FrightWorld America’s Screampark Review
Joe Rovinsky
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Location: 800 Young St, Tonawanda, NY 14150
Introduction
FrightWorld America’s Screampark, located outside of Buffalo, New York, is one of the best haunted attractions ever visited by our review team. This attraction features five detailed, innovative and genuinely terrifying haunted attractions. Each attraction is perfectly crafted and custom-built to generate fear and caters to diverse fears. It is rare to find a scare or scream park, that features an almost perfect haunted attraction experience. Typically, when a scream park advertises “multiple” attractions, some of the attractions are weaker than others. At FrightWorld, every attraction is almost perfectly designed, features insane character actors and movie quality effects to make this a must visit for any haunt fan. FrightWorld America’s Screampark is well worth the lengthy trip to upstate New York as we give this attraction our highest recommendation. It is rare to find an attraction as memorable as FrightWorld, and we cannot wait to see what they have planned for the 2016 haunt season!
Attractions
FrightWorld America’s Screampark is one of the most impressive, innovative and terrifying haunted attractions in the tristate area and features five unique separate attractions. FrightWorld, located in a commercial complex outside of Buffalo, New York, allows guests to visit each of the five separate attractions at their own pace. Each attraction is custom-built and features intricate set designs and intricate details that prompted us to go through the attraction twice to experience the depth and quality of this incredible haunted scream-park. While waiting to enter each attraction, the large space provided by the industrial complex features a snack bar and photo opportunities featuring talented scare actors. FrightWorld also has the advantage of a large parking lot, which makes getting in and out of the attraction far easier than most locations we have visited for the 2015 season.
At first glance, we expected little from FrightWorld, as the indoor/commercial complex did not seem to be the typical location for a scream-park. However, looks were deceiving as we were completely taken back by the design of each specific attraction, atmospheric use of sound and lighting effects used by this expansive indoor attraction. We have visited many of the major haunted attractions in the tristate area, including Pennhurst Asylum, Terror Behind the Walls, Reapers Revenge and Field of Screams, and can honestly say that FrightWorld is among this class as one of the best attractions ever visited. FrightWorld is also shockingly reasonable compared to many mainstream and local haunted attractions. General admission tickets are $25.00 per person, and VIP fast pass tickets are $33.00. The price point of this attraction is well below many of the attractions in the tristate area, and a value as we are typically used to spending well above these prices for attractions of lesser quality.
Insanity
The first attraction visited, “Insanity”, is an indoor fence maze, that uses fog, strobe lights, insane character actors, blinding lights and lasers to constantly disorientate guests. “Insanity” was the first time we have ever become truly “lost” in an attraction, as the complicated maze and use of sensory attacks prevented us from easily escaping the attraction. Other guests entered into this maze and felt our level of confusion as we constantly walked into dead-ends and were bombarded by constant loud noises and character actors who clung to the chain-link fences. “Insanity” is designed to generate a genuine emotion of feeling “insane. Blinding fog and disorientating lights made us feel helpless in our endless effort to escape this attraction. Character actors used the all-out sensory attack of this attraction to torment us by taunting, grunting and popping out in front of us at the most unexpected times. We were expecting these actors to help us in our effort to escape but this was not the case.
“Insanity” is a unique maze attraction that uses sensory triggers to build panic and fear. Most mazes are easy to complete, or feature character actors that effectively guide guests to complete the attraction. Furthermore, we have been in mazes in which more guests hurt the overall experience, and reduced the difficult of the attraction. “Insanity” breaks these conventional perceptions of haunted attraction mazes, by mentally attacking and challenging guests to escape this terrifying structure. As more guests entered “Insanity” the panic level continued to rise, and the mazes confusing design, coupled with an all-out sensory attack created a constant sense of paranoia which quickly evolved into fear. “Insanity” uses loud sounds, such as blaring sirens, constant fog, and lighting effects to confuse, disorientate and create an environment in which we felt trapped. Lights would simply go out, leaving us submerged in the darkness, and pressure continued to rise as we frantically searched for an escape.
Eerie State Asylum
The second attraction visited, “Eerie State Asylum”, was a horror movie come to life, featuring authentic set designs, and gruesome scenes which perfectly compliment actors who play their “insane” roles to a tee. The set designs of this mental assignment are more detailed and disturbing than those found in “real” former asylums, featuring props which have been obtained from defunct medical facilities. “Eerie State Asylum” is a disturbing haunted attraction experience, featuring gory set designs, and talented scare actors who jump from “gurney” to “gurney” to convince guests they are truly insane. “Eerie State Asylum” is a mature haunted attraction, featuring intricate details that make each room disturbing. We visited rooms featuring surgical gloves stapled to walls, bloody props and medical devices used by insane actors, saw a lifelike dead body on an operating table and were constantly taunted by the aggressive scare actors around every corner. The disturbing imagery, and creative set designs, from the disgusting mess hall, to a realistic morgue make “Eerie State Asylum” a memorable haunted attraction, with nonstop action and insanity. We were impressed by the physical effort of each actor who constantly moved from room to room, jumping from scene to scene in an aggressive, relentless attack. Some of the actors ran themselves into walls, jumped in front of us, made inhuman noises and convinced us that they belonged in the “Eerie State Asylum”. We even found ourselves get “lost” in this attraction, as several passageways are confusingly designed to prevent escape.
