8722 W. 88th Avenue, Hickory Hills, IL
Year: 2014
As always, we're excited when a new haunt comes to town, so we were very much looking forward to Nightmares, a new 6,000 square foot haunt in Hickory Hills. This was the first year, so we had no idea what to expect. Would it be scary? Would it be funny? Would it be worth the trip?
Nightmares bills itself as the "Top Haunted House Near Chicago under $20" - a rather bold claim, not only because this is their first year, but also because that claim puts them in the same category as established haunts such as Basement of the Dead, Evil Intentions, Psychosis, and many others. We were wary, but interested. However, we have to say that in this case the hype is nowhere near the reality. To start off with, on the night we visited we had to wait about 30 minutes just to be let in the door, as the haunt was not finished setting up inside. While we don't mind waiting if there is an actual line, there was only one group ahead of us, and as we didn't come on opening night, there really was no excuse for the delay. As Horror Tourer Magic Mike says, "if you're in the World Series, you need to be ready for game 1 and not game 3," meaning if you say you're open at a certain time you need to be open and ready to accept visitors. On the inside, there was a large waiting area and the haunt was showing the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre on a big screen as part of the wait entertainment. After waiting for about 10 minutes on the inside, we were ushered through an entryway and found ourselves in a room that had a large bookcase along one side, as well as a live actor who opened it and separated us into two different passageways. We met up back on the other side, and wound our way through a series of black hallways - and that's mostly it. |
CommentaryMAP
|
While we'd like to give a rundown of all of the cool things inside Nightmares, there really wasn't much to see. While there were a few interesting things, such as a girl pressed against what looked like a solid backlit wall that turned out to be flexible so it looked as though she was coming out of the wall itself, and a cool "Slender Man" type live actor who was hidden in the shadows of a strobe lit darkened room, almost all of the haunt (save for about three areas at the end) consisted of dark corridors with nothing in them. While this actually seemed a bit cool and creepy when we initially entered, as we were wondering what might jump out at us, it soon became apparent that nothing was going to happen, so most of our journey through the haunt was one of just wandering down dark hallways working towards the exit.
There were a few actors inside, and a handful of themed rooms, such as a chained area with a live actor inside, a room with a girl and her dolls, and what looked like a redneck shack in the woods at the end, but none of these were particularly memorable. The actors that were there seemed unsure of what to do in their roles, and in at least one case they were simply standing around laughing as we walked through as opposed to actually jumping out to scare us. The timing seemed to be off as well.
Thus, if we had to describe Nightmares in one word it would probably be "unfinished" - from the lengthy delay in the beginning because people were not ready, to the numerous empty corridors inside, the overall feel was one of a rushed, incomplete setup. In fact, after we left the haunt, the operators came out to speak with us and told us that they weren't finished setting up and that several actors hadn't shown up either, and asked us to come back later in the season when they'd be more up to speed.
Usually, we're quite forgiving when it comes to haunts (well, some of us are, anyway) - we realize that haunting is not an exact science, and that many haunts are dependent on volunteers who are not professional actors, people who might not show up, and other things beyond their control. However, one of the things we really don't like is when haunts overhype themselves and present themselves as something they are not. While we certainly understand that hype is all a part of haunting (and we certainly would never tell any haunt operators NOT to hype their haunt), there still has to be some truth to the hype. In the case of Nightmares, billing oneself as "Top Haunted House Near Chicago under $20" sets up some significant expectations that, at least on the night of our visit, were not met. Also, as mentioned, if you advertise that you're open on certain dates, then a normal assumption would be that (barring some unexpected circumstances) your haunt is fully running on those dates. Asking visitors to come back later in the season when the haunt is better is not necessarily a good excuse for not being ready on advertised nights of operation.
From their current web site, which has a lot of visitor reviews, it appears that other visitors enjoyed what they saw, so perhaps our visit was simply ill-timed, but again we go back to the idea of being ready when you say you are going to be ready. As haunt enthusiasts, we are willing to give Nightmares another shot next year, but for now we have to say that the hype surrounding this haunt is far removed from the reality we experienced, and we might even go so far as to say that it borders on a bit of deliberate misdirection. Here's hoping that the reality and the hype will be much closer to one another next year.
There were a few actors inside, and a handful of themed rooms, such as a chained area with a live actor inside, a room with a girl and her dolls, and what looked like a redneck shack in the woods at the end, but none of these were particularly memorable. The actors that were there seemed unsure of what to do in their roles, and in at least one case they were simply standing around laughing as we walked through as opposed to actually jumping out to scare us. The timing seemed to be off as well.
Thus, if we had to describe Nightmares in one word it would probably be "unfinished" - from the lengthy delay in the beginning because people were not ready, to the numerous empty corridors inside, the overall feel was one of a rushed, incomplete setup. In fact, after we left the haunt, the operators came out to speak with us and told us that they weren't finished setting up and that several actors hadn't shown up either, and asked us to come back later in the season when they'd be more up to speed.
Usually, we're quite forgiving when it comes to haunts (well, some of us are, anyway) - we realize that haunting is not an exact science, and that many haunts are dependent on volunteers who are not professional actors, people who might not show up, and other things beyond their control. However, one of the things we really don't like is when haunts overhype themselves and present themselves as something they are not. While we certainly understand that hype is all a part of haunting (and we certainly would never tell any haunt operators NOT to hype their haunt), there still has to be some truth to the hype. In the case of Nightmares, billing oneself as "Top Haunted House Near Chicago under $20" sets up some significant expectations that, at least on the night of our visit, were not met. Also, as mentioned, if you advertise that you're open on certain dates, then a normal assumption would be that (barring some unexpected circumstances) your haunt is fully running on those dates. Asking visitors to come back later in the season when the haunt is better is not necessarily a good excuse for not being ready on advertised nights of operation.
From their current web site, which has a lot of visitor reviews, it appears that other visitors enjoyed what they saw, so perhaps our visit was simply ill-timed, but again we go back to the idea of being ready when you say you are going to be ready. As haunt enthusiasts, we are willing to give Nightmares another shot next year, but for now we have to say that the hype surrounding this haunt is far removed from the reality we experienced, and we might even go so far as to say that it borders on a bit of deliberate misdirection. Here's hoping that the reality and the hype will be much closer to one another next year.