Nightmare Manor (Middletown, OH)
“Your Nightmares Are Reality”
By Noah Wullkotte: Jollypumpkin@aol.com
A haunted building is illuminated with red, blue and green lighting. It’s boarded up while screams can be heard within. The top floor window is open and it has a flashing strobe light that can be seen in the darkness. This house of terror is called Nightmare Manor and it’s where your wildest nightmares come true.
Nightmare Manor is an old school haunt that doesn’t focus on one specific theme. This is its second season. I must say that I had a great time as I explored its haunted halls. Nightmare Manor has some pretty frightening scenes and some unique effects. I was definitely caught off guard as a werewolf in chains lunged at me all of a sudden. This is a haunt that has a mixture of horror movie rooms and original scares.
You’ll enter scenes from horror movie favorites like Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Ring and more. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre scene is large and quite realistic. Grandpa Sawyer killing a poor girl was a nice touch and Leatherface was crazy as hell. The Saw scene could have been executed better since Jigsaw doesn’t move and the falling spiked ceiling isn’t that intense. The A Nightmare on Elm Street Boiler Room could be more dramatic by including fog pouring out of pipes and fake flames coming out of the boiler. But Camp Crystal Lake looks like it was taken straight out of Friday the 13th. Jason is hiding and wants to take his revenge out on you.
There are some unique scenes that got my attention. I definitely was expecting to walk outside and enter a bus that’s been infested with the living dead. You’ll be yelled at by a soldier as you try to escape in one piece. Come face to face with the living dead once again in the graveyard. You’ll experience a variety of scenes including a carnival freak show, slaughter house, a spider’s lair and much more.
Nightmare Manor has some cool special effects and scare techniques. The electric chair looked like an animatronic until an actor jumped out of the chair and shook the metal bars in front of us. The animated moon in the werewolf scene really added to the spooky atmosphere. The talking witch prop at the beginning of the haunt was very entertaining. The Pirates of the Caribbean scene even featured a small pirate ship and of course Davey Jones. It was amusing watching the girl in front of us since it was her first haunt ever. She was terrified as she squeezed herself through the claustrophobia tunnel.
Total tour time was 10 minutes and tickets are $15 per person. $15 is a little pricey considering how short the haunt is. Bring a canned good and get $2 off. Children 10 & under are free with a paid adult admission. Groups of 10 or more are $12 per person. Nightmare Manor is a fun haunt that I hope more people visit. It has tons of potential and it’s a fun old school attraction. City Blood can’t wait to see the changes that are made in 2017.
Length-6 Design-7 Props/Animatronics-7 Acting-8 Scare Effect-8
Final Stab: 7.2
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