11500 s. beloit avenue, worth, il
years: 2009-2011
Nightmare at the Terrace is a pay haunt located in Worth. The Tourers are always happy when a new haunt springs up in the southwest suburbs, so we made a point of visiting when we first saw it advertised in 2009.
The haunt is located at the end of a darkened street, which sets the mood immediately. The haunted house part itself is located in a large, gym like building with plenty of space for various setups. On our first visit we were the only people there, and many of the sets were spaced out so there was a bit of a walk between each display. What made it cool was there was little sound, so it was like exploring a big, empty, haunted series of rooms. That really added to the atmosphere, which is a good thing since there was not a ton to see. One of our favorite scenes from our first visit was a scene with a giant bunny, complete with chopped off ears and a hatchet. The bunny was creepy just by itself, but it was sitting in the middle of a bunch of decapitated dolls, which made it even creepier. The bunny even got up after we passed and started silently following us. Additionally, since we were the only people in the haunt, the live actors wound up following us from room to room, staying in character all of the time. Each time we turned around they were there. 2010 and 2011 were also great years. 2011 in particular featured the longest haunt yet, with several very well done scenes, including a mental asylum where the inmates break out of their cells, a creepy clown room with a giant jack-in-the-box, a very creepy doll's room populated with doll-faced ghouls, and an excellent swamp scene with a crazy hillbilly cabin in the middle of it. Although most of the actors were younger (high school age or so), they all remained in character and didn't overplay their roles, either. All of the scenes were lit rather effectively - just enough so you weren't in total darkness but not too much so as to spoil any surprises (the photos we took unfortunately remove some of the atmosphere, but trust us, the haunt was creepy). We liked it so much in 2011 that we went twice! At $10, Nightmare at the Terrace is reasonably priced and it has a decent length, too. It's about 20 minutes long, which is at the high end for pay haunts. It has a number of unique features inside, high actor enthusiasm, and effective use of space and lighting. Unfortunately, we somehow missed that it was open in 2012, and thought it had gone away, but we see it is operating in 2013, so we can't wait! We'd recommend this haunt to anyone looking for a great experience at a low price. |