Land of Illusion Haunted Houses

Reviews 4

AN

Ann Rotolante

Land of Illusion has everything that you need for an incredible night of fun and scares. Theres lots of surprises and something to scare everyone. They open right after Labor Day, operating on weekends only. Plan to arrive early because there is a lot to see and a lot of ground to cover. Youll want to take it all in! LOI offers 4 indoor / outdoor haunted "houses" - Temple of Terror (which has an Egyptian mummy theme), Dr. Psychos Haunted Estate (partially located in a "real" haunted house, with a mad doctor theme), Killer Klowns (scary clowns and lots of colorful blacklight decor), and the Voodoo Bayou Shanty (down in the swampy holler to visit the kinfolk that time forgot). Theres also an outdoor-only haunted attraction - the Middletown Haunted Trail, which showcases a lot of different themes as you walk through it. Its incredibly atmospheric. My absolute favorite though is the newest attraction - Zombie Sniper Patrol. You board a truck to shoot at live (undead) targets in the woods with glow-in-the-dark paintballs. Do yourself a favor: Even though you might find it scary, dont sprint through the attractions! Theres a lot of great detail and really interesting set pieces that you will miss if you just dash through it. Wear comfortable shoes because you will do a lot of walking if you take in everything they have to offer. This is NOT an attraction for children, unless your children love all things TRULY scary, and I mean REALLY scary. They also have a concessions stand, a bar called the Voodoo Lounge which offers adult beverages, a large fire pit, and the Stage of Rage which features live music. The facilities are really clean and well-maintained. The parking lot is gravel, as is the common area the attractions are all centered around. Only a couple of the indoor/ outdoor houses are billed as wheelchair accessible. I find that a little hard to believe because theres some claustrophobic moments in both those houses that Im not sure a wheelchair could navigate without some difficultly, but thats just my opinion. The only thing that would ruin the evening is bad weather or traveling companions with no sense of fun.

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RA

Rachel Robinson

This place is getting its 5 star based on its Haunted Trail attraction alone! But LoI,as its referred to by the locals, is kind of your one stop shop as far as haunted attractions are concerned. This place boasts 5 different haunts plus a few concession stands, restrooms, a roaring bonfire, and its newest venture Club Zombie-which has a DJ spinning tunes and music videos on a huge stage/dance floor. Just a fair warning that the above described means that yes there will be lots of teenagers around. Its the demographic theyre going for really, but Ive found that Friday nights are not as crazy thanks to High School football games. LoI is really turning their image and company around over the past few years. Starting this year they no longer do pay by attraction. Its now a set price (I believe under $40) for all 5 attractions and you can do any or all of them as many times as you want! I recommend starting at the back some nights if the lines up front are spilling out of the houses. The lines are deceiving as they wind around indoors a bit where you cant see them, and think there is no line. If youre in a hurry you can upgrade for $10 which could totally be worth it on a Saturday/if you want to go through them a few times. Also make sure you have good walking shoes for the Trail as I swear its about a mile long, and totally awesome! This trail combines just about everything you could think of into one attraction, while still following a story line and not seeming to be completely out of place. They also have the Bayou which is reminiscent of a hillbilly shack in a middle of nowhere swamp. And the Temple which is a haunted crypt in the dessert. Theres also Doctor Psychos house and grounds to explore, and a Clown maze to get lost in. If youre able to only do one haunted attraction in the Cincinnati/Dayton area, I highly suggest this one. The price may seem steep, but when you break it down to 5 attractions, a bonfire, and dance club, its well worth it!

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A

A Private User

Ok, my husband and I and another couple visited the land of illusion saturday night Oct 23, 2010. We were having a great time, really scarey going through the haunted trail. Of course the "creeps" were coming close to us and saying the typical gonna sever your limbs or eat your brains, common haunted house stuff, but we go thru a part that looks like its out of the movie Wrong Turn with creepy hillbillies coming after us and one of them says to me, right there while with my husband, "I wanna put your hair in ponytails and use them for handlebars". I was like, "what?" Husband was standing there, livid and i was trying to get him to keep walking when the actor kept antagonizing him telling him to quit staring at him n keep walking, then as im getting him to walk away, the actor continued and told him he has a pretty mouth! Needless to say the rest of the trail was not enjoyable and I just wanted to go home. So after the trail we head out to find a manager or someone, they kept trying to offer us tickets to come on another night, but i explained to them we live an hour and a half away and we would not be back. He asked me what i wanted to happen, I asked that the actor be spoken to and to refund us our money so I can go home. He "complaint taker" says that wud be fine, he leaves, then comes back saying he can not do that, offered us tickets, again, but woul not let us speak to whomever told him he could not refund us. I can not believe how rude these people were and that they basically wud do nothing about the situation. This was absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary, there is no need to make sexual comments to people at these attractions, I hope this actor knows how lucky he is that I kept my husband walking, Im sure many other men agree that is not something you say to a mans wife, daughter or otherwise

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A

A Private User

Last year, I wrote a review on a great attraction; however, the long lines, and how necessary it was to have a "speed pass" at this haunt made it less than appealing to the overall experience. This year I decided to try it again and went with a few friends. The lines this year were not 2 hours long compared to the previous year. They were manageable with 30 minutes being our longest wait (I am not sure if the lines were so terrible last year because we went on closing weekend). Anyways- the overall attraction is fantastic. The houses that are set up are not simply people pounding on a metal barrel screaming at you as you walk down a hallway. They are well themed (have plenty of props leaning at you, always keeping you on your toes seeing if they are real or not), and well executed (people hanging off the walls, blended well into the props, makeup looked real from as close as a foot away). A lot of the time, I had to stop and stare at a prop to determine if it was real or not. This shows how much attention to detail that has been done, and how well they dress their characters. I will also give this haunt credit that when closing time rolled around- 100% of their workers stayed in character to the very end. A lot of times toward closing time, you will get the members who simply are too tired to really attempt to scare you, and will start to converse with their co-workers. I have been to haunts all across the country, and I will say this has been my favorite of the year.

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