Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall (Cincinnati, OH)
“A Swashbuckling Adventure”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
A spooky graveyard leads the way to Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall. This charity haunt has been scaring the living daylights out of friends and family since 1990. That’s 32 years of fear. This haunt is quite unique since it features a brand new theme every season. This year it’s Voyage of Fear. You’ll walk the plank and even enter the stomach of a whale. The majority of scenes are themed after a pirate ship that’s headed for disaster. The cast is made up of young performers. They’re energetic, but most aren’t that convincing. It’s a volunteer cast, but it just seemed like quite a few of the characters were being tested out for the first time.
Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall is well known for their Dark Maze and the route is constantly changed throughout the season. So, it would be drastically different if you toured the haunt multiple times in a year. We’re notoriously bad at mazes, but this year we were in and out in under 5 minutes. There’s a trick to finding your way out, but I won’t dare ruin it.
There are some standout characters. This includes the elevator operator inside of the Hellevator. He was wild and crazy and warned us that we shouldn’t enter an elevator when there’s an emergency. This is a homemade Hellevator and it does a decent job in mimicking the movements of a real elevator. Dracula returns and wants to feast on your neck. This is a character that’s used every season no matter what the theme is. We did miss seeing Satan and bowing down to him.
Another returning character is none other than Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall’s resident Bug Boy. He can be found outside of Spookers Bar. A drunken zombie from Spookers Bar kept reemerging. He did a great job as he staggered and slurred his words. Neptune was also a highlight of the night. He kept screaming on and on about his trident.
There are some detailed scenes including the nasty kitchen that has some tasty delicacies for you to enjoy. Some things didn’t make sense with the theme. Why would you include Dracula or chainsaw maniacs in a pirate themed haunt? But for the most part, Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall does a good job with the Voyage of Fear theme. The illuminated catwalk was impressive. Most of the special effects are homemade which I appreciate. The Octopus has massive glowing tentacles that will wrap around you if you get too close.
Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall has its creepy moments. It’s not too scary and would be great for young children who are going to their first haunt. Total tour time is 15 minutes. This classic haunt is sponsored by the Madonna Council Knights of Columbus and assisted by youth organizations. Profits go towards this group and local charities. Tickets are $12 a piece or $10 with a canned good donation. Fast passes are $18 and discounts can’t be applied. Bring in 2 cans of soup on Sunday (aka Soupy Sunday) and get $6 off admission. That makes your ticket only $6 which is a killer deal. On Oct. 23rd from 6pm to 6:45pm, they have their Lights Up Night where kids can go trick or treating through Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall. It’s a friendlier and much less scary version of the haunt.
Mt. Healthy Haunted Hall is far from perfect, but it’s still quite fun. There’s a reason it’s the longest running haunt in Cincinnati. It features unique scares and lots of variety. You’ll have a great time no matter what age you are.
Length-8 Design-7 Props/Animatronics-6 Acting-6 Scare Effect-6
Final Stab: 6.6
www.hauntedhallinfo.com