Summary:

This event consisted of a few simple scenes and a lot of long, dark hallways.  Many of the hallways were so dark that you couldn't see two inches in front of you!  The majority of the scenes were somewhat low in detail.  One of the most detailed scenes was a "Food Court", which had a painted brick-pattern background and a vendor selling food at a table with an umbrella.  Another scene had a carnival theme.  It had carnival music playing in the background, along with a ring toss booth, complete with stuffed animal prizes hanging from the walls.  Another notable feature inside the house was their strobe light maze.  This area had the walls painted black and strobe lights flashing at a rate that was really disorienting.  Another interesting area that they brought back from previous years was their crawling maze.  To get through, you had to crawl around on your hands and knees in the complete darkness.  You definitely don't see that kind of thing at other haunted houses in the area!  There was also an area where you had to walk up a ramp, to cross a rickety bridge.

On the night that I attended, there were actors in some scenes, but some other areas were not staffed.  There weren't any actors in the carnival area, or in the area that was illuminated with blue floodlights and enclosed by crisscrossed 2x4s.  Also, with all the long lengths of dark hallways, a few extra actors in key places would have made a big difference.  The actors inside the house were fairly low key and most were pretty short, which made them less intimidating.  While some of them actually approached you, there were others who just stared you down as you walked by.   

This was a pretty good showing by the Wheaton Jaycees Haunted House group.  Seven dollars for about seven minutes inside is a pretty decent value.  With it's midrange scare factor, this is an event that would be appropriate for all ages.   If you want to see a haunted house with some original ideas, very dark hallways and a reasonable admission price, be sure the check this one out.      

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