HAUNTS STILL OPEN - SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2014:

BOUGHAN'S HAUNTED HAYRIDE OF FRIGHT, BELLEVILLE (NEW! see Not in FF/HG)

DARK LEGACY, WIXOM (NEW!)

EREBUS, PONTIAC

THE FEAR FACTORY, MOUNT CLEMENS

TERROR ON 27, ASHLEY (see Not in FF/HG)

*****************************************************************

MAUMEE (TOLEDO AREA)

TERRORTOWN

At Lucas County Fairgrounds, 1406 Key Street

(419) 897-7242 or www.terrortown.net

ZIOPTIS 2000 rating 4 STARS

ZIOPTIS 2004 rating 5 STARS

CLOSED IN 2015 - owner now working exclusively with Rob Zombie at his haunt in Chicago this year!

THEY ADDED A HAYRIDE IN 2002.

SPECIAL GUEST STARS FOR 2004: Dick Warlock (was Michael Meyers in Halloween 2 - has ORIGINAL jumpsuit and mask) on Oct. 22, 23 & 24. R. A. Mihailoff (Leather Face in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3) on Oct. 29, 30 & 31.

ZIOPTIS 2005 rating 5 STARS

Features an AMAZING SPOOKED OUT FLOOR that suddenly comes to life, totally unique! Watch for it on your left. Worth the trip from Detroit for sure! This place was jammin' big time when we arrived, you'll see why when you go!

ZIOPTIS 2006 rating 5 STARS

The entertainment starts in line with a giant video screen displaying LIVE IMAGES OF PEOPLE FREAKING OUT INSIDE THE HAUNT! Once you make it in, WOW! You won't believe your eyes, and it's NEW EVERY YEAR HERE!

This is a 3 part haunt for 2006 - THE ASYLUM, THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE and the FREAK-A-TORIUM.

The new FREAK-A-TORIUM IS UNBELIEVABLE and features the weirdest taxidermy examples you will ever see! There's a 2 headed snake, a raccoon with 2 heads and 8 legs, and much more, ALL REAL! Many freaks of nature and strange mutations are preserved in formaldehyde in large jars too, again ALL REAL!

OFF THE HOOK INSANITY AT ONE OF OHIO'S TOP HAUNTS!

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2009 - ANOTHER AWESOME NEW SHOW FROM AN INDUSTRY LEADER

How DO they do it? Re-inventing a haunt of this magnitude is no small task, but they are fully committed to raising the bar every year.

We absolutely LOVED the black hole here! It's actually THREE of them placed end-to-end which we have seen before. But they have a new kind of blue paint that somehow gives a completely different ethereal feel. It is strikingly beautiful and eerie at the same time!

This haunt will assault all of your senses with a barrage of stunts, actors, and scenes from your wildest dreams/nightmares!

Be sure to check out the magic show too before you leave, it's worth the wait. You will be scratching your head trying to figure out "How can that be?!"

MAUMEE

DIMENSIONS OF DARKNESS

2523 Parkway Place

Maumee, OH 43537

www.dimensionsofdarkness.com

This haunt's Director of Arts is Autumn Johnson, who used to help work the magic at Chainsaw Creek in Toledo.

UNKNOWN STATUS AS OF 2015.

TIFFIN, OHIO

NIGHTMARE WITHIN

25 East Market Street, Tiffin, OH 44883

(419) 448-7108 or www.nightmarewithin.com 2005 is their 8^th year

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!

From their 2002 promo: "10,000 square feet of sheer terror. See the tunnel of terror now in horrorifing 3-D and our maze of horror also in 3-D. Meet the 'chain saw,' be its' victim again or for the 1st time! WARNING: THIS HAUNT WILL SCARE YOU! WE PROMISE!!!"

ZIOPTIS 2003 rating 4 ½ stars

Good dark passageways, krazy clowns, high intensity air blasts, a vibrating floor and clever monster taunting. We especially liked the girl begging for help that's been chopped in half. And the dark maze at the end is truly difficult to navigate - the monsters and ghosts have glow in the dark outfits and periodically taunt you for being so dumb as to not be able to find your way out! Just before you leave you're offered a chance to give your opinion of the haunt - should you or shouldn't you? WE'RE NOT TELLING!

TOLEDO, OHIO

CHAINSAW CREEK

Westfield Franklin Park, 5100 Monroe St. (Sylvania Ave. side), Toledo, OH

(419) 343-7478 or www.chainsawcreek.com

ZIOPTIS 2006 rating 4 1/4 STARS

NOW DEFUNCT HAUNT - This was an easily transportable haunt - they may have moved or sold their equipment.

Features multiple buildings to go thru, each with a different theme. One of our favorite gags has a head (REAL) that pops up and confuses you while you're trying to figure out how to get to the next area.

STRONG 1st TIME EFFORT!

ZIOPTIS 2007 rating 4 3/4 STARS

WITH A GREAT NEW 3-D SHOW.

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2009 - CRAZY MIXED-UP MULTI-HAUNT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!

This haunt's future is secure. Not only does it offer a wide variety of haunting goodies from beyond, it's fully prepared for future changes in fire/electrical codes. Oh, and they can take it anywhere too.

But we hope they keep it RIGHT where it is, an easy drive from Detroit.

There are 4 different haunt structures here: County Morgue, The Asylum, The Black Swamp, and Circus of the Dead in 3D.

The black hole approach in the "Circus of the Dead in 3D" is quite different from most, but also highly effective. It's one giant unit with a really slow rotation, which we've seen before. But there's thousands of repeating individual designs instead of swirls or dots. And it gets better: those thousands of designs dance and float thru the air thanks to 3D glasses you wear. One of a kind to our knowledge!

