SCREAMWORLD- located on Sam Houston Beltway in North Houston, TX.
This year I attended annonymously with a friend who's birthday is on Halloween. We wanted to celebrate by doing something fun and scary.
Been there done that with watching horror flicks, made my own horror flick, and now am craving the live theatrical experience in my entertainment... so we decided on the time honored tradition of the Haunted House attraction.
As a veteran of Halloween and Haunt industry, I have many mass market halloween products with world wide distribution (REEL FX via Rubies Costume Co.), and was co-owner of a successful Theme Haunt back in 1997 (VAMPYRE HOUSE). Along with the Fiendish Dr. Phil, and our FX lab, Facades FX we have provided many prosthetics, masks and SFX rigs for Haunts around the world including Netherworld in Atlanta, and of course Screamworld itself. In 2003 we were contracted to do makeup and stalk arounds for Screamworld, and that was the last time I was there, before this past Saturday. And I have to say with resounding enthusiasm: WOW! It has really changed!!!
The haunt has grown, and the appointments have greatly improved with the newer technologies that have over the past decade revolutionized the haunt industry. As a professional I'll give my evaluation first, then lastly as a lover of all things Horror and Halloween.
Facility: Well organized and clean.
Parking: With a fee, but nicely organized, and easy access both arriving and exiting.
Ticket Prices: Within reason, and over all worth what you pay.
Decor, props and sets/dressing: Nicely done environments. More detailed, and I can see where they put the money in the sets, props and detailing. A lot of growth and improvement over the years.
Waiting time: Now this was a stroke of genius. The Monster Maze is an additional attraction included in the ticket price, but, it is routed at the entrance and patrons go through it *before* entering the line for the actual interior haunt. This was a fang-tastic warm up scream fest! Nicely done maze, with chain link fences and post beams, and plenty of creepy creatures stalking the corners and frightening patrons. A few DEAD ENDS where stalkers could corner the fearful for a heart pounding fright. I loved it.
Actual Line: Two options: Wait or Speed Pass (an additional fee). I'm being frugal, so I opted to wait, and I am glad I did. It was a great chance for me to watch the crowd, and experience the stalk around actors. Simple noise makers hidden in the palm of the actors offered up great startles to unsuspecting patrons who had been lulled by the wait in the line, or distracted by the video monitor showing "SAW." This put the Fun back in funeral.
The Haunt itself- without giving too many spoilers, it was dark, narrow, scary, without being too dark, so you didn't miss anything. Great props suspended from the ceiling swinging bodies, butchered hogs, you name it. Great industrial scare tools, oil drums used to bang on, and of course the classic chain saw. Why they even had a zombie world which you exited into as the climax of the haunt. FANGTASTIC! One thing I found to be so affective: Strobe lights... so anyone with a medical condition beware! They had a great disorienting affect and were used throughout the haunt! SINcerely Scary!
Makeup & Costumes: MUCH BETTER than in previous years. Use of prosthetics was pretty good, application was more than adequite for the haunt industry standard, and it was over all pretty cool.
Actors: VERY GOOD! the vets were easy to pick out as they had the scare ambush tactics down to a science. A couple that stood out were a zombie woman with a walker in a hospital environment....EXCELLENT use of the prop as a scare tool! CREEPY!!! And in the butcher shed, with the swinging hog carcasses, one of the butcher boys who coralled the highschool girl's soccer team that was in my group into a corner for the maximum BANG of the scare... SCREAM-PALOOZA! Nicely done!
Most all of the characters in the Haunt were interesting and very much in character... nicely done one and all.
As a fan: I found myself losing my professional pov of analyzing the haunt withint a few moments of being inside, and just experienceing the thrills. And for a haunt that can do that to me, and make me scream like a teenage girl:
As a veteran of Halloween and Haunt industry, I have many mass market halloween products with world wide distribution (REEL FX via Rubies Costume Co.), and was co-owner of a successful Theme Haunt back in 1997 (VAMPYRE HOUSE). Along with the Fiendish Dr. Phil, and our FX lab, Facades FX we have provided many prosthetics, masks and SFX rigs for Haunts around the world including Netherworld in Atlanta, and of course Screamworld itself. In 2003 we were contracted to do makeup and stalk arounds for Screamworld, and that was the last time I was there, before this past Saturday. And I have to say with resounding enthusiasm: WOW! It has really changed!!!
The haunt has grown, and the appointments have greatly improved with the newer technologies that have over the past decade revolutionized the haunt industry. As a professional I'll give my evaluation first, then lastly as a lover of all things Horror and Halloween.
Facility: Well organized and clean.
Parking: With a fee, but nicely organized, and easy access both arriving and exiting.
Ticket Prices: Within reason, and over all worth what you pay.
Decor, props and sets/dressing: Nicely done environments. More detailed, and I can see where they put the money in the sets, props and detailing. A lot of growth and improvement over the years.
Waiting time: Now this was a stroke of genius. The Monster Maze is an additional attraction included in the ticket price, but, it is routed at the entrance and patrons go through it *before* entering the line for the actual interior haunt. This was a fang-tastic warm up scream fest! Nicely done maze, with chain link fences and post beams, and plenty of creepy creatures stalking the corners and frightening patrons. A few DEAD ENDS where stalkers could corner the fearful for a heart pounding fright. I loved it.
Actual Line: Two options: Wait or Speed Pass (an additional fee). I'm being frugal, so I opted to wait, and I am glad I did. It was a great chance for me to watch the crowd, and experience the stalk around actors. Simple noise makers hidden in the palm of the actors offered up great startles to unsuspecting patrons who had been lulled by the wait in the line, or distracted by the video monitor showing "SAW." This put the Fun back in funeral.
The Haunt itself- without giving too many spoilers, it was dark, narrow, scary, without being too dark, so you didn't miss anything. Great props suspended from the ceiling swinging bodies, butchered hogs, you name it. Great industrial scare tools, oil drums used to bang on, and of course the classic chain saw. Why they even had a zombie world which you exited into as the climax of the haunt. FANGTASTIC! One thing I found to be so affective: Strobe lights... so anyone with a medical condition beware! They had a great disorienting affect and were used throughout the haunt! SINcerely Scary!
Makeup & Costumes: MUCH BETTER than in previous years. Use of prosthetics was pretty good, application was more than adequite for the haunt industry standard, and it was over all pretty cool.
Actors: VERY GOOD! the vets were easy to pick out as they had the scare ambush tactics down to a science. A couple that stood out were a zombie woman with a walker in a hospital environment....EXCELLENT use of the prop as a scare tool! CREEPY!!! And in the butcher shed, with the swinging hog carcasses, one of the butcher boys who coralled the highschool girl's soccer team that was in my group into a corner for the maximum BANG of the scare... SCREAM-PALOOZA! Nicely done!
Most all of the characters in the Haunt were interesting and very much in character... nicely done one and all.
As a fan: I found myself losing my professional pov of analyzing the haunt withint a few moments of being inside, and just experienceing the thrills. And for a haunt that can do that to me, and make me scream like a teenage girl:
I give it a score of: 9 SCREAMS out of 10!HAPPY HAUNTING SCREAMWORLD!
