7502 E. Hansel Road, Channahon, IL
years: 2011-2012
Abyss is a pay haunt located in a barn that was built in 1834. It, and the cemetery across the road from the barn are supposedly actually haunted, with reports of paranormal events dating back decades. Whether or not the events are true is a matter for speculation, but the back story does actually add a bit to the atmosphere at the haunt.
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The Tourers first visited this haunt in 2011 after hearing good things about it. As we were in the general area visiting other haunts, we took the chance. The creepy atmosphere began even before we entered the haunt, as the approach to it took us along a winding road surrounded by trees. That particular night there was a light fog and that, coupled with the fact that we were were listening to the theme song from "Halloween" as we drove up really upped the spookiness factor for us.
When we arrived at the haunt there was only a small line, which was fortunate as we didn't want to wait in a long one. We got our tickets and prepared to be scared. As advertised, the haunt complex features a very large old barn, but that's not the only part of it. The first portion is in a newer building, followed by an open area that leads to the barn itself. It all looked most promising.
There was some light wait entertainment in the form of a scarecrow-like figure with long claws, clad in a trenchcoat. He was excellent, and found many ways of sneaking up on people and making odd sounds. The entry to the haunt was a stone facade with a large gate. Once we gave our tickets to the attendant we were in. There were several interesting scenes inside the first building, including a large area where a semi truck appeared to come at us and a small room where the wall started rapidly moving towards us as we struggled to find the exit. It was very well done overall.
The rest of the building was dominated by large elaborate sets, including a rather excellent castle like setting, complete with flickering torches on the falls and large iron gates. We were stalled in this room for a while, just waiting for something to happen, which always ups the creep factor for us. After a short while a large creature emerged from a hidden section and led us to the next portion of the haunt. There was a lot to see in the first building, and getting through it took about 25 minutes, which was excellent in and of itself, but we were not done.
Following the first building, we found ourselves in an outdoor area dominated by various tombstones and coffins, as well as fake stone walls with torches on them (for 2012 this changed slightly to more of a trai, complete with crazy redneck ghouls running in an out, scaring us). On our first visit, we saw numerous live actors outside, including the scarecrow figure who was the wait entertainer, as well as a giant Jason Voorhees. They were all waiting for us, and the fact that they were out in the open but we still didn't know what was coming was an excellent upping of the ante. Jason chased the visitors up a staircase where an escaped lunatic figure was waiting for us, inviting us in to the next part of the haunt. Meanwhile, Jason stood at the bottom of the stairs, just looking up at us menacingly. The performances we all well done - convincing but not over the top.
The final portion of the haunt took place in the old barn. We started out on the top level, most of which was divided into a series of passages containing various scenes, including a TV room with a crazy man in it, a dark maze, and even long corridor outside of which we could see live actors milling around, waiting to attack us. Following the upper levels, we found ourselves headed to the basement, and it was here that the old, spooky nature of the barn came into play.
Once we got downstairs, the walls of the barn cellar became the walls of the haunt, and the dirt floor replaced the wooden ones. The walls, the dirt floor, and the old musty smell of age really added to the authenticity of the haunt. Scenes in this area included a voodoo priestess setup, a mummy's tomb, and a swamp like area complete with well-camouflaged live actor. We even had to duck and move through a small hole in the wall to get to another area. While there were several scenes, there were only a few actors, which made things even better - since the surroundings were so well done themselves, there really wasn't a need to add a huge amount of actors, and it worked well.
"The final scare was provided as we exited, in the form of a chainsaw-wielding maniac, which is often a staple of live haunts. Overall, the haunt took almost an hour to go through, which is exceptionally long for a pay haunt, and in our experience was rivalled only by the 60-90 minute length of Reaper's Realm in Indiana.
We had a great time visiting Abyss on both occasions we went there, although the price jumped from $18 in 2011 to $25 in 2012. While the haunt was long, our 2012 experience wasn't quite as good as 2011, as the number of actors was much less, leading to a lot of empty rooms and wandering in corridors, and the fact that the haunt seemed a bit shorter as well. Also, $25 is really at the upper limit of pricing for a haunt. While were were lucky that there was no long line in 2011, we were not so fortunate in 2012, even though we went on the Sunday and got there before the haunt opened. Our wait was still short (about 40 minutes or so), but could have easily been an hour or two.
