Azra Chambers of Horror: Fun with phobias

Pulling into the parking lot of Azra, you are welcomed by a large dragon perched on the roof, looking over a ruined landscape below him. After getting your tickets, you head around to the back of the building, where it feels like a party is going on. A DJ is blaring music from the front of the line. Fire jugglers work near a video screen showing short horror films, and moments from televisions, and movies. Monsters roam the line, going for scares, as well as to hype the crowd up. This queuing area is a good set up for the feel for the house. Loud, bright, and fun.

The first room of the house is quite fun, with a singing statue being your guide. He also tells you of the rules of the house, and then you are let into the house proper. This room gives us some Haunted Mansion vibes, and is a nice introduction to the house.

Heading out of the preshow room, the house introduces its theme, which is that each area is another type of phobia people have. This includes clowns, insects, mannequins, and zombies. The house sticks well to its theme, and uses some good set design to great effect. Of note is the bee area, which is beautifully designed, and the cannibal area, which is delightfully gory. Unfortunately at times a focus on using strobe lighting, or too little lighting, doesn't allow the sets to pop like the could. Some more variety in lighting could really make this house pop more, and make every set feel different.

The house does also feature some good actors. In particular, the clowns are enjoying themselves greatly, taking glee in making guests walk in circles and getting scares The zombie room is the true stand out though. The actors go full out, crawling along the floor, jumping on the walls, and coming deep out of the fog to get some great scares. Should be noted that there is certainly quite a bit of dead space in this house, and to be fair, in some locations, not much can be done, since it is where elevation is changing. Still, a few more actors in some of the more empty areas, like the mannequin area could do a lot.

This house feels somewhat short, and has some work to be done to make its pacing better. The dead areas are at times large enough to take you out of the moment. Still this house is only in its first year, and will certainly improve over the next few years. I look forward to going back, because I feel like this one has the makings of another great house in the area.

3.75 / 5