Grind House
The third attraction visited, “Grind House” inspired by the infamous movie classic “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, features disturbing imagery, insanely detailed set designs, and aggressive scare actors that use the “saw” to generate constant tension and fear. “Grind House” is a disturbing haunted attraction in which the twisted scare actors use mature themes, gory props and intricate details to create a terrifying atmosphere. The level of detail in “Grind House” is indescribable as we found ourselves constantly finding new details that made each room uniquely themed in this house of horror. A knife yielding maniac chased after us as we gazed at a taxidermy collection, we passed through a disturbing hallway in which the house maniacs seemed to be developing “pictures” of their various victims, and encountered a movie quality scene in which a chainsaw yielding maniac burst out of a room to aggressively chase after our group.
We cautiously explored this attraction to appreciate the level of gore and horrific scenes featured in this attraction. “Grind House” is an exercise in cautious fear, encouraging exploration and rewarding with terrifying encounters with disturbed scare actors. Some of the most entertaining scare actors are featured in “Grind House”, such as a menacing weapon yielding maniacs, physically imposing actors, and a crossdressing actor who made us feel extremely uncomfortable. “Grind House” is an exhausting experience which uses mature scares to create a lasting impression on our psyche. We only wish a few more scare actors were added to some of the creepy set pieces. For example, when passing through a dark closet, we expected an actor to greet us before our escape. We were even told to watch out for “Uncle” as we entered into this closet yet the payoff felt flat. This was only a minor issue as the entire horrific design of “Grind House” is unforgettable, and the interactive scare actors featured in this haunt make this one of the best walk-through attractions of the haunt season.
Condemned
The fourth attraction visited, “Condemned” is an elaborate, trip through an outdoor environment featuring detailed set designs including a visit with a cannibalistic scare actor in a tree- hut as we passed over a rickety bridge, an excursion through a hauntingly detailed graveyard, and a trip through a life-like swamp that made us forget we were inside an industrial complex. “Condemned” design transforms the environment of the attraction using sound effective and interactive set pieces along its lengthy path. The detail of this attraction is of the highest quality, we gazed into a waterfall, walked through the custom built cemetery and experienced various startle scares created by animatronic props. While “Condemned” is visually impressive, we found it to be the least scary attraction at FrightWorld. The attraction featured less actors than the other four which slightly hurt the overall experience. A few more scare actors hidden along the impressively detailed set pieces would make “Condemned” the perfect “swamp/outdoor” themed haunted attraction.
Night Stalkers
The final attraction visited, “Night Stalkers”, is the most innovative haunted attraction we have ever experienced. “Night Stalkers” is by far one of the creepiest, mentally disturbing and scariest haunted attractions of the 2015 haunt season. “Night Stalkers” is a mature, disturbing experience that is best described as an interactive video-game/movie experience, that encourages guests to explore the dark catacombs of this unique attraction. There is no attraction like “Night Stalkers” in the tristate area and the innovative technologies used by this attraction made the trip to FrightWorld unforgettable. As we entered “Night Stalkers” the attendant handcuffed a flickering “flashlight” to our arms, our only source of light as we made our way through the gritty hallways of this mature attraction. The flashlight turns on, flickers and turns off randomly along the attraction and actors are hidden amongst the darkness. We explored each room cautiously, and the attractions design kept us constantly in fear as we never knew what to expect. The level of detail encourages exploration, yet the flashlights unpredictably made us feel as though we had to preserve the “light” to escape. The interactive flashlight is not a gimmick, and adds immensely to this creepy, and hauntingly disturbing attraction. Mature scenes, from dead bodies sitting in church pews, to actors who hid in the walls made this experience terrifying. We found ourselves looking over our shoulders, searching each crack and crevice of the room to discover what was the source of our fears. This is by far one of the most innovative haunted attractions in the tristate area and adds an unparalleled level of immersion to the haunted attraction experience.
Throughout the attraction, we often found ourselves loosing track of the scare actors as the flashlight turned off and on. A constant urge to explore the detailed environments added to the dark atmosphere of this dungeon-like attraction. Several scenes featured in “Night Stalkers” are disturbing and mature. Pews of dead bodies greeted us along the darkness, and flickering lights constantly played tricks with our minds. It was difficult to guess what was “next” in this attraction as the constant manipulation of light and a false sense of control exerted by the “flashlight” made “Night Stalkers” an immersive experience that is unique to FrightWorld.
The Final Word
FrightWorld America’s Screampark is one of our all-time favorite haunted attractions, featuring innovative, mature attractions that feature intricate details that have forever been etched into our memories. The attraction generates constant fear, and utilizes dark creativity to achieve this feat. Actors cannot touch you at FrightWorld, yet constantly come close and display a level of creepiness that disturbs throughout each attraction. The elaborate set designs of each attraction are above and beyond many mainstream haunted attractions, and play on individual phobias/fears. FrightWorld’s design is almost flawlessly executed as they use effective line management to ensure guests enter each attraction in small groups. The talented scare actors use the detailed set designs to create a unique, interactive experience in each diverse haunted attraction. Character and make-up designs of each actor are perfectly themed to each attraction and allow actors to interact with guests without touching. Minor touching would add to the terror level of the attraction and contact nights would be a welcome addition to this incredible haunted attraction. The hard-work, and dedication of the management, actors and staff of FrightWorld. is to be commended as they have created a very special haunted attraction experience. We cannot wait to visit FrightWorld again next year and strongly suggest you make the trip as you will experience an unforgettable haunted attraction experience and impressive technological innovations in a custom built nightmare.
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