pretty good, but the elimination of all horror movie characters would improve the haunt. Years ago they were popular, but when people see these characters portrayed at every other haunt, it begins to wear thin on them and become less scary then it once was. The only way a haunt can use horror movie characters is if the scenes are spot on and the actors playing the characters are nearly identical to the actors who played these iconic horror movie villains. For the most part the actors are convincing, but more then once they had to come out of character to tell us which was the right door to enter. If you aren’t paying attention closely you may accidentally enter into an actor’s area since the fabric used looks similar to entrances to rooms. This needs to be fixed right away.
Scare Effect-8: Fright Manor has its scary moments such as the werewolf forest, vibrating floor and crawl through area, but more detail in scenes would improve how frightening this haunt can be. The scenes need to seamlessly blend together to create an overall more realistic experience so people forget that it’s a haunt they just paid to enter.
Customer Service: The workers at Fright Manor are very nice and the parking is free as well as safe. I didn’t see any concessions available, but I may not have been looking hard enough. Either way you’ll have a great time because of all the passionate people that work at Fright Manor.
Fright value: $18 is high for a single attraction. Although there are 3 different areas that make up Fright Manor, that’s still pricey considering people’s budgets these days. Please make sure and print out a $3 off coupon available at www.frightmanor.com.
Final Stab-8.0: Fright Manor Haunted House is still one of the better haunts in the Indianapolis area. Even though it has changed locations, it still has many of the same qualities it once had. With time Fright Manor will recapture the large crowds it once had. So if you are in the Indianapolis area and are looking for some haunted fun, then please make sure and check out Fright Manor Haunted House.