Slaughterhouse Adventure: Prehistoric fear

After getting your tickets at the big barn at this Fowlerville haunt, heading towards the haunted maze or hayride takes you through the cornfields that surround the haunt. This sets a great vibe, as it is dark, eerie, and very quiet, except for the screams that carry on the wind. It is a unique feeling of isolation, and does a good job setting up the haunts themselves. Of the 2 haunts we did, one does a great job continuing this vibe, while the other doesn't quite work as well.

Hayride

The overall theme of the hayride this year was Jurassic Park. Unlike a lot of haunted events, it does stay on this theme for the entire time, which is a nice change of pace. The sets are well designed, and there is some great prop usage, as well as good illusion work. There is also some good actors along the route, who are putting their all into it, which is always great to see.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit that just doesn't work. For one, there is too much reliance on props. An object that comes close to the vehicle may work once, but doing it multiple times lessens the effect real fast. It didn't help that it seemed that some effects just didn't work. For instance, a clip is supposed to be watched early on, but all we got was the dvd player screensaver. There is also a large amount of dead space. There are entire sets where it felt like something should happen, and nothing did at all. It doesn't help that there just isn't enough people out on the route to make it work. Those who are out there do a good job, but they can't handle the entire 30 minute route.

It should also be stated that this hayride definitely feels like it is designed for the whole family, which is not a bad thing. This can be done very well, and still provide some good scares and some laughs along the way. With this hayride though, there just isn't enough to make it feel worthwhile. Hopefully this was just an off night, because we have been to this in the past, and it has been an incredible hayride before. For now though, some great actors and props can't make up for large sections that ended up feeling boring.

2.5 / 5

Haunted Maze

Now this is great. An eager ticket taker that explains the rules in a creepy way sets the stage for this incredibly good maze. This is a well designed corn maze, with multiple tiny set piece areas strewn throughout. Props are used well, each set feels different, and there are some areas that use pitch black conditions to confuse those walking through. There is also a “ride” halfway through, that is amazing, and is truly one of the scarier things any place does. The maze does a good job of keeping you off guard, with scares coming from every direction, including above.

The actors in this are what make this great. All of them know exactly how to get the scare, give some decent improv, and also how to use their location to their advantage. One thing we found special that had to be noted, was a situation with the group in front of us. One of the girls in the group was doing her first haunted experience ever, and it was getting to her badly. We are talking hyperventilating. The actors on the trail managed to do an amazing job still getting their scares on everyone, then giving her space to calm down, and instead focus on everyone else. They handled a rough situation exceedingly well, and it has to be commended.

There isn't much to discuss on the negative side of things with this one, except to bring up that there is some sizable dead space in this at times. This being a maze at times does make it understandable why they didn't have much more actors, there are times where you will walk a few minutes with no scares, taking away from the tension that the rest of the trail has built up. Even some simple prop additions could do a lot to help. Still, this is a great, lengthy experience, that is well worth the money.

4.5 / 5

Overall

Due to timing issues, we were not able to hit the house this year. We can say that from years past, it is a fun house, with great illusion work, and worth the time. From what we did experience, this was a year of opposites. While the maze was excellent, the hayride certainly needs some work. However, like stated earlier, we have been here in the past, and the hayride was great at those times, so we expect it to be much better on our next return. The maze on the other hand, is fantastic, and just seems to get better with every visit. Slaughterhouse Adventures is a good event, and one that can be recommended for families.

3.5 / 5