Fright Manor (Indianapolis, IN)
“Chuckles and Twinkles Wild Ride”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
Fright Manor is an old school haunt at heart. Its main objective is to make you jump out of your skin. This is a haunt that does a great job with its use of dark hallways and corridors. Walk down a small hallway when suddenly a killer junkyard dog lunges at you. Walk through the darkness to meet a skeleton that violently shakes the metal bars in front of him. The haunt has a variety of props ranging from pneumatic scares to Claustrophobia Tunnels. These are tunnels that are made up of air bags that you must squeeze through. One area resembles a forest.
There’s a ton of variety at Fright Manor and there are a few horror movie characters. You’ll see Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and more. Fright Manor has one of the best Freddy Kruegers around. He seamlessly appears out of nowhere and he does a great job with his mannerisms. You would swear that he was Robert Englund himself. The room full of glowing Jason Hockey masks is great and we weren’t sure where the actor was hiding. This is a classic room we rarely see anymore. Other memorable characters include the clown duo known as Chuckles and Twinkles. This playful team wants you to play a game of hide and go seek. So pick a door and find Chuckles.
Fright Manor has interactive elements. You’ll crawl through a tunnel and even play a some skee- ball courtesy of Chuckles and Twinkles. You’ll explore areas including a graveyard full of coffins. Meet the gate master and pick your final resting place. Other scenes include a funeral home and schoolhouse where an evil nun is ready to dish out her own form of punishment on unruly students. The corpse rising from its coffin in the funeral home was unexpected.
So was the zombie who threw water on me as she stuck her hand in a corpse. Fright Manor has some interesting scenes, but the lighting needs to be improved in some of the rooms. There are just too many areas full of props and detail, but it’s just too dim to be able to appreciate everything. Many scenes could also benefit from music or sound effects. The Halloween theme playing in the background would make the confrontation with Michael Myers even scarier.
The final section of Fright Manor is fun. The character with missing eyes was good and if you have a fear of chainsaws then you’re going to be running for your life. Total tour time is around 25 minutes which is quite impressive. Fright Manor is a good value considering how much variety the haunt has to offer. General admission is $20 per person. A season pass is $50 and this is great for those who want to experience Fright Manor several times a season.
Go through the haunt as many times as you want in a night for $30. Add $10 to your ticket price to skip the line. Military, Fire/EMT and the police get in for only $15 with proper ID. FFA is $10 with code. Terror in the Dark: Lights Out takes place on October 5th and 12th. Tickets are $10 and an Unlimited pass is $15 where you can go through as many times as you like. Please visit www.frightmanor.com for more info on prices and events.
There are various concessions available at the food and drink trailer. This includes Monster Energy Drinks, hotdogs and more. Proceeds made from concessions go toward DeMolay International which is a youth leadership organization that helps build the character of young men and helps them become better people and leaders.
I could hear the Stranger Things theme play as we left and all I could think about was how much fun we had at Fright Manor. This is one of those haunts where you always feel like you’re being watched. Maybe there’s a ghostly presence that lives at Fright Manor or maybe it’s just my imagination running wild. All I know is that you’re for sure going to laugh, smile and possibly scream when you visit Fright Manor. It’s old school scares mixed in with spooky scenes. The Crenshaw family is waiting for you!
Length-9 Design-7 Props/Animatronics-7 Acting-8 Scare Effect-8
Final Stab: 7.8
www.frightmanor.com