Thanks again to all our friends scattered about the tri-state haunts as the 2011 wraps to an end! Our reviews and articles are based on requests so remember to invite us and we will see you in 2012!

Wishing you a spooktacular and safe Halloween!  – Your friends at Haunted Cincinnati!

The first place we think of in the tri-state for a hayride in the dark is Sandyland Acres. When Sandyland first started several years back as with all new attractions you kind of wonder how long they will last, and it’s become a permanent fixture in the tri-state returning every Halloween serving up the scares. This year they have added an indoor haunt to their lineup called “Farmers Revenge”. It’s an added convenience for that long drive and gives them something to offer during bad weather when the hayride might not operate. It’s much like a dark indoor maze with several scenes displayed out as you make your way through the twisty darkness inside. It’s filled with several animatronics, actors and displays and even has a vortex tunnel (those cool spinning tunnels).

The Hayride has also undergone a lot of changes this year. We were pleasantly surprised this year with the changes and they seemed to fill up the slower spots they had in the hayride from previous years. If you liked the hayride in the past you will like it this year, and if you didn’t you should really give them another try. The dark ambience on a hayride at night with the promise of things that go bump in the night is one thing not worth missing. Sandyland is a family friendly environment and has a concession stand and a gift shop in case you find a family member who is too scared to ride a wagon into the dark. They also feature a hay maze and daytime hayride on Sundays at a discounted price for those who have little ones not brave enough for the dark.

I had a great time at Sandyland this year, and enjoyed the ambience and atmosphere of being on a hayride after dark!

For more information you should visit their official website at http://www.sandylandacres.com

We would like to thank Gene and Brenda Webb for donating tickets valued at $20.

Parked outside the iconic building in the tri-state now know as the Dent Schoolhouse is a yellow school bus. What makes that school bus so unique is the license plate of “1031” which is the name that co-owners Josh Wells and Bud Stross created years back when they used to decorate for Halloween in their yards. Now they put that passion and creative talent to good work creating room after room of horrorific scenery that rivals Hollywood productions. We did away with ratings a few years back but I don’t need them to tell you that it’s easily the best haunted attraction in the tri-state. Each room inside of the schoolhouse is hand created and packed with the highest level of details, the perfect mix of animation, and lighting to create an atmosphere that makes its sinister actors shine better than Hollywood’s best actors in a horror movie. There have been a lot of changes to the Schoolhouse this year both inside and out. I’ve never been a fan of chain link mazes, maybe it’s because I don’t find actors scary and they seem like a dulled down version of a haunt but the Detention Hall they have outside beckons you in with its façade, music, and rolling waves of fog. On the inside the ceiling it’s now covered with a military grade camouflage netting which makes it much more difficult to navigate through. The rolling waves of low lying fog create a spooky ambience that makes the maze worth going through. It took two tries for me to make it through, and that was with the help of daylight so I can only imagine how difficult it is after dark. Now for what really brings all the boys and ghouls to the yard, well the schoolyard.. The Schoolhouse.

We noticed more subtle changes upstairs, with the downstairs only being barely recognizable in spots due to all the changes they have made this year. Dent supersized the downstairs making room for lots of new surprises and revamping a few of the remaining areas you might remember. It looks like Charlie has been real busy with all those bodies, both young and old, but mostly real young. The newer rooms they have downstairs have to be seen to be believed, one of which houses an enormous animatronics creature. It’s no surprise to us that the minds behind the schoolhouse continue to amaze us every year with such dark, sinister set designs and creativity. If you were to image a recipe with all the right ingredients to make a near perfect haunted house it would read along the lines of design, imagination, lighting, and acting. When you put those things together you find yourself walking through room after room inside the Schoolhouse. The Dent Schoolhouse has a lot of things that appeal to a lot of people, from the dark, ambient scenery; to the high energy actors it’s the one haunted attraction here in the tri-state we can never run out of good things to say about them.

Three weeks is all you have left to visit! For more information on the Dent Schoolhouse you can visit them at their official website at http://www.frightsite.com

Special thanks to Josh Wells for providing us with tickets valued at $20 dollars.

