Summary:

Before I went to this show, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  The only information I had to go off of was a rather cryptic description they submitted in their Haunted Illinois Directory listing: "A new twisted look on an old idea. Come Desensitized, leave Disturbed."  The information provided on their website wasn't really much more descriptive than that, either.  As it turns out, this attraction was a theatrical production (as one could deduce, seeing that it is held in a theatre and after viewing their website and MySpace page).

The "stage" was a rectangular room (approx. 10 x 20 ft.) with six entryways, three on each side of the room, each covered with a black curtain.  Upon entering, you were instructed to stand in one of the red-striped areas located around the perimeter of the room (to ensure that you weren't in the path of actors/actresses entering or leaving the scene).  By standing in the same small room as the actors, you got an up-close and personal view of the actual performance.  I believe that being so close to the action made much more of an impact than if the audience had been sitting in theatre seats, watching from a distance.  

In this fifteen minute long show, various skits, each of a graphic nature, were acted out.  While the skits were being performed, dramatic music sound tracks were played and various graphic images were flashed up on a projection screen at one end of the room.  The first scene was that of a woman walking down the street, being stalked and eventually attacked, by an assailant dressed in dark clothing.  There were also a couple of  military scenarios, reenacting the horror of death in battle.  The final scene displayed an account of the victims of a serial killer, leading up to a final event that happens right before your very eyes.       

As their website states, this event is "...for mature audiences only.  Haunted Houses startle... disturbed unsettles."  I would definitely have to agree with that assessment.  Due to the powerful impact and intense nature of the scenarios presented during the show, this one definitely isn't for the kids.  It is also quite a departure from your typical Halloween season entertainment.   

Click here or here to find out more about this event.