| VERONA EMA & FIRE DEPT. HAUNTED
HOUSE: A spooky cemetery
with freshly dug graves occupies the area next to the old, dilapidated,
boarded up haunted house. A crazed clown awaits your arrival
on the front porch, creating quite a disturbance before sending you inside.
Upon entering, screams and spooky organ music fill the air as you meet
a couple of ghouls, one cradling their two-headed monster baby in her arms.
That sight gives way to a brutally bloody amputation, where a poor, unfortunate
victim has her arm removed by a demented, ranting barber, operating with
a power saw, and asking if anyone wants a haircut! Darkness, powerful
blasts of air, body bags, and flying sparks lead you out of the horrifying
procedure and into a blood spattered kitchen, where a twisted cook offers
to share some goat, and his most recent victim pleas for help. Exiting
the house into a cemetery, gives rise to undead corpses leaving their coffins,
and zombies pursuing after you. Wicked witches, a snorting pig character,
and creatures leaping out of trees lead to a confrontation with Michael
Myers, and a chainsaw chase that results in a brief entrapment SURPRISE
courtesy of the madman’s accomplice prior to exiting the Verona EMS
& Fire Dept.'s Haunted House.
Analysis:
LENGTH – 5, Less than 10 minutes, which hurts the overall
score.
ACTORS – 8½, A highly irate bunch serving up dialogue
filled interactions. Good use of make-up too, created some originally
gruesome looking characters. Quite a large cast as well. Barber
and Clown Greeter are most memorable.
SCARINESS – 8½, Loud, blood curdling screams,
spooky music, ghastly sights, and intense, conversing characters
DESIGN – 8, Really well done, and limited only by its
short duration. Unfortunately, the house itself is small, which doesn’t
provide a lot of opportunities for scares, but it's utilized to the max,
and great while it lasts. Indoor performances are frightening and
gory, while the outside course is creepy, well marked, and leads back into
the parking area. It’s not quite as intense as the house itself,
except for the entrapment finish which is excellently done. Air blasts
are up close and personal, as well as powerful. Adjacent bright safety
lights being visible from a portion of the trail is the only negative.
Can’t help but miss the axe-wielding brute in the blood-spattered room
from their last rendition, or the sight of an open book resting on a table,
its pages turning on their own! Gravesites located along the queue
line are a nice touch.
PROPS – 7½, Obviously nothing on the high-tech
end, but rooms are meticulously decorated, and outdoor cemeteries realistic,
and well detailed setting up convincing scares.
VALUE – 9, Only $7 for a good old-fashioned Haunted House!
RATING: 7½, It’s been a few years
since the Verona Fire Dept. put on its “annual” haunted house, but it’s
nice to see they haven’t lost their touch! These guys really know
how to get things done! There’s something for everyone – demented
scares, bloody ones, those of the unnerving variety, and so on. These
quaint little haunts are disappearing from the scene, but have always been
some of our favorites. Hopefully, they won’t keep us waiting another
4 or 5 years, and this will become a yearly fundraiser, for the Verona
EMS and Fire Department! No TRICKS at this haunted house,
as always, it's well done, inexpensive, entertaining, and a lot of fun!
Lend them your support, while enjoying the TREAT of some quality seasonal
scares. |