TOLEDO

NIGHTMARE AT NORTHTOWNE

We just learned of this 1st time effort and hope to visit it on Saturday, November 2, 2002.

WE WENT TO THIS IN 2002 AND IT WAS REALLY GOOD! UNFORTUNATELY, WE CAN'T REACH THEM IN 2003.

UNKNOWN STATUS IN 2004 - message left on voice mail.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 SATURDAY 3 AM - NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'T

Just remembering how much fun... the operator of THE BONE YARD in STOCKBRIDGE is also A KEY ACTOR IN THE HAUNT ITSELF and sometimes we don't even know he just spoofed us!

And last year HE TOTALLY FLOORED US with his new character who has carved the word "MOM" onto his own forehead with a rusty knife! (See Reviews 2014_C)

So with haunts we're always imagining what might lead to where...and what that could feel like...

Then got to thinking...hmmm...Rob Zombie himself is actually putting on a MEGAHAUNT IN CHICAGO this year again with the guy from Terrortown that's closed now (BOO-HOO!!!)...but again the only constant is change...so now I have to wonder if...

ROB ZOMBIE WILL DO A SURPRISE CAMEO AT THE GREAT AMERICAN NIGHTMARE HAUNT?

Or he might appear disguised as a lost monster in the haunt for example, or hidden off some crazy way for only the very observant to find. They could be rewarded with free concert tix, for example? (hint hint, nudge nudge...say no more...say no more...)  ;)

Hey, remember the time we told you ahead of time that ICP was about to infiltrate PHOBIA HOUSE in KAZOO? It got crazy...I think we're still banned there...

A NEW PERSONA JUST WAITING FOR THE RIGHT RIPE VICTIMS?

Well anyways...now we're predicting that ROB ZOMBIE will find a way to play some wild pranks on the unsuspecting public this year at the GREAT AMERICAN NIGHTMARE in CHICAGO! www.GreatAmericanNightmare.com

ROCK & ROLL NEVER DIES, BUT SOMETIMES ITS MINIONS GET SCARED AND RUN AWAY 

WESTLAND

HUSH

34043 Ford Road, Westland, MI 48185

(734) 502-6026 or www.HushDetroit.com or www.facebook.com/hushdetroit

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2015 -  THE FUTURE IS NOW, AND HERE IT IS

There seems to be a conspiracy to confuse and a major cover-up going on here. But it's hiding in plain sight with the wool firmly pulled over the unsuspecting publics eyes!

It's a brand new show, right from the get-go. There's something funny with the elevator, and you land in a room that appears to be an automated welcome station at the since abandoned Hush Corporation.

What seems to be a human-looking female announces your species for reference as if an android, then launches into a pre-recorded message. But it gets stuck on the phrase "Begin your trip," and it repeats over and over like a broken record.

Crazy behavior and wild maniacal laughter abounds, but there's a method behind the madness as it turns out. The story evolves and morphs constantly, accented awesomely to begin with by a synthesizer droning on a low note with what sounds like chorusing sound processing with delay.

If you can summarize a haunt into some wild sounding headlines like you'd see at the supermarket checkout in the tabloids, it should be a big winner. Let's see...how about:

ABANDONED SCIENCE LAB REACTIVATED BY UNSUSPECTING HUMAN BEINGS IN CRYOGENICS MISHAP / CROSS-SPECIES GENETIC NIGHTMARE UNLEASHED ON HAPLESS PUBLIC AS 800 POUND SHIPPING CONTAINER HOOK LOOMS OVER OBLIVIOUS & UNCONCERNED SPASTIC ACROBATIC ZOMBIES

Nah...that just scratches the surface. But as to the rest of the story...our lips are sealed...HUSHHHHHH...

EYE CANDY SUPREME / THE LUCKY ACCIDENT BONUS

There was a moonflower effect coming from parking lot light next door, as light passed thru a big tree into Hush area filled with fog. It was glorious, and a lucky find that can’t be planned by anyone! If the wind is strong, effects like this don’t occur.

THE FUTURE WAS NOW, BUT HERE IT IS / ONCE UPON A TIME, 100 YEARS FROM NOW

Once inside the haunt, we find there's something funny with the elevator and we landed in a room that appears to be an automated welcome station at the since abandoned Hush Corporation.

After being processed, you’re off on your journey...and what a trip it is!

Our tentative schedule includes:

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ROAD, WEBBERVILLE

BESTMAZE, WILLIAMSTON

BLAKE'S BIG APPLE HAUNTED ATTRACTIONS, ARMADA

BOUGHAN'S HAUNTED HAYRIDE, BELLEVILLE

CLIO MANOR HAUNTED HOUSE, FLINT

ERWIN'S ORCHARDS, SOUTH LYON

EXIT 13, FLINT

HAUNTED FARM OF TERROR, LENOX TWP.

HAUNTED PRISON, MANSFIELD, OHIO

REALM OF HAUNTED MINDS, ROMULUS

SCAREFEST SCREAM PARK, LENOX TWP.

ST. LUCIFER'S HAUNTED ASYLUM, FLINT

SHAWHAVEN HAUNTED FARM, MASON

TERROR ON 27, ASHLEY

THE HAUNT, GRAND RAPIDS

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ROAD, WEBBERVILLE

BESTMAZE, WILLIAMSTON

BOUGHAN'S HAUNTED HAYRIDE, BELLEVILLE

ERWIN'S ORCHARDS, SOUTH LYON

KENTWOOD JAYCEES FOREST OF FEAR, KENTWOOD

REALM OF HAUNTED MINDS, ROMULUS

SHAWHAVEN FARM, MASON

SLAUGHTERHOUSE, FOWLERVILLE

THE HAUNT, GRAND RAPIDS