Before the WEBN fireworks lit the Cincinnati skyline Haunted Cincinnati had already been on board and witnessed all the changes for the 20^th anniversary of the USS Nightmare. Several paths and older rooms were tweaked, and two new rooms were created. One of the newer rooms located towards the end of your tour show that the captain has been trying to create some sort of half alive, half mechanical creations much like that of Frankenstein. If you paid attention when you went through the Laboratory downstairs you noticed several new diagrams and drawings which Mitchell believed would help him to achieve this. The USS nightmare built on the former dredge ship the William S. Mitchell is full of surprises as you take a twenty minute tour through a collection of oddities past and present belonging to Captain Mitchell. It features several wheelchair friendly levels, a uniquely created dark soundtrack, and high energy actors. The USS Nightmare uses the old machinery and environments to add realism and depth to your visit while breaking up your line of sight so that you don’t know what is around the next corner. The makeup on the actors has an amazing level of detail which goes above and beyond just the air-brushed effects you see at other haunts. The makeup is hand painted every night by the makeup artists who have years in the haunted attraction industry. The actors also don’t just jump out screaming in your ear, they playfully interact with you catching you when your guard is down. The boat has a little bit to scare everyone and they deliver a top notch performance while keeping their price lower than a few others at just $16 dollars. If you are looking to jumpstart your Halloween this year make sure you go down for a scare and set sail for a fearful trip.

Special thanks to the USS Nightmare for donating tickets valued at $10.

Kings Islands officially kicked off its frightful Halloween Haunt on Friday the 23rd. It’s a lot more organized this year and offers more perks and conveniences for those that don’t want to wait in lines. For as little as $20 dollars(purchased 5 at a time) or $30 purchased individually they offer a fright lane lanyard which allows you access to a special fast path line cutting your wait times in half for all haunted mazes. The only downside we were able to note with the fright lane lanyard was that it easily blows off on some of the bigger coasters and is unable to be replaced. KI added two new areas for 2011 which include a scare zone called “Nightmare Alley” which leads to the indoor haunt “Holiday Horror”.  Holiday zone is a novel concept of different rooms based on holidays each with twists and a scare. Gone in 2011 is “Death Row” which was replaced by “Mysteria”. Mysteria is housed in the same area of death row and is filled with chain link fencing, laser lighting, full body spandex suit wearing actors, and a quiet dark ambient soundtrack.  Some of the better returning indoor haunts include “Urgent Scare”, “Club Blood”, “Massacre Manor”, “Slaughter House” and “Wolf Pack” which returns for its second year. KI has a unique outdoor ambience with thick rolling fog and is thoroughly decorated for Halloween.  For season pass holders you can’t go wrong, and if you aren’t a season pass holder make sure you spend the extra $5 dollars when purchasing your ticket and grab the fright feast. It’s unlimited food from 6pm-730pm and has chicken tenders, hot dogs, pulled pork bbq just to name a few. Kings Island is a great place to come out just to enjoy the dark spooky fog filled evenings where you can soak in the cold air while enjoying the ambient sound of screams in the background. It’s probably one of our top choices in the Cincinnati area to come hang out and enjoy the spooky things that go bump in the night.

We would like to thank the media department at Kings island for providing us with tickets valued at $29.99

Halloween Haunt opens September 23 at Kings Island

Most immersive horror experience in Midwest features 13 highly-intense and chilling attractions

KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Screams of pure panic pierce the night. There’s nowhere you’re safe in the most immersive horror experience in the Midwest – Halloween Haunt at Kings Island!

Halloween Haunt is a veritable playground of terror featuring more than 500 ghastly creatures lurking in the shadows searching for souls, 13 highly-intense and spine-chilling haunted attractions, and some of the most hair-raising rides on the planet.

This year, the bloodcurdling horror and nightmarish madness of Halloween Haunt will feature two new thriller mazes, Holiday Horror and Mysteria, and an all-new fear zone, Nightmare Alley.

Returning haunted attractions include CarnEvil, Club Blood, CornStalkers, Cut Throat Cove, Massacre Manor, Slaughter House, Tombstone Terror-Tory, Urgent Scare and Wolf Pack.

Also back by popular demand for a third season is the Hot Blooded live stage show in the Showplace Theatre and midget wrestling with the Half Pint Brawlers in the Festhaus.

Kings Island’s favorite thrill-ride attractions are open during Halloween Haunt. Favorites include The Beast, Diamondback, Firehawk, Vortex, Drop Tower, Invertigo, Delirium, Flight Deck, The Racer, Flight of Fear, Adventure Express, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Monster, Zephyr, Scrambler, Shake, Rattle & Roll, Dodgem, The Crypt, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill and WindSeeker.

