The Haunted Schoolhouse-“4 Floors of Fear”
Genre: Haunted House
Location: 1300 Triplett Blvd
Akron, OH 44306
Runtime: 25 min
Website: www.hshlab.com
The Haunted Schoolhouse is back and school is once again in session. Monsters, ghouls and madmen wait to attack their next victim at this Akron, Ohio classic. Are you ready or will you perish and become one of the ghosts that haunt this schoolhouse?
This is City Blood’s 2010 review of The Haunted Schoolhouse.
What’s Good About The Haunt?
The Haunted Schoolhouse has been scaring customers for close to 40 years. You’ll experience 4 floors of pure terror where you’ll see Dracula’s Castle, a bathroom with a talking corpse, a dungeon with doors that open, Frankenstein’s Laboratory and even an attic that’s had a tree crash through its ceiling . This scene was introduced in 2009 and has been a hit ever since. New for 2010 is an endless hallway that seems to go on forever without an end in sight.
The Haunted Schoolhouse makes almost every set piece like their towering giant, authentic shacks and cabins, a creature emerging from the water, a monster under the bed, a car with horns and lights and more. This is a one of a kind experience with scenes, actors and effects you won’t see anywhere else. One unique effect I haven’t see at other haunts is The Haunted School House’s use of lighting in dark hallways. Instead of letting a dark hallway go untouched, they’ve added dynamic lighting that mimics green firfiles moving across walls. This might be a cost effective solution to making a dull area come alive, but it works quite well.
The actors at The Haunted Schoolhouse use different methods for scaring customers. A room will feature a large door hidden in a set, when out of nowhere an actor busts out of it. The characters at The Haunted Schoolhouse are hidden from the public’s eyes because many camofluage themselves in various scenes. You’ll almost think you’re staring at a maniquen before it springs to life and attacks.That’s how still the actors are.
What’s Bad About The Haunt?
The Haunted Schoolhouse lets too many people in the haunt at once. Even if you walk at a snail’s pace, it’s going to be difficult not catching up with another group. By the time you catch up to another group, the actors have to reposition themselves so the next person walking through is able to get scared. Sometimes they have time to repostition themselves and other times they have no choice, but to just stand there without being able to frighten you.
The Haunted Schoolhouse has some incredible scenes, but there are areas of the haunt that just don’t work effectively. This is very apparent in their reenactment of horror movie scenes especially Freddy Krueger’s Boiler Room. The scene looks great, but the actor portraying Freddy Krueger isn’t wearing a mask or prosthethic. He looks like the average joe off the street and doesn’t commit to the character. If you are going to use beloved horror movie icons, they need to be spot on. The Haunted Schoolhouse is one of the most jaw dropping haunts in the nation, but these areas need to be improved upon.
Customer Service:
The Haunted Schoolhouse conisists of 4 floors of terror and before you enter each floor, you’ll need to wait a couple minutes in line. This would be hard to avoid because of how the haunt’s designed, but it’s still a nuisance. As noted earlier in the review, there is a bit of congestion between scenes that will cause actors to have to reposition themselves before jumping out to scare you.
Sunday through Thursday the price of admission is only $12 or $22 to experience both haunts. I would recommend you touring The Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory on Sunday or weekdays since the crowd is much smaller and you’ll get to experience the scenes the way they were intended without waiting between rooms because of the crowd. The cost of admission is $15 and $27 for a combo ticket on Fridays and Saturdays. These are some of the best haunts in the country, so $15 a ticket isn’t too expensive.
Final Thoughts:
The biggest downfall of The Haunted Schoolhouse is its crowd control. The scenes are incredible, but you’ll likely be waiting in between them because of the amount of people allowed in the haunt at one time. So if you suspect that you’ll eventually meet up with another group, walk slowly and take your time so this does’t happen. The Haunted Schoolhouse is a one of a kind haunt with homemade props, sets and scares you won’t see anywhere else. They’ll will be open every day during Halloween week and you have no excuse to not tour this epic haunt.
Length-9 Design-9 Props/Animatronics-10 Acting-9 Scare Effect-8
Official Score – 9.0
Fun Facts:
* During their first year of operation in 1974, the staff only had 30 days to build sets, hire people, make costumes etc.