HELLSGATE3101 Canal St. Lockport, IL | $25 GA/$35 VIP http://www.hellsgate.com
Set Design: HALL OF FAME
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Additionally, while the lighting was effective it was also sparse, so many oft he tombstones and other props along the trail were in complete darkness, thus losing some of their effectiveness as they were easily missed. The trail is merely the warm up to the main event that is the mansion, however. Once visitors pass the trail portion they are led to a waiting area in front of a giant mansion in the woods. This is where HellsGate really shines, as the mansion could easily be taken for a real old abandoned one, despite the fact that it was only recently built. It has two stories, multiple windows and even a front porch walkway, all of which set the tone for what visitors find inside. The theme is one of the Victorian/Edwardian era, around the turn of the century. All of the actors dress in fashions of the period, and the inside of the mansion mostly corresponds to this timeframe as well.
Upon entering the mansion, visitors are introduced to the haunt by a live actor who then scuttles away because "they" are coming - "they" being twin girls who haunt the mansion - they appear form behind a painting and welcome everyone before turning on the terror. We won't spoil any of the specifics, but we will say that this first room is one of the most detailed we've ever seen in a haunt. Giant stained glass windows occupy most of the left hand wall, behind which can be seen flashes of lightning. In front is a large faux marble fireplace, over which nag several paintings. Chandeliers dangle from the ceiling, and on the right is a large staircase that leads to a second floor. Although only for decoration, the second floor here adds to the realism of the haunt and showcases the attention to detail. This attention to detail is carried through the entire mansion, and is easily one of the best features of the haunt. Visitors are immersed inside the haunt and proceed as if they are actually in an old mansion. Each room is fully realized, from floor to ceiling. There are no areas where the walls simply stop halfway up and one can see the ceiling of the building that houses the haunt. From rooms to room and even in the corridors, there is no break in the mansion design. There are even sections where actors crawl on the walls overhead, suspended by wires. It's unnerving but also a nice touch.
For set design HellsGate cannot be faulted at all. It's one of the most immersive haunts we've ever been to, featuring an almost complete mansion, including a parlor, kitchen, freezer, dining room, long corridors, attic, basement, doll and clown rooms, trophy room, and more. A Victorian/Edwardian theme with actors in period costume chauffeuring you through the mansion, serving more as guides than as scare points. Some effective scenes include the opening scene with two evil twins, a trophy room with a giant skeletal deer head on the wall that expands to feature the entire deer including flailing legs, and in the same room a live actor disguised as an animal trophy, a doll room with hundreds of creepy dolls with smashed heads and oddly painted faces and bodies, a library with falling shelves containing people inside them, and even a room with a zombie suspended from a wire who reaches out to grab visitors as they go by.
For anyone familiar with Statesville Prison you'll find a lot of similarities here: static and animated props in rooms, a giant animated animal head, live snakes and other creatures, an introductory scene featuring actors on wires flying overhead, and even the same lining up of visitors in single file lines in a couple of rooms.
What's the bottom line? Well, if you're a fan of set design (as we far) you'll love this haunt - however, like many new attractions that seem impressive when the open, the set design might become a bit dated over time is nothing else about the haunt changes. It's not scary,
but rather more of an attraction with a haunted house theme. If you like theme park attractions, you'll probably also like this. If you're looking for a really scary, in your face haunt, then this isn't it, but then again it's not meant to be. The actors are not in your face or intense, but rather more on the comical side. Not many prosthetics in favor of simple makeup and costuming. Approximately 22 minutes long for the main house and another 10 for the cemetery/trail.
Overall, we enjoyed HellsGate, and we'd visit again. IT's definitely a haunt to see, if only to see what can be done in terms of modern haunted houses. However, we would highly suggest getting there early, preferably before they open. The lines get very long and there are four of them - one for the shuttle bus, one for the tickets, one for the entrance to the trail and one for the entrance to the main house, plus two more smaller sections inside the house. We'd recommend showing up by 6:30 (the haunt opens at 7 pm). Basically, waiting 30 minutes for the first shuttle bus to arrive and then being the first group into the haunt is a much better scenario than getting there after the haunt opens. We had VIP tickets and we arrived at 7:15 and immediately got on a shuttle bus, yet we will had a 40 minute wait in total before we got into the main house. By the time we got into the house the line for it had more than quadrupled, and when we left the haunt (around 8:20 pm) the lines for the shuttle bus were all the way down the block. We'd estimate a close to three-hour wait if you arrive later than 7:30 pm, so be prepared!