The event dates for Halloween Haunt are Friday and Saturday nights from 7:00pm until 1:00am on September 23, 24, 30; October 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29.

Friday nights feature the ‘Wall of Monsters’ when the gates to the underworld open at 7:00pm. Only the bravest of souls will make it past the vast array of vampires, werewolves, mummies, zombies, undertakers, clowns and assorted ghouls and monsters they’ll encounter on their way into the park.

On Saturdays, the park opens at 11:00am with everyone’s favorite rides and attractions. All eight indoor haunted mazes open at 5:00pm. The full Halloween Haunt experience begins at 7:00pm.

Monster savings on tickets for Halloween Haunt are available online at

www.visitkingsisland.com/haunt. Discount tickets are just $24.99 on Friday nights ($12 savings off the regular price at the park of $36.99) and $29.99 on Saturdays ($23 savings off the regular price at the park of $52.99) when purchased in advance.

College students can purchase tickets for Halloween Haunt on Friday nights for just $24.99 when they present a valid college ID at any front gate admissions window.

Halloween Haunt is not for the feint of heart and will ravage your senses. This in-your-face horror experience continues to break new ground and is filled with terrifying mazes, disturbing clowns in 3D and outrageous “live” shows. No other Halloween event in the Midwest can match the number of scares, blood, terror and gore.

Parents, be advised. Halloween Haunt includes graphic scenes, suggestive themes and intense imagery and is intended for mature audiences; not recommended for children

.

For more information on Halloween Haunt, including attractions, rides, photos and deadly deals on tickets, log onto

www.visitkingsisland.com/haunt.

Halloween Haunt at Kings Island: Pray for daylight!

Kings Island is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FUN.” In addition to Kings Island, Cedar Fair owns and operates ten other amusement parks, six water parks, one indoor water park resort and five hotels. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, Calif. under a management contract.

www.twitter.com/kingsislandpr

Can you feel that crisp cool air that beckons forth the sinister season of Halloween and Haunted Attractions here in the tri-state? There are five glorious weekends in October to get lost in a corn maze after dark, or venture into the shadowy world of several top rated haunted attractions. We are looking forward to seeing all the attractions and sharing with everyone what we find. Every year we find ourselves inundated with a flood of e-mails asking for haunted locations, so much so that we have taken our research site private. We are very much still active in the paranormal research field and continue to film and document what we find. The Halloween season is upon us, be safe!

If you would like us to review or help showcase your Haunted Attraction please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Your friends @ Haunted Cincinnati

(All pictures and articles on this site are property of Randy M. Karshner under the creative commons license  CC-BY-NC-ND © 2001. All rights reserved. Any reproduction or alteration is prohibited by law. )

Kings Island opened Friday night with dark, ominous clouds over head. Haunted Cincinnati was on hand to witness the gates officially open for the season where hundreds of monsters greeted the people waiting in line. An ornate rising platform draws your attention at the entrance into the park from which KI’s Overlord character can be seen. The Overlord which appears to be KI’s top minion in their dark orchestra of delight wears a hooded flowing red cloak and can be seen occasionally roaming the park when he isn’t atop his platform.  Haunted Cincinnati was graciously treated to experience their “Fright Feast” before the park opened to the general public. Fright Feast is a special purchase of $24.99 online($29.99 at the gate) which includes an all you can eat buffet and a special RIP lanyard which grants you front of the line to their haunted attractions inside the park. I shouldn’t have to tell you how amazing the food was over the regular pizza and other items sold in the park. I enjoyed a full plate of warm food which was loaded with Prime Rib, Roasted Chicken, mashed Potatoes with Gravy, Diced garlic potatoes, and mini corn dogs. It was nice to sit down and enjoy a meal knowing that I wasn’t wasting any time standing in line since the fright fest also gets you to the front. The longest line I saw for the haunted attractions inside the park last night was for “Urgent Scare”, which was probably a 45 minute wait. If you purchased the fright feast your wait would have been about 4 minutes. The fright feast slogan should be “Come hungry, leave satisfied”.

