Greater Than Greatness!

originally posted by Insanity on Thu Oct 14 2004, 07:09PM
 

Reindeer Manor's Score Actors/Costumes 9.6 Props/Decoration 9.6 Lighting 9.0 Sound Effects 9.6 Scare 9.5 Price vs Experience Overall Value 9.6 Length of Scare Time 9.4 Overall outside/inside Atmosphere 9.9 Total Score Average 9.6

Score Definitions 0-5.9 They didn't even try 6.0-6.5 Very Average 6.5-7.0 Above Average 7.0-7.5 Good Job 7.5-8.0 Great Job 8.0-8.5 Truly Unique 8.5-9.0 Wicked Awesome 9.0-9.5 Setting A New Standard In Greatness 9.5-9.9 Greater Then Greatness 10 Perfect in every aspect

Written Review

The evening has, again been punctuated by a cold, wet drizzle as we drive to Reindeer manor which is located off I-35 in Red Oak. The drive winds down a dark road and ends in an open field where one waits under a covered area to take a tram ride to the haunt. The staff is friendly, entertaining and are more than happy to discuss the strange history of the house. Be sure to go to their website and do some digging. Part of the haunt is this place is haunted by a tragic and bizarre past.

You are carried via the tram through a large graveyard past several spooky structures made even more ominous by the darkness. No piped in sound is played here but all around are the echoes of living night creatures. You arrive at the entrance of the haunt, greeted by flaming torches, fire breathing dragons and the occasional one hundred and fifty foot fiery geyser of flame lighting the night sky. This is a deep country haunt and is surrounded by inky darkness so the effect is spectacular.

This is unlike most haunts. This is a whole show from start to finish. As our group waited to enter the main house, we were witness to a young lady walking in the graveyard. Suddenly a grave opens and from underneath the ground a referee emerges and informs her she is breaking the rules and is taken to the nearby hangman’s gallows. A spotlight is turned onto her on the gallows and without reprieve, the lever is pulled and she drops though the trapdoor and we are left with a too realistic body hanging in the spotlight. Be prepared! This is not your common haunt. This is full blown theater!

You are then ushered past a ticket counter manned by a dead, decayed body and taken into a stone hallway. Over the speaker you’re given the history of the manor along with the history of the current occupants. The lights dim and you are greeted by fiendish faces floating in the darkness on the walls around you. After the introduction to the house you’re ushered through a door into an even smaller room. The door is closed behind you and there is deaths quiet around you. The lights go completely black. You’re then presented with something I won’t give away but claustrophobics may need to hold close to someone. Upon the end of this scare another door opens and you enter a large den light by a fireplace, the floor covered in mist and dimly lit. A coffin is perched on a stand and as dark somber music plays; the coffin opens and out of it floats Nosfaratu. He steps into the room and tells his tell of some of the current inhabitants of the mansion. He directs you to the coffin of his deceased wife and ask you to leave but not before another surprise takes you. The bookcase opens and you’re into another room, the library. There, anther spectral waif is standing over another coffin placed in the middle of the room. Suddenly from a dark corner springs here sister spinning another tale of the former owner. His presence is conjured and at once the coffin opens and bright lights begin to burst forth as the coffin jumps and shakes. You’re told to run to the open door before you and you enter an interactive room. You’re forced to look through walls constructed of slats with gaps in between. This allows you to gaze into a room in which a “doctor” is performing an autopsy on a young woman who is splayed open on the table. He opens her more and proceeds to pull her intestines form her body. During the procedure, she opens her eyes and she cries for help. As she screams the bottom of the walls before you drop and the fiend pulls a chainsaw out and pushes it through the openings. You’re told to run to the next egress all the time being chased by the now freed fiend! Through the door you find yourself in the “safety” of an open courtyard where you stand before a pond and huge trees. The story goes on in more detail and once again a spirit is conjured. The water suddenly burst into flames and an actor jumps from under the water and screams from the strange mixture of fire and water. Again you’re chased to the next room. In this room are scientists working on a huge project. Plenty of props fill this room with plenty of lights and noises going on around. The actors continue their work paying no attention to anything but their work. Things go bad and at once the HUGE Van Der Graff generator throws tremendous lightning bolts though the containment unit. This is a spectacular effect and shouldn’t be missed. Again, you’re off to another venue. This time you’re in a hall outside of a glassed-in room. Inside the room it is filled with fog. Eerily a young girl in a dress and pinafore suddenly comes into view and is dancing around inside the fog. She disappears into the fog and then, out of the fog a masked maniac hits the glass holding a huge knife. He fades into the fog and the young girl appears again at the glass. An arm comes around her and she’s dragged off into the fog! What happens next is a secret but be advised, it works out! Again, out you go and you’re led to an entrance to a ship that is rocking and moving heavily side to side. The effect is great!
Out of the haunted ship you enter the haunted trail. This is full of spooks and hidden actors throughout the walk. There is one other little interactive event in which you enter the clown room and in it a youngster is sleeping in his bed. He awakens and asks if we’ve seen a clown. He springs up calls for us to run after him. He’s fast and we follow him into another maze where we promptly loose him. The maze is filled with demonic clowns and fiends that come after you. You finally make your way through the trail and end back at the courtyard in front of the manor. A nice long haunt especially during a nice night.

It’s not over yet! Stick around for the rooftop show. A madman is spotlighted on the roof. At once Jackyl’s “The Lumberjack” starts to blast over the loudspeakers and the fiend goes to work carving up the hapless body on the surgical table, throwing out body pieces amidst huge sprays of blood and gore! Over the top theater that is, to borrow an arcane term, OUTTASITE! This is one great show all the way through. The actors here are all volunteers and always keep in mind the proceeds from this haunt go to fund the Boy Scouts.

Free parking, a mere fourteen dollar admission fee, the great atmosphere, the strange history of the house, the overall production values and the hard work of everyone involved in this production make it a must see for the Halloween season. Go see this haunt!

You guys ROCKED!