Dayton Scream Park (Dayton, OH)
“Dayton’s Largest Haunted Event”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
Dayton Scream Park is Dayton Ohio’s largest haunted attraction. We made our annual visit on Saturday, September 14th. The night before, a woman went through labor at the haunted trail which is quite amusing. Dayton Scream Park consists of 3 haunts. These are Nightmare on Valley Street, The Rat Trap and the new Pitch Black Claustrophobic on Wheels. We decided to first tour Nightmare on Valley Street.
Nightmare on Valley Street lasts around 20 minutes and features the largest amount of actors we’ve encountered at a haunted trail. There’s over 40 actors! While there are characters everywhere you turn, quite a few need more training and better costuming. Many wore masks, hoodies and t-shirts. Elaborate costumes would really help to make the characters scary and realistic. Nightmare on Valley Street has some actors that are better than others. This includes the ghoul who hangs upside down, the clown with his sparking chainsaw and the little girl who is held prisoner in a hanging cage. The characters need more dialogue in order to standout.
Nightmare on Valley Street has various scenes that you won’t see at most haunted trails. When is the last time you were chased by a car or an ATV? Other scenes include a small cornfield, a graveyard, bloody kitchen, a junkyard and more. One of the better scenes is the clown house which features lighting that resembles fireflies moving across the wall. Much of the outside of Nightmare on Valley Street is lit with orange led Halloween lights. This is large haunted trail that can last over 20 minutes. We enjoyed ourselves, but we were disappointed with the acting and the level of detail in the scenes. After you are done with Nightmare on Valley Street, you’ll enter the line for The Rat Rap.
The Rat Trap is a maze that you’ll have an easy time getting out of or you’ll be stuck in there for over an hour. We were successfully able to find the exit in about 20 minutes. There aren’t that many scenes to speak of, but the purpose of this haunt isn’t the same as the haunted trail. It’s a maze and you’re supposed to find your way out as quickly as possible. There are dead ends, areas you need to walk under and very tight rooms that you’ll walk through. Mazes in general can be quite frustrating depending on how good you are at them. I’m horrible at mazes, but this year The Rat Trap didn’t seem to be as difficult as it once was. There aren’t many standout actors because this is strictly a maze. Freddy Krueger who attacked me from above was a nice a surprise though. Rat Trap is a fun maze with many twists and turns. Will you make it out alive?
The last haunt you’ll tour is Claustrophobic Nightmare on Wheels. It’s included in your admission to Dayton Scream Park and we aren’t going to go into detail about the haunt. It’s fun, but very different. All I have to say is that you will be touched. It’s only $20 for three attractions and there’s a $2 off coupon available. That makes each attraction only $6 when using the coupon. We always have a frightful time at Dayton Scream Park. The acting needs be improved and there should be more impressive scenes. But Dayton Scream Park still offers some fun attractions and they aren’t outrageous in what they charge.
Final Stab For Each Haunt
Nightmare on Valley Street: Length-9 Design-6 Props/Animatronics-6 Acting-7 Scare Effect-7 Final Stab: 7.0
The Rat Trap: Length-8 Design-7 Props/Animatronics-Not Rated Acting-6 Scare Effect-6 Final Stab: 6.8
Claustrophobic Nightmare on Wheels: This attraction has not been rated.
www.nightmareonvalleystreet.com