The newest addition to the haunt line-up at the park this year is “Wolf Pack” the werewolf themed indoor maze built on the cart station of Son of Beast.  With the park opening at 7pm, and it not being dark until after 8pm I would recommend visiting the completely indoor attractions first such as “Massacre Manor”, “Carnevil”, “Club blood”, or picking a ride. I would save the other haunted mazes and trail until after dark to maximize your experience and truly enjoy them. The existing attractions which returned this year are much like last with a handful of changes. The courtyard areas of the park are lined with various skeletons meant to mimic real people and events. We were able to pick out easier ones such as E.T, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Marilyn Monroe, and a parody of American Idol just to name a few. The haunted attractions are scattered throughout the park roughly in the same locations as earlier years but be sure to put up a map to save your-self some extra time. The attractions are all filled with actors in makeup or masks. You don’t really realize how many actors are in the park unless you are behind the gates before they open and watch them wander by like an endless flood of monsters.  There were so many characters and variations in fact that it’s hard to look back and remember a particular one that stands out.

The atmosphere inside Kings Island is perfect once it’s dark outside and the fog lingers in the air.  Free with a Gold Pass or just $21.99 on Fridays, and $27.99 for an all day pass on Saturday it continues to beat the other attractions around town on value. Once inside the park time is your only limitation and you are free to visit the attractions as many times as you would like. Haunted Attractions, rides, and atmosphere add up to an amazing night out that you can’t beat around town.

The entire crew at the park did a fantastic job making sure that opening night was a success.  Haunted Cincinnati would like to thank Don Helbig the public relations manager at Kings Island for inviting us out to enjoy Halloween Haunt so we could share with you what we experienced.

photos byRandy Karshner

Haunted Cincinnati will be at Kings Island tonight for the opening of Halloween Haunt. We also wanted to share with you an earlier clip taken from Wednesday when we toured the park for an early sneak peak. Wolf Pack looks like it will be Kings Island best new opening attraction and is built on Son of Beasts cart station. If you’re coming to Kings Island be sure to look into their Fright Fest Combo which Don Helbig talks a little about in the video. It’s what we will be doing tonight!

Haunted Cincinnati headed to Middletown Saturday night to visit Land of Illusion which is undoubtedly the biggest haunted attraction in the area. It’s grown big enough this year where a haunted attraction doesn’t really fit the description. Land of Illusion has grown to become a haunted theme park. It’s thrown out its pricing for individual haunts and along with Kings Island now charges a single fee for the entire night of frightful fun. I’ve heard from both sides on the pricing, but I personally like the single fee for an entire night of adventure. Considering most haunted attractions charge $15 or $16 for 30 minutes it’s a bargain considering $29 dollars will last you 5 hours.  I had the VIP or fast pass ticket last night which has its own line at the attractions separate from general admission and will cut your wait time easily in half.

Land of Illusion has been heavily marketing their two new haunts this year; “Voodoo Bayou Shanty”, and “Club Zombie”. While the shanty is indeed an indoor haunted attraction, Club Zombie is not. Club Zombie is a large open front amphitheatre with fog, a dance floor and DJ. The Voodoo Bayou Shanty has a great façade like all attractions at LOI adding to the anticipation of seeing what’s inside. It’s well themed rooms will keep you guessing at the horrors behind every corner. It seems to be a little smaller than the rest of LOI’s indoor haunts but it’s a welcome new addition for the year if they decide to keep it. Land of Illusion’s indoor haunts are generally two to three times larger than that of rival Kings Islands and much more elaborately themed on the inside. On the night we visited, all of their attractions were over flowing with actors on the inside. The actors at Land of Illusion were all high energy, intense, and in your face. I commented to my wonderful and delightful guide Derevaun that “It’s like watching an animal planet show where they target the weak who run”.

My personal favorites at Land of Illusion will probably always be “Dr Psycho’s Haunted Estate”, and “Temple of Terror”.  Since opening their “Killer Klowns” attraction several years ago it has grown to become one of my favorites since they added the 3D along with the amazing artwork inside. The attractions inside LOI are all well themed adding to your experience with the exception of the trail which is a mixture of things along the way. “Middletown Haunted Trail” is a sprinkle of everything along the way and doesn’t seem to rely on a single themed idea as the rest of the attractions inside the park. Land of Illusion seems to have something for everyone, and now at a single convenient price.  It is an absolute MUST if you are looking to come out and soak up spooky eye candy.   

For more information on land of illusion visit their official website at:

http://Thelandofillusion.com