Summary:

Sometimes, you just have fun walking through a haunted house. And, honestly, I had fun walking through Massacre.

That being said, I’ll honestly say that it does have its problems – which I will go into in a minute – but overall, Massacre Haunted House was just a fun little haunt.

First, located at the Odyssey Fun Zone in Naperville, finding the haunt was exceptionally easy. And, better, there was a nylon sign near the entrance of the Odyssey that let you know you were in the right direction.

From there, you walk inside and directly to a window where you pay your tickets. Here’s the first minor issue that is a strike against Massacre, but can’t be helped by the owners. The Odyssey Fun Zone is a kids place with numerous ticket machines and what ever else for children that would most likely attend elementary school. So, building an “adult-themed” haunted house in the upstairs laser tag area of the fun zone is probably way out of place. However, it’s a fact that building a haunted house in its own location is an expensive measure, so I’m assuming the owners had very little control over where to build the haunt.

So, you purchase your tickets, head up the stairs, past a couple more ticket machines and get in line. Because it was opening weekend when I attended, there were very few people in line, so I didn’t see any line entertainment.

At the front door, we were handed our 3D glasses and sent inside their new “Fear Factory 3D” haunted area.

First, I’m not a real “fan” of 3D haunts, usually because when a haunted house owner decides to create a 3D haunt, they use it to justify a price inflation of their haunted house.

That is exactly the case of what happened with Massacre. Last year, the haunt charged $20 for Massacre, however, in 2012, they inflated the price to $23, justifying it by adding this 3D haunted area. Worse, they didn’t add square footage to accommodate the added 3D area, they actually took away about 2,000 square feet from the haunted house area to put in the 3D area, then charged us $3 more.

In the end, it’s like a hooker charging you $3 more but not doing as much of that thing you like. It’s still fun, but you walk away going “I wish there was more of that thing…”

But, I put on the glasses and went in, and was pleasantly surprised by the artwork on the walls. In the early stages, there wasn’t really anything to scream home about, but as you worked your way deeper into the 3D area, the artwork was truly outstanding. I mean, I really was impressed by the artwork, more-so by their use of the 3D elements to that artwork.

Now, of course, there was nothing scary inside the 3D area. That’s not to say they didn’t try and scare us, but it’s hard to scare anyone inside a completely lit 3D area. They did the standard “dot suit” scare in there, where they took people and dressed them in a full body spandex suit covered in 3D paints and had them pop out of areas. Some of the people were hard to spot, but more often than not, I saw them hiding. But, at the same time, it’s hard to hide with the lights out and should be given some credit for trying.

As you walk out of the 3D area, you dump your glasses and immediately pass into the main haunt, where you bump into a redneck whose job it is to mess with you, and, while he tended to over act, he stayed in character and was semi-believable.

Then, you enter his house and run into another redneck watching TV with a shotgun in his hand. I don’t want to give it away, but there’s a surprise in the scene that made me go “wow…” and makes you realize this isn’t a little kid’s haunt.

From there you are treated to eclectic scenes where they do a good job of mixing high-end animatronics with decent acting among highly detailed scenes. For example, there was a veterinary area where monkey in cages are jumping around as you walk through, along with an exceptionally crazy clown maze that is easily confusing.

Another example was a surprisingly large Tyrannosaurus head that pops out to shock you. It was pretty awesome.

The acting was high energy throughout, and people were quick to get in your face for a scare, and then back out before things got awkward. It was intense where it was supposed to be intense, yet relaxed where it was supposed to be relaxed.

Again. Massacre was fun. It was out of place at Odyssey, yes… and the idea that they charged $3 more, and then justified it by opening a 3D haunt is annoying, but that’s easily forgotten inside the haunt where the acting is decent, the scenes are well done, and the animatronics are above average.

To find out more about this event, visit:

http://www.fearthemassacre.com/