601 Dundee Avenue, East Dundee, IL
years: 2013
Nightmare from North Street is a
haunt located within Santa’s Village Azoosement Park. Visitors have the option
of purchasing tickets just for the haunt or for purchasing tickets that give
them access to park rides as well. The park is open during the evening, and it
really has a great family atmosphere. Aside from the haunt, visitors can check
out the petting zoo, the aviary, and various game and concession stands.
In keeping with the Santa’s Village tradition of being family friendly, the haunt is more of a “jump out and startle” haunt than an intense one. That is not to say that the haunt is not interesting. It is enjoyable and provided some good laughs and some decent sets. I just wanted to make clear that one should not expect to see very highly detailed sets, lots of intense actors, or lots of blood and gore. Last year, the park was closed, and visitors were led through the park to the haunt building in the center. Along the way they were approached by various live actors who tried to scare visitors. This year, the haunt was located in a barn at the back section of the park. It was actually somewhat difficult to find. The good news is that there was more space to work with inside, allowing for more scenes. Most of the haunt consists of long corridors with dark walls with various set pieces thrown in. One of our favorite scenes was the first one, which featured a cemetery scene that had live actors emerging from graves through holes in the ground – very well done and actually not something we have seen before at a haunt. Other interesting scenes included a zombie diner setup with sarcastic waitress and annoying customer. Both were clever in their acting and made for some good laughs. There was also a clever scene set in a living room, where a crazy actor kept exclaiming “he’s coming! You’re gonna see now! Wait till he gets here!” followed by a surprise from the next room. Additionally, there were scenes involving being trapped in a cage, having to crawl through what looked like a hamster tube, a room with video of horses eyes playing on the walls, and even an electrocution room where visitors had to sit on three electric chairs to be “judged” by the executioner. Overall, the scenes were clever and the actors, while mostly younger, did stay in character and provided some interesting moments.
Overall, it was an enjoyable haunt, and very well suited for people with kids looking for a haunt that’s not too scary. We’d recommend visiting the park as well as the haunt and making an evening of it. The price for the haunt and park minus the rides is the same as the price for just the haunt, so it’s something to take advantage of. While it’s certainly not the most intense haunt, Nightmare from North Street is clever and enjoyable, especially if you have younger kids. |