We do definitely recommend Abyss, as the location, price, and the historic nature give it an edge over other haunts of the same type, but we certainly think that your experience might depend on such factors as the line wait, the number of actors in the haunt, and also on the price, which may yet see another increase.
When we arrived at the haunt there was only a small line, which was fortunate as we didn't want to wait in a long one. We got our tickets and prepared to be scared. As advertised, the haunt complex features a very large old barn, but that's not the only part of it. The first portion is in a newer building, followed by an open area that leads to the barn itself. It all looked most promising.
There was some light wait entertainment in the form of a scarecrow-like figure with long claws, clad in a trenchcoat. He was excellent, and found many ways of sneaking up on people and making odd sounds. The entry to the haunt was a stone facade with a large gate. Once we gave our tickets to the attendant we were in. There were several interesting scenes inside the first building, including a large area where a semi truck appeared to come at us and a small room where the wall started rapidly moving towards us as we struggled to find the exit. It was very well done overall.
The rest of the building was dominated by large elaborate sets, including a rather excellent castle like setting, complete with flickering torches on the falls and large iron gates. We were stalled in this room for a while, just waiting for something to happen, which always ups the creep factor for us. After a short while a large creature emerged from a hidden section and led us to the next portion of the haunt. There was a lot to see in the first building, and getting through it took about 25 minutes, which was excellent in and of itself, but we were not done.
Following the first building, we found ourselves in an outdoor area dominated by various tombstones and coffins, as well as fake stone walls with torches on them (for 2012 this changed slightly to more of a trai, complete with crazy redneck ghouls running in an out, scaring us). On our first visit, we saw numerous live actors outside, including the scarecrow figure who was the wait entertainer, as well as a giant Jason Voorhees. They were all waiting for us, and the fact that they were out in the open but we still didn't know what was coming was an excellent upping of the ante. Jason chased the visitors up a staircase where an escaped lunatic figure was waiting for us, inviting us in to the next part of the haunt. Meanwhile, Jason stood at the bottom of the stairs, just looking up at us menacingly. The performances we all well done - convincing but not over the top.
The final portion of the haunt took place in the old barn. We started out on the top level, most of which was divided into a series of passages containing various scenes, including a TV room with a crazy man in it, a dark maze, and even long corridor outside of which we could see live actors milling around, waiting to attack us. Following the upper levels, we found ourselves headed to the basement, and it was here that the old, spooky nature of the barn came into play.
Once we got downstairs, the walls of the barn cellar became the walls of the haunt, and the dirt floor replaced the wooden ones. The walls, the dirt floor, and the old musty smell of age really added to the authenticity of the haunt. Scenes in this area included a voodoo priestess setup, a mummy's tomb, and a swamp like area complete with well-camouflaged live actor. We even had to duck and move through a small hole in the wall to get to another area. While there were several scenes, there were only a few actors, which made things even better - since the surroundings were so well done themselves, there really wasn't a need to add a huge amount of actors, and it worked well.
"The final scare was provided as we exited, in the form of a chainsaw-wielding maniac, which is often a staple of live haunts. Overall, the haunt took almost an hour to go through, which is exceptionally long for a pay haunt, and in our experience was rivalled only by the 60-90 minute length of Reaper's Realm in Indiana.
We had a great time visiting Abyss on both occasions we went there, although the price jumped from $18 in 2011 to $25 in 2012. While the haunt was long, our 2012 experience wasn't quite as good as 2011, as the number of actors was much less, leading to a lot of empty rooms and wandering in corridors, and the fact that the haunt seemed a bit shorter as well. Also, $25 is really at the upper limit of pricing for a haunt. While were were lucky that there was no long line in 2011, we were not so fortunate in 2012, even though we went on the Sunday and got there before the haunt opened. Our wait was still short (about 40 minutes or so), but could have easily been an hour or two.
We do definitely recommend Abyss, as the location, price, and the historic nature give it an edge over other haunts of the same type, but we certainly think that your experience might depend on such factors as the line wait, the number of actors in the haunt, and also on the price, which may yet see another increase.