Summary:

The building used to be a masonic lodge and each mason had their own metal card to use. In place of traditional paper tickets, I was given an authentic metal card from one of the masons instead. I turned this in and proceeded up the stairs to start the haunt.

The haunt utilized an old fashioned Victorian theme throughout most of the building. One of the first rooms I went through had what seemed like hundreds of dolls with life-size marionettes hung from the ceiling.

As I went through the haunt, there were a few times that I had to go up or down steep steps. The wooden staircases wound around and creaked when I stepped on them. I appreciated the rope lights that outlined the stairs and I didn't stumble at all.

My experience through the haunt was enhanced through the intricate details of the rooms. The building itself already has a creepy aura surrounding it and the creators really utilized this when they crafted the haunt. The paintings on the walls throughout the building were fantastic. We went through a room that had a vintage projector and an old movie playing. Actors in plague doctor bird masks filled the room seemingly watching the movie, but a few of them moved towards us. Another room that stood out was filled with taxidermy birds and cages. I would love to come back for a lights on tour to admire the finer details of the attraction.

At one point in the cemetery, I walked through a curtain of fog and I couldn't see the person in front of me. This was something new that I had not experienced before and I really enjoyed it. This was just for one portion though and the rest of the cemetery and swamp areas had a normal amount of fog to where I could still see the props. There were werewolves, spiders and all sorts of other undead creatures lurking around. My group walked through a corridor that started to move. We raced through as the walls and ceilings swayed and jolted back and forth throwing vines around at us.

All of the actors that I met stayed in character. The violinist in particular was very talented. In many haunts, the actors will only scare the first person, but at Terror of Skellington Manor each member of my group was targeted at different times. Even the animatronics targeted different group members. The sounds and music that played throughout the haunt were well-chosen and fit the theme for each room. This haunt didn't just rely on traditional scares-there were other rooms that could only be defined as an unsettling type of scary. For example, I went through one area with many televisions filled with videos of eyeballs looking around. I felt as if something was watching me, but no actor ever jumped out-they didn't need to.

One thing that was lacking from this haunt was a merchandise area. I would have loved to see a place to purchase tee shirts or gifts to take home to remember my experience because this was an experience I will never forget!

To find out more about this event, visit:

https://skellingtonmanor.com/