Nightmare on Edgewood (Indianapolis, IN)
“A Monster Movie Massacre”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
An old movie theater from 1978 is playing a double feature tonight. A clown holding a red balloon watches the crowd as fog engulfs the building. Don’t be frightened that the ticket taker is a skeleton. He won’t bite much. Is this theater haunted and what horrific sights will you see? This is City Blood’s 2017 review of Nightmare on Edgewood.
Nightmare on Edgewood is one of the most intense haunts around. This haunt has a mixture of indoor and outdoor scenes and it’s pretty detailed. You’ll first experience horror reenactments in the Midnight Double Feature section. Enter theater 11 and relive some of cinema’s most popular horror flicks. If you’re a fan of classic horror movies then you’re in for a real treat. You’re going to go head to head with horror movie villains including Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Jigsaw Puppet, Michael Myers and more. Billy the Jigsaw Puppet might be small, but he’s damn creepy as he rides his little bike.
These iconic characters are quite intimidating. Michael Myers placed a knife against my throat and Jason was massive. The actress playing Jason’s mother Pamela Voorhees was very convincing as she scolded me for leaving her poor boy alone to drown. I knew Jason would be right around corner waiting for me. One of my personal favorite scenes at Nightmare on Edgewood is the Jeepers Creepers 2 reenactment. The animated Creeper prop was pretty creative and I felt like I was part of the movie as I walked past a school bus that was inside a cornfield.
Nightmare on Edgewood consists of 3 different themed areas that create one large event. The second area is called Insanity and it focuses mostly on your fear of the dark. The dark maze is a little confusing, but there isn’t much going on in this attraction compared to the rest of Nightmare on Edgewood. The actors are very hands on and won’t hesitate to grab you or even pull on your head.
Nightmare on Edgewood isn’t your typical haunt. It merges elements of old school with modern technology. You’ll walk through a typical scene like a simple room that’s nearly pitch black then all of a sudden there’s a giant glowing animatronic monster controlled by an actor. This is a physical experience. You will definitely be touched. Freddy Krueger slid his claws across my chest and a blood crazed butcher blocked my path. At the attraction Karnival the person in front of us was suddenly picked up by an actor dressed as a clown. The customer screamed in terror as he tried to escape from the clutches of the killer clown.
There are many clown themed haunts across the county. Some do a decent job while others fall flat on their face. Karnival is pretty unique in the way it features a few of its scenes. The final scene includes an abandoned midway full of arcade games, carnival booths and one crazy chainsaw wielding freak. We appreciated how some scenes had their own unique touches. The nuclear wasteland includes a barrel that’s leaking nuclear waste as a clown is nearly dunked into the toxic water.
There’s very little wait time between sections and there’s plenty of variety since each area has its own theme. General admission is $25 and VIP is $40. We received a coupon for a free cheeseburger at McDonald’s which was a pleasant surprise. New this year is Nightmare on Edgewood’s Escape Rooms called “Escape the Nightmare” which are 6 minute Escape Rooms. Tickets are $5 a piece and you must also purchase a ticket to the haunt. A combo ticket for Nightmare on Edgewood and House of Trepidation is $40. You’ll save a total of five bucks and House of Trepidation is only about 10 minutes from Nightmare on Edgewood. Click here for various coupons for Nightmare on Edgewood.
Check the back of your ticket for $5 off Lights Out Weekend which takes place on November 3rd and 4th. There’s also $2 off House of Trepidation. The Lights On Event takes place on October 29th. There are a variety of concessions available including food, drinks and apparel. Don’t forget to get your photo taken at the photo-op station. Watch out for Pennywise the Clown. He wants you float down here.
The last time we paid a visit to Nightmare on Edgewood was 3 years ago and we’re glad we decided to check them out this season. There have been many changes made including their beautiful movie theater façade. If that doesn’t put a smile on your face then I don’t know what will. This is a crazy haunt and it can sometimes be a little nerve wrecking. You never know if an actor will grab a hold of you and there are some startling effects. The room that violently moves up and down got my attention. At one point I thought that the person I came with was holding on to my shoulders, but I soon found out that it was an actor the whole time. That was creepy to say the least.
Nightmare on Edgewood is a very memorable haunt with great horror movie scenes and some eye catching special effects. They do a great job with their clowned themed attraction known as Karnival. Our only real complaint is that we wish that Insanity had more scenes instead of relying mostly on darkness. It got a little monotonous after a while. But overall we feel that $25 is a good value for what Nightmare on Edgewood has to offer. It took us 23 minutes to escape and we have some great memories to share.
Length-9 Design-8 Props/Animatronics-8 Acting-8 Scare Effect-9
Final Stab: 8.4
www.nightmareonedgewood.com