19820 S. Harlem Avenue, Frankfort, IL
year: 2013
If we had an award for the most improved haunt each year,
we’d have three strong candidates this time around. Perhaps the best one of
these is the Frankfort Jaycees haunted house. We have been visiting this haunt
since 2008, and it has always been decent enough to keep us coming back. While
it was never anything earth shattering, it was clever and enjoyable, and so we
always made sure to include it in our haunt visits.
However, last year the haunt was a bad experience for us. The theme had changed to one of a psychiatric hospital, and it was the same setup in every room of the haunt – medical scenes with actors dressed like zombies who either said nothing or shouted at us to get out. In addition, when we arrived the line was short, with only about three people ahead of us, but it took us over an hour to get inside. When we asked about the wait, we were told the actors were on a 10 minute break, despite the haunt being opened for only about an hour at that point. The 10 minutes stretched into 30, then 45, and when we asked for our money back we were rather rudely told “no refunds.” Thus, it was not a great experience all around, so some of us vowed never to go there again. However, this year the haunt theme had changed to a hotel one, and since we were in the area, we decided that, if there was NO line and NO break time, we’d try it. In short, we were glad we did, as this year’s made up for last year’s and then some. We can honestly say that the 2013 experience was the best one we’ve had at Frankfort Jaycees in all of the years we have been visiting. What was different? Well, practically everything. The scenes were more detailed, the actors more varied in both look and performance, and what’s more, they were coordinated in the their acting. While we still got some screams to “get out,” they were mixed with other, clever performances that coalesced into an entertaining whole. We really liked everything we saw from the moment we stepped into the very first room, which was done up like a hotel lobby, and featured a little girl staring at a Tv set showing nothing but static. She never broke character, even when we asked to take her picture. She just turned to face us and stared at us with a creepy look – fun! |
Commentary
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Throughout the haunt there were numerous clever scenes and fun actors, including three live actors (one in a weird metal mask) who followed us from the first room into the second – they didn’t say anything, but managed to creep us out a bit as we looked for the exit. There was also a cool room featuring blank white panels hanging from the ceiling and a good hidden actor, an execution scene and a swamp scene with some more clever scares, a rather creepy Satanic Mass scene which actually seemed a bit intense for the typical age level of Jaycees haunt visitors (but we liked it), and several more.
One favorite was a sort of living room/recreation room setting with three live actors in clown masks. One was just jumping up and down on the couch, but facing the wall (odd), one was riding an exercise bicycle (even odder), and one did the good, old-fashioned “jump out and scare” thing. A very unusual scene to be sure. Another favorite was the bar scene, which featured a couple of tables and a bar, around which various live actors sat. There was a strange gorilla type character at the bar, and a weird female devil-headed character at a table, both of whom began taunting us when we entered. In fact all of the actors in the room taunted and followed us except for one who was preoccupied with trying to rip an air conditioner out of the upper portion of a corner wall area. It was all so wonderfully weird that we found ourselves smiling and laughing throughout the entire thing.
Overall, we really enjoyed our visit to Frankfort Jaycees this time around. Everything inside was different in the best way possible. Clever scenes, detailed sets, good and varied actors – Frankfort Jaycees had everything we like to see in a haunt. Heck, they even had Michael Myers at the end, but rather than wielding a knife, this one was holding a broom, as if he were the hotel janitor – it was hilariously enjoyable!
In fact, we liked Frankfort Jaycees so much that it went from a “never do again” haunt to one of our most enjoyable haunts of the season, so kudos to all involved! Unfortunately, though, we have heard that 2013 will be the last year for this haunt - most disappointing!
One favorite was a sort of living room/recreation room setting with three live actors in clown masks. One was just jumping up and down on the couch, but facing the wall (odd), one was riding an exercise bicycle (even odder), and one did the good, old-fashioned “jump out and scare” thing. A very unusual scene to be sure. Another favorite was the bar scene, which featured a couple of tables and a bar, around which various live actors sat. There was a strange gorilla type character at the bar, and a weird female devil-headed character at a table, both of whom began taunting us when we entered. In fact all of the actors in the room taunted and followed us except for one who was preoccupied with trying to rip an air conditioner out of the upper portion of a corner wall area. It was all so wonderfully weird that we found ourselves smiling and laughing throughout the entire thing.
Overall, we really enjoyed our visit to Frankfort Jaycees this time around. Everything inside was different in the best way possible. Clever scenes, detailed sets, good and varied actors – Frankfort Jaycees had everything we like to see in a haunt. Heck, they even had Michael Myers at the end, but rather than wielding a knife, this one was holding a broom, as if he were the hotel janitor – it was hilariously enjoyable!
In fact, we liked Frankfort Jaycees so much that it went from a “never do again” haunt to one of our most enjoyable haunts of the season, so kudos to all involved! Unfortunately, though, we have heard that 2013 will be the last year for this haunt - most disappointing!