42 W. New York Street, Aurora, IL
Year: 2015
Let's just start out by saying that we don't like blackout haunts. While they sound cool in theory, in practice they often wind up being a whole lot of nothing for the price of a regular haunt. Thus, when we heard Basement of the Dead was doing a blackout for Valentine's weekend, we were less than thrilled. However, we went anyway and hoped that Basement of the Dead would do something different to make it worthwhile.
We're happy to say that Basement of the Dead did change things up sufficiently to make the blackout more than just an exercise in trying to find our way out of a pitch black maze. What made it different? Well, several things. First, although the haunt was dark is was not completely black. There was enough background light to easily see where to walk and also to see parts of the sets as well as the actors' makeup and costumes. Since Basement of the Dead does such a good job at creating sets, costumes, and makeup, it would be a shame if a blackout haunt didn't allow those things to be seen, at least somewhat, and Basement of the Dead had just the right amount of light to showcase things while still keeping them in the shadows. Second, the light source supplied was both a nice gift (being in the form of a light up rose) and was strong enough to use to help see things that were blacked out. The rose itself was actually a mini flashlight as opposed to the typical glow stick that one gets in blackout haunts. Thus, we were able to effectively use it to shine some light on various actors and set pieces in order to get a nice view of them. It wasn't a strong light, but it was enough to provide a guide while still keeping the creepy atmosphere of the darkness. Third, the actors' performances were modified to take advantage of the darkness. The actors approached us slowly, moving in and out from various positions, giving a surreal quality to the entire haunt experience, as if we were moving along in slow motion. The movements also allowed us to get a closer look at some of the great costumes, makeup, and prosthetics. Fourth, the maze was backwards. Not only did this provide us with some great heated indoor waiting space in the area normally reserved for the Shattered 3D haunt that complements Basement of the Dead, it also provided a nice variation on the standard layout. |
CommentaryMAP
|
Additionally, there was a nice section in the beginning where we are all blindfolded and led into a cage where actors taunted us while they told us the rules - a nice little twist that I am sure had some people very worried about whether or not the blindfold would have to remain on during the entire thing! Add to this some sirens, disorienting sounds, and some creepy music, and Basement of the dead had a great atmosphere.
Overall, the Basement of the Dead's blackout hit all of the right buttons for us. We went into it expecting to be let down and came out wanting more - in short, it's what a blackout should be. It was a completely different experience to the standard Basement of the Dead, and yet it had many of the familiar things that make Basement of the Dead to great. While many haunts do blackouts as sort of a scary variation on the standard theme, often they simply do the same thing as every other haunt and provide a dark haunt with a single glow stick to light the way. On our opinion, in order to be successful, blackouts have to add to the standard experience and not subtract from it by turning out the lights. There has to be something in the dark to make it memorable, and we're happy to say that Basement of the Dead provided that. If we had to choose only one blackout haunt to go to in the future, Basement of the Dead's would be it!
Overall, the Basement of the Dead's blackout hit all of the right buttons for us. We went into it expecting to be let down and came out wanting more - in short, it's what a blackout should be. It was a completely different experience to the standard Basement of the Dead, and yet it had many of the familiar things that make Basement of the Dead to great. While many haunts do blackouts as sort of a scary variation on the standard theme, often they simply do the same thing as every other haunt and provide a dark haunt with a single glow stick to light the way. On our opinion, in order to be successful, blackouts have to add to the standard experience and not subtract from it by turning out the lights. There has to be something in the dark to make it memorable, and we're happy to say that Basement of the Dead provided that. If we had to choose only one blackout haunt to go to in the future, Basement of the Dead's would be it!