1962 W. Exchange Street, crete, IL
This haunt is located in a sparsely populated area of Crete and is housed in a small white building. The building is said to actually be haunted, and was the scene of an actual murder spree. In the summer of 1847, Cecil F Mancy killed 14 people, whose bodies were found in the building where the haunt is held.. Nightmare in Crete is sponsored by the Crete F-Men, a non-profit organization. Money raised through Nightmare in Crete Haunted House is used to operate and continually renovate the F Men Hall and also help support the Crete food pantry.
The Tourers visited this haunt in 2010 and 2012 (there was no haunt in 2011) and loved it each time - it is one of the best pay haunts we have been to, and features some interesting room designs, effective scares, and a high value for the money.
The Tourers visited this haunt in 2010 and 2012 (there was no haunt in 2011) and loved it each time - it is one of the best pay haunts we have been to, and features some interesting room designs, effective scares, and a high value for the money.
year: 2010
2010 was the first year the Tourers attended this haunt. Despite its small size, the haunt was effectively laid out, making the best use of limited space. Upon entering, we were treated to a movie highlighting the history of the location, and focusing on a mystery involving its founder. The movie was creepy and set the scene perfectly.
The haunt itself featured about a dozen rooms, many including hidden partitions where live actors would jump out. Rooms included a cornfield (indoors) with a scary Jack-O-Lantern headed monster appearing from between the stalks, a creepy clown room, a boiler room complete with Freddy Kreuger, and perhaps the best room - a dead end featuring a wall of TVS, one of which was playing the original Halloween. As we entered this room, we knew what was coming, and we also knew we had nowhere to go. Suddenly, Mike Myers appeared from a side door and rushed at us, only to quickly slip out of the door and out of sight. This effectively set up another scare as we knew we had to pass him again once we left the room - overall, this was one of the most effective single room setups the Tourers have seen. Additionally, this haunt featured a hayride which was included in the admission price. They hayride featured numerous scenes where the live actors climbed onto the hay wagon to scare riders. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this hayride was that, when we thought we were done, the driver went back into the corn maze and ALL of the actors from ALL of the scenes began chasing the wagon, eventually climbing on as a group to frighten people. The final touch was an actor dressed like the Saw guy, who was one the hayride the entire time. He sat towards the front and never moved until the rest of the actors stormed the wagon. He then suddenly came to life, providing an added level of interest. This haunt provided great bang for the buck, and was well worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, there was no haunt in 2011, but it did some back in 2012. |
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year: 2012
2012 marked a welcome return for the Nightmare in Crete. After there was no haunt in 2011, the Tourers were concerned that this haunt was gone for good. Fortunately they were proven incorrect.
This year, the company that does the hayride decided not to do it, so the haunt consisted of the house only. Outside there were concessions selling cheap hot dogs, nachos, pop, candy, and other things, which was a nice addition for those cold October nights. The house started out in much the same way as 2010, with a movie about the house and the bodies that were found there. At the end, a live actor came out from behind us just as the movie was ending - a nice touch. The room layout was different from 2010, with the clown room featuring some nice pop out surprises, and the corn maze featuring some well hidden live actors. The execution scene featured a live actor as opposed to a prop, and there was a psych ward scene that was new. Much to Laura's disappointment, there was no Mike Myers this year. Instead, the dead end room featured a slaughterhouse, complete with Leatherface who, upon seeing visitors, then chased them through the exit door and along the outside of the haunt. This Leatherface was excellent, perfectly copying the movements of the original Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Given that the actors are primarily high school volunteers, the quality of this haunt is consistently excellent. All of the actors remain in character and, as Leatherface proved, know their roles well. The room layout is clever, and shows a great attention to detail. This haunt is a labor of love and it shows in the finished product. It is well worth a trip, or perhaps even more than one. Highly recommended! |