300 Lake Street, Elgin, IL
Year: 2014
Psychosis has always been a favorite of the Tourers. Each year we make a point of hitting it and seeing what is new. Last year's version was one of our top haunts for the entire season, so we were naturally excited to see it this year.
For 2014, Psychosis had a change of location which, in our experience, can sometimes lead to problems with layout or setup. It also had a new theme, that of some type of disease outbreak. For both of these reason, we were a bit concerned about what Psychosis was going to be like this year. It turns out that the changes did make for a less enjoyable haunt overall. Little can be done about the location change. We understand that these things happen and creating a new haunt instead of relying on an old place can be stressful, so we wouldn't really knock Psychosis for that. However, the change in theme did leave something to be desired. The idea of a disease/zombie outbreak (and although Psychosis didn't use the word "zombie" in the haunt, that's really what is was) is a theme that has been done a lot in haunts, and in our opinion it's one that doesn't provide a lot of variety, so we were curious as to how this one would play out. Fortunately, the theme really only extended to the first couple of rooms. After that, it was more of the traditional Psychosis that we know and enjoy. The wax museum was here again, with some new additions and a great old favorite (no spoilers). There were some other very good scenes, including an homage to The Ring, with Samara coming out of a TV set, and an Exorcist like scene with a creepy little possessed girl writhing around on a bed.. Also present was the half maze, which has always been a feature of Psychosis. This year, however, it was divided into three non-consecutive parts, and visitors had to exit one section then reenter another. Nothing was really different in these sections, and to be honest it seemed as though they were there to pad out the length of the haunt and make up for sections that were either missing or incomplete. In contrast to previous years, however, there was a new outside portion after the haunt seemed to be over. Visitors exited the indoor portion, walked through a graveyard, then reentered the haunt for some more scenes. The actors were decent, consisting mainly of younger kids. There didn't seem to be a large amount of them inside this year, leaving some rooms rather spartan. However, despite having some cool new scenes and some classic ones from previous years, some parts of the haunt seemed unfinished, particularly the very last room. We're willing to cut some slack here, though, given that this is a new location and there are bound to be teething problems.
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What we really weren't too thrilled with, however, was the change in theme to the one of disease outbreak. While the theme itself is fine if done well, Psychosis seemed to take the setup portion too far. For example, the opening scene found visitors separated and put into cages by some live actors. After being put into the cages, the visitors had to stand there and listen to the actors tell some rather unfunny jokes for what seemed to be several minutes. There really didn’t seem to be any purpose at all to this portion of the haunt, as visitors just stood in the cages, then were told to exit out the back way.
Following this, visitors were subjected to a repeat of the disease story, only this time told by a doctor, who basically just repeated the same story that visitors were told before they entered the haunt. It seemed a bit repetitive, and went on too long, again taking up a decent amount of time.
Overall, we have to say that this year's visit to Psychosis does not rank amongst our favorites. The disease theme seemed repetitive and a bit boring, and the cage section really didn't seem to have any reason behind it. While other parts of the haunt were good, they were countered by sections that didn't seem to have much in them. Here's hoping that future years will bring a more expanded and detailed haunt, much like the Psychosis of old.
Following this, visitors were subjected to a repeat of the disease story, only this time told by a doctor, who basically just repeated the same story that visitors were told before they entered the haunt. It seemed a bit repetitive, and went on too long, again taking up a decent amount of time.
Overall, we have to say that this year's visit to Psychosis does not rank amongst our favorites. The disease theme seemed repetitive and a bit boring, and the cage section really didn't seem to have any reason behind it. While other parts of the haunt were good, they were countered by sections that didn't seem to have much in them. Here's hoping that future years will bring a more expanded and detailed haunt, much like the Psychosis of old.