Nightmare Manor (Middletown, OH)
“Your Horror Movie Nightmares Will Come True”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
Nightmare Manor takes place in the old Cambridge Inn building that was previously occupied by The Chambers of Horror years ago. When we arrived, we could hear the theme from 1978’s classic Halloween playing as victims waited to enter the haunt. Nightmare Manor is a typical haunt in a sense since the majority of its scenes revolve around traditional scenes and well known horror movies. We visited five years ago and we were quite impressed considering how young the haunt was, but this year was a bit of a disappointment if I had to be honest.
Nightmare Manor incorporates indoor elements and outdoor elements, but we’ll get to that later on. You’ll explore dark corridors and rooms filled with horror movie villains and horrifying characters that will haunt your nightmares. Some characters such as Leatherface are great, but then there are quite a few well known horror movie icons that fall flat.
The boiler room features Freddy Krueger of course, but there aren’t any sparks when he scrapes his claws against the fence. Jason Voorhees can be seen in Camp Crystal Lake, but there was music from Halloween playing instead of Friday the 13th. The falling ceiling in the Saw torture chamber malfunctioned. Other characters include a vicious werewolf, a killer clown, hungry zombies and much more. There are little touches that we truly appreciate like a realistic moon and a walk through mausoleum. Nightmare Manor doesn’t take many risks when it comes to a haunt. The scenes are typical of what you can expect from your run of the mill haunt.
You’ll eventually venture outside where there’s been a zombie invasion. Military personal will instruct you to sit down inside a school bus before it rocks back and forth. The outside portion was unnecessary and anticlimactic. It was more of a reason to add a few more minutes to the overall experience. Your journey into fear lasts roughly 10 minutes, but could be longer depending on your pace.
Nightmare Manor has a lot of potential to become a classic haunt that’s reminiscent of Jaycee Haunts of the past. It unfortunately needs quite a bit of work in order for this to happen. Tickets are $17 a piece and if you bring a canned good you’ll receive $2 off admission. It’s advertised that parking is $2, but we weren’t charged. There are a few concessions available such as soda and shaved ice. Christmas Nightmare takes place on December 17th and 18th from 7pm-11pm.
Length-6 Design-6 Props/Animatronics-6 Acting-6 Scare Effect-6
Final Stab: 6.0
www.nightmaremanor.net