Upon entering the mansion, visitors are introduced to the haunt by a live actor who then scuttles away because "they" are coming - "they" being twin girls who haunt the mansion - they appear form behind a painting and welcome everyone before turning on the terror. We won't spoil any of the specifics, but we will say that this first room is one of the most detailed we've ever seen in a haunt. Giant stained glass windows occupy most of the left hand wall, behind which can be seen flashes of lightning. In front is a large faux marble fireplace, over which nag several paintings. Chandeliers dangle from the ceiling, and on the right is a large staircase that leads to a second floor. Although only for decoration, the second floor here adds to the realism of the haunt and showcases the attention to detail. This attention to detail is carried through the entire mansion, and is easily one of the best features of the haunt. Visitors are immersed inside the haunt and proceed as if they are actually in an old mansion. Each room is fully realized, from floor to ceiling. There are no areas where the walls simply stop halfway up and one can see the ceiling of the building that houses the haunt. From rooms to room and even in the corridors, there is no break in the mansion design. There are even sections where actors crawl on the walls overhead, suspended by wires. It's unnerving but also a nice touch.
For set design HellsGate cannot be faulted at all. It's one of the most immersive haunts we've ever been to, featuring an almost complete mansion, including a parlor, kitchen, freezer, dining room, long corridors, attic, basement, doll and clown rooms, trophy room, and more. A Victorian/Edwardian theme with actors in period costume chauffeuring you through the mansion, serving more as guides than as scare points. Some effective scenes include the opening scene with two evil twins, a trophy room with a giant skeletal deer head on the wall that expands to feature the entire deer including flailing legs, and in the same room a live actor disguised as an animal trophy, a doll room with hundreds of creepy dolls with smashed heads and oddly painted faces and bodies, a library with falling shelves containing people inside them, and even a room with a zombie suspended from a wire who reaches out to grab visitors as they go by.
For anyone familiar with Statesville Prison you'll find a lot of similarities here: static and animated props in rooms, a giant animated animal head, live snakes and other creatures, an introductory scene featuring actors on wires flying overhead, and even the same lining up of visitors in single file lines in a couple of rooms.
What's the bottom line? Well, if you're a fan of set design (as we far) you'll love this haunt - however, like many new attractions that seem impressive when the open, the set design might become a bit dated over time is nothing else about the haunt changes. It's not scary,
but rather more of an attraction with a haunted house theme. If you like theme park attractions, you'll probably also like this. If you're looking for a really scary, in your face haunt, then this isn't it, but then again it's not meant to be. The actors are not in your face or intense, but rather more on the comical side. Not many prosthetics in favor of simple makeup and costuming. Approximately 22 minutes long for the main house and another 10 for the cemetery/trail.
Overall, we enjoyed HellsGate, and we'd visit again. IT's definitely a haunt to see, if only to see what can be done in terms of modern haunted houses. However, we would highly suggest getting there early, preferably before they open. The lines get very long and there are four of them - one for the shuttle bus, one for the tickets, one for the entrance to the trail and one for the entrance to the main house, plus two more smaller sections inside the house. We'd recommend showing up by 6:30 (the haunt opens at 7 pm). Basically, waiting 30 minutes for the first shuttle bus to arrive and then being the first group into the haunt is a much better scenario than getting there after the haunt opens. We had VIP tickets and we arrived at 7:15 and immediately got on a shuttle bus, yet we will had a 40 minute wait in total before we got into the main house. By the time we got into the house the line for it had more than quadrupled, and when we left the haunt (around 8:20 pm) the lines for the shuttle bus were all the way down the block. We'd estimate a close to three-hour wait if you arrive later than 7:30 pm, so be prepared!