7759 S. Harlem Avenue, Burbank, IL
years: 2013
NOTE: Frightmare does not allow photos inside.
Frightmare is one of those haunts that has always been a favorite for the Horror Tourers. Despite its cheesy appearance on the outside, it often held some cool surprises on the inside, and, to be honest, the cheesiness factor really added to its appeal for us. Also, for the past few years, Frightmare has had a horror movie theme, and has really done well with employing some invtentive sets, creative takes on standard horror movie scenes, and some good actors to produce a great experience that is fun and scary in a good way. However, this year Frightmare dispensed with the movie theme and instead opted for a hotel theme - Hotel Massacre. Unfortunately, with the move to this theme, Frightmare also lost a bit of its appeal, in our opinion. While the outside of the haunt appeared mostly the same, there were some changes. All of the movie posters that adorned the front of the haunt were gone, replaced with bare walls. An actor dressed as an usher was still outside, but given the hotel theme, the actor's costume could easily have also represented a bellboy. After entering and giving our tickets to the ticket taker, we made our way through the hotel proper, with the first room being the cannibal kitchen. Additional rooms included a small bedroom with an animated figure on the bed that flew towards you, a glowing neon Phantom of the Opera figure seated at a pipe organ, and some rooms with creepy three dimensional figures on the walls that glow and seem to come out at you. Although the haunt is not in 3D, it is painted in those glowing neon colors that suggest it. While the paint scheme really has little to do with the hotel theme (nor do a lot of the rooms), the glow does enhance the funhouse atmosphere somewhat. Many of the rooms that used to be populated with actors were unfortunately empty this time around. For example, the mirrored hallways, so effectively used as part of a Michael Myers scene from Halloween, now were home to one sole actor who ran past and then disappeared. Following this inside portion, visitors exit the haunt and travel up a winding staircase, along the roof, and down another staircase. |
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In years past this was also an opportunity for movie characters to pop out, and the descending staircase led to a Camp Crystal Lake setup, complete with live Jason Voorhees. This year, however, there were mo movie characters, only one actor on the roof. Ironically, the painted display for Camp Crystal Lake was still there, but, alas, there was no Jason at all.
The second part of the haunt begins with a girl’s bedroom setup, complete with live actor and a large pile of stuffed animals that is not all that it seems. The penultimate room contains an animated dog prop (that used to be the Wolf Man portion of the display) as well as two live actors who taunted visitors on their way through. The final room, which used to be Camp Crystal Lake was a combination of that setup (without the Camp Crystal Lake name) and a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Again, no Jason, but there was a halfhearted version of Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre present.
Overall, the current iteration of Frightmare is not as fun as it used to be. While it was never high on scares (being more creative than frightening), the change of theme has lessened the impact. While we were disappointed as comared to previous years, Frightmare does change up their theme every couple of years, so perhaps the next time will be better. However, it’s still enjoyable if one thinks of it as more of a carnival attraction than a haunt.
Frightmare operators, if you're reading this, think about putting back the movie theme...we loved it!
The second part of the haunt begins with a girl’s bedroom setup, complete with live actor and a large pile of stuffed animals that is not all that it seems. The penultimate room contains an animated dog prop (that used to be the Wolf Man portion of the display) as well as two live actors who taunted visitors on their way through. The final room, which used to be Camp Crystal Lake was a combination of that setup (without the Camp Crystal Lake name) and a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Again, no Jason, but there was a halfhearted version of Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre present.
Overall, the current iteration of Frightmare is not as fun as it used to be. While it was never high on scares (being more creative than frightening), the change of theme has lessened the impact. While we were disappointed as comared to previous years, Frightmare does change up their theme every couple of years, so perhaps the next time will be better. However, it’s still enjoyable if one thinks of it as more of a carnival attraction than a haunt.
Frightmare operators, if you're reading this, think about putting back the movie theme...we loved it!