5940 w. 62nd Street, Chicago, IL
Year: 2014
Here's one haunt that came out of nowhere - it was only held on one day - November 1 - and if we hadn't stumbled across a listing for it we'd have missed it. We'd never heard of it before, but we figured for only $2 we really weren't losing out if it wasn't good. Thankfully it was quite well done, and ranks up there as one of the hidden gems of the 2014 season.
Held in a hall adjacent to St. Symphorosa church in Chicago, the Haunted Attic provided several creative rooms of haunt fun, including some traditional movie monsters and some unique spins on standard haunt scenes. Before we even got into the haunt there was some good wait entertainment in the form of a hooded actor holding a book on demonology - he didn't speak, but rather just walked around and stared at people - creepy and just a bit unnerving. There were also two live actors with pig masks, one of which had a USDA stamp on his neck - a nice touch! Inside the haunt we were treated to numerous rooms, including a room filled with giant spiders, webs, and hanging bodies, a surgery scene, a room where a all sorts of clowns surrounded us from all sides, and even a funeral scene with candles suspended from the ceiling and real flowers, making it smell like a real funeral parlor. Some
of our favorite scenes included a room where a doll-masked girl with
long black hair climbed out of an old 50's TV set, a la The Ring
while a hockey masked individual sat watching her, a creepy room with a
closet that had pictures of doll faces all over it and a liver actor in a
doll mask inside of it (who matched the doll face pictures), and even
rooms featuring Mike Myers and a Freddy Krueger who looked and sounded a
lot like the real thing.
Perhaps the best scene was one in a large room that looked like a bedroom. There were various neon accents on the walls, making them glow dimply, and in the center of the room a woman in black sat in a chair watching a priest attempt to exorcise a little girl on a bed. As visitors passed, it became clear this was a recreation of the famous exorcism scene from The Exorcist, where Fr. Merrin attempts to remove the demon from Regan McNeil. The actor playing Regan was excellent, and looked and sounded a lot like Linda Blair in the famous movie, while the actor playing the priest also did quite well, reciting the famous "the power of Christ compels you" line over and over. The bed was rigged to shake as well, adding another layer of realism to the scene. It was an excellent scene, and the only one we can think of that actually recreates the scene from The Exorcist. Well done! Overall, this was an excellent haunt and well worth the $2. There was some great creativity on display, and some scenes we've never seen in any haunt before, so we're very happy we stumbled upon it! |
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