Halloween marks the beginning of horror movies, trick or treating, and, of course, Haunted Houses. A Haunted house is meant to leave people on edge at all times and expect a fright at every turn. Nightmare on Edgewood, however, fails to bring me to this point.
The drive to Nightmare on Edgewood was probably the scariest part. The thick downtown traffic along with the proximity to the area called “Hobo Alley” made for an uneasy drive. However, the actual haunted house was in a nice location and was tucked away and made for a nice, secluded feel. We were greeted by a man in full costume with a flamethrower, and after no wait were, we shoved into the instruction room.
Before this year, I had never experienced a Nightmare on Edgewood nor a haunted house where they could touch people. So, this whole trip was a lot of firsts for me. However, when we got into the actual attractions, I felt underwhelmed. People in costume often broke character and talked to me normally, the jumpscares felt lackluster, and the whole time I felt like I knew what was going to happen.
The best parts of the haunted house, though, are the set designs, ingenuity, and the execution of the scenes. Apparatuses in the front room would move and talk to you and many times impressive feats of engineering would catch my attention rather than scaring me. For example, at least a 15-foot skeleton appeared from behind a closed wall that split open and revealed the skeleton holding a mannequin.
The scare factor while the worst part was improved by the actor’s ability to touch people. There is nothing quite like being thrown on a table by a brolic man as friends watch through a window and he takes a saw to a kidney saying “He’s too big. These will be useless.” While this did make the whole experience more fun and scary, there was not much of it. I only found myself being touched two or three times, and it was only pushing on my back.
Overall, the haunted house was extremely well put together yet felt unscary and left me wanting more. For the $38 price tag, short lines, and short drive, I could see myself going back next year to see any improvements.
