Summary:

For starters, this event is actually held inside an old funeral home located in the town square of Petersburg.  The look and general feel of the old structure provided a suitable spooky atmosphere for such an event.   I am glad that I was able to make it down to Terror on the Square, because it is quite unique, compared to most of the other haunted attractions I have been to. 

Terror on the Square was a guided tour.  Throughout the attraction, they utilized a lot of stunning visual effects / illusions.  Some of the affects featured translucent, ghost-like images that interacted with their real-life surroundings.  In one scene, a ghostly figure appeared to be walking down a real staircase.  Other effects were visual transformations.  The "reanimation" scene featured a skeleton in an electric chair.  As they flipped the switch, thousands of volts surged through the skeleton and it visually transformed into a real person right before your very eyes!  In the elevator, the floor turned into a bottomless pit.  I've never seen such realistic illusions used in a haunted house before.  

Their graveyard was also very unique.  Sure, it had many of the normal elements of a typical graveyard, like trees and tombstones, but they used a lightning effect I had never seen before.  In sync with a thunder soundtrack, bright flashes of light were shining through a white cloth material that covered the ceiling, simulating lightning activity in the "clouds" above.  That was very creative. 

Not only were a lot of illusions used, there were some good scares too.  The illusions were often used as a distraction, so an actor could pop-out and get a good scare.  The scenes themselves were coordinated very well and the scares were all right on target.  The guide did a great job of maneuvering people into just the right position, to get the desired result.  You could tell that a lot of thought and planning went into the set up of the show.  

Our tour guide did a great job, presenting each scene with a theatrical flair.  She knew her part quite well and threw in a bit of comic relief from time to time, which made the tour that much more entertaining.  The pop-out actors were very quick and seemed to strike with surgical precision. There were some great scares, but they don't overdo it, so this event would still be appropriate for most audiences.  

For the visual effects alone, this event is a must see! The added scares made the show even better.   It is refreshing to see a haunted attraction that has such a unique style, that doesn't necessarily follow the norm of the Industry.  I highly recommend this event.  If you get the chance, be sure to check this one out!  

Click here to find out more about this event.