Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House (Louisville, KY)
“Evil Makes Its Presence Known”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
Waverly Hills Sanatorium has a tragic past involving death and heartbreak. Since 1910 they’ve housed tens of thousands of patients with tuberculosis. It’s been reported that nearly 63,000 patients died in the hospital due to bizarre and insufficient care. In 1961 it would close down and there are numerous stories of ghosts that haunt the sanatorium. I’ve attended the ghost tour multiple times. The last time was in July. The paranormal ghost tour focuses on the haunted history of Waverly Hills and it can be pretty scary at times. The last time I experienced the haunted attraction was in the early 2000’s. It was only a few years after it had first opened to the public.
Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House is a very popular event. You can expect to wait hours in line the later it gets in the season. We weren’t planning on touring the haunt that night, but we were curious about how it had changed since the last time we visited. So, we got enough courage to venture out to Waverly Hills Sanatorium and hopefully we didn’t bring anything back with us.
After we got our tickets, we were told to sit down on a wooden bleacher to watch a show. Suddenly part of the building was illuminated with horrifying animation and music played in the background. The preshow was pretty impressive. Waverly Hills Sanatorium is the only haunted house I’ve been to that uses projection mapping technology and I really enjoyed the spooktacular show. It featured zombies, skulls, flames and more. We saw only one queue line actor outside. He was dressed as Twisty the Clown from American Horror Story: Freak Show. He made balloon animals and banged bowling pins against the ground as people watched the preshow.
Once the preshow ends, you’ll enter the Sanatorium which has a waiting area that resembles the house from the Adams Family. You’ll meet Lurch and even Wednesday Adams. I loved the way this room was decorated and it reminded me of something you would see in Disney’s Haunted Mansion. We only had to wait a few minutes before we were allowed to enter the haunt. The first portion of Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House is a 3D attraction with lots of artwork created by Stuartizm Design. The artwork is quite stunning. Twisted skulls and evil clowns jump out at you thanks to the 3D glasses you’re given before entering.
Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House doesn’t follow a specific theme. You’re going to experience just about any type of scene you could imagine. There’s a cave with glowing faces, a confrontation with Michael Myers, an insane asylum, a playground with a creepy girl on a swing, a haunted forest and much much more. This is a haunt that tries to please everyone, but I wish it focused more on the history of Waverly Hills and the different ghost stories that have been shared throughout the years. The haunt should be more focused on great acting, a creepy atmosphere and the haunted history of Waverly Hills.
This isn’t to say that there weren’t aspects of the haunt that I didn’t enjoy. This is far from the case. There are some unique props like the claustrophobia tunnel that has glowing clown hands painted on it. Their vortex tunnel is one of the best we’ve seen due to its length and intensity. Waverly Hills is known for its walking dinosaur, but it wasn’t working the night we toured the haunt. The costume was chained up for the night. The acting was so so. We were walking in a conga line for nearly the entire haunt which had us miss some scares. The standout character is Charlie Chainsaw. He definitely does a great job with his gas powered killing machine. Michael Myers was also very convincing as the light hit him as he was getting ready to stab his next victim. The mad scientist in the large laboratory was also quite animated as he attempted to make us his next experiment.
This is a long attraction lasting over 20 minutes. Tickets are $20 and parking is $5. VIP admission is $60 and it includes a mini tour of the building and you get to skip the line. There are concessions available including T-Shirts, hoodies and more. Experience the last ride coffin simulator for $5. Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House has a lot of potential, but I feel that most people visiting want to feel like the place is haunted. They want to suspend disbelief and feel like they are part of the haunted history of Waverly Hills Sanatorium. If you don’t get the chance to tour the Haunted House this Halloween season then be sure to check out their Christmas Laser Light Show that opens in November.
Length-9 Design-7 Props/Animatronics-7 Acting-6 Scare Effect-7
Final Stab: 7.2
www.therealwaverlyhills.com