Niles Scream Park: Niles, Michigan

Niles Scream Park: Niles, Michigan

            Pure Michigan. A tourism ad slogan used to showcase locations and businesses that best exemplify the state or are a part of its history. Niles Scream Park is one of these places to receive this designation, as it has been a part of the state for nearly half a century. This is one of the haunted attractions that gets mentioned quite a bit around this area, as it is an institution, a standard for the haunt industry in Michigan. Yet, a visit in 2021 proves that just because something has seniority, doesn’t mean it has to be good.

Dark Terror-Tory Haunted Hayride- Where to even start with this one. The wagon design is quite impressive, with a stadium seating setup that allows for perfect viewing of all the sights on the tour. Unfortunately, there is not a lot to see that is impressive on this tour. The sets are cheap looking and feel like they have been there for decades. This could be charming if any other aspect of the hayride fit in with this. A simple old-time hayride with simple scares and good actors. Unfortunately, this one focusing on stories like Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, telling versions of these stories over a system that can be hard to hear if sitting on either end of the hayride. The very few actors on the attraction go for scares very rarely and instead give some of the singular worst acting performances ever. Also, special effects are used in areas that don’t make sense. What does pyro have to do with Moby Dick, and why does it occur on some random banister with no explanation? The main attempt for scares on this seems to be the use of loud bangs strung throughout the ride. It just doesn’t work. Nothing about this works. This could work only as introducing a very young child to a haunted event.

0.5/10

The Niles Haunted House- An impressive collection of sets fills this centerpiece attraction. Visitors must first pass through a series of rickety bridges, swamplands, pitch black areas, and caves filled with black magic. Once inside the house itself, paths weave in and around each other, creating multiple different ways to go through the house. Sets ranging from cursed libraries to back alleys that lead to movie theaters are represented throughout. The designs for these areas are impressive, creating a strong sense of immersion as well as causing confusion by switching between areas so quickly. Unfortunately, this house has serious staffing issues. The paths both inside and out have very few actors to get scares. It creates an environment where the house is amazing to look at but lacks much of a scare factor. If staffing is an issue, it may be a good idea to focus on only one or two paths through the house until numbers can go back up.

6/10

Nuclear Nightmare- Journey through the wastelands after a nuclear war. Well designed sets that look straight out of the Fallout series (including using some logos and such from that respective property) this house has a sense of chaos based on the destroyed looking streets and building contained within. This house is a short one as well, lasting only a few minutes, yet uses its length perfectly. The actors contained do a good job getting scared, and the amount inside fit perfectly for the small scale. This house is very well designed for a period when worker shortages are noticeable, yet still managed to be a highlight.

8/10

The Field of Screams- This trail starts off strong, with a legit maze that provides a good source of fun for the time it lasts. However, this ends too soon and then it is a long slog of a walk through a large quantity of sets. The sets are well designed and are nice to look at, but that is pretty much all you do, as once again we face the same issue as other attractions, a low number of actors. Any special effects that could potentially get scares are sorely lacking on this trek as well. As with other attractions, the set design is quite impressive, especially areas like the barbershop and the church. Impressive sets just aren’t enough though. This is supposed to be a haunted attraction, not a sort of museum. Especially when this attraction just seems to go on and on, and it is a consistent single file line throughout the attraction. It takes what should be a standout attraction and ends up being a boring event that takes way too long and results in just wanting it to be over finally. This has to be another casualty of having staffing issues because it this just had a good number of actors this would be amazing. This year it is not worth it.

2.5/10

Gruesome Gallery- Another standout of the event, this is a trip through a wax museum after dark, which is forbidden action by the city. This is another house that is short in length, lasting just a few minutes, as well as having only a handful of actors. Yet is uses these limitations to its full potential, designing some awesome sets and getting energetic performances from their actors. One brilliant idea is to make a beach scene and using sand on the floor. A simple idea but goes a long way to making the immersion more in depth. The use of multiple dummies throughout this area also makes sense with the wax museum theme. A simple but entertaining house that provides a lot of entertainment in a short time.

7.5/10

            Niles Scream Park has to have been a casualty of a worker shortage. That is the only explanation that would give a reason for how this has become an institution in the state. If this is the case, it would make sense that during a fully staffed year that this place could be incredibly good. This year though, it is not the case. 2021 sees Nile as a barren event, lacking scares to make it worth the trip unless you want to take a young child to introduce them to their first ever haunted attraction. If this lack of actors issue continues to persist, it would be for the best to shorten the size of the longer attractions, getting rid of the absurd amount of dead space this year. Overall, a disappointment.

4/10