Scarefest Scream Park

http://www.scarefestscreampark.com/

This has three parts: Hayride of Doom, Terror Zone Maze and Forest of Darkness.

The Haunted Forest was exceptional. Monsters hid on the bridge, were laying down - just all over the place. Really, really solid good scares. I totally recommend this.
We could not get out of the maze. It was just wooden, but it was really, really good - especially the foggy parts. The entrance was freaking amazing. The clown with a chainsaw was like chocolate ice cream with chocolate on top - doesn't get better.
They also had a bonfire and a movie going. The luscious smell of elephant ears cooking perfumed the crisp evening air.
The hayride started out good. A stealthy monster scared the bejesus out of me in line. The headless horseman was realistic. I heard the accent of the guy leading the hayride and was immediately apprehensive. Not sure how there are monsters with English accents in Livingston county?? The hayride that left before ours had a great sounding lead monster. I was envious. Ours was stupid as I expected. There were some good scares. A couple of monsters hid under the bridge - they could have used that creepy little stream for more scares. There was an unusually high number of girl monsters which was great - finally a place with equal rights for monsters. The witch setup was really good. The giant baby doll was the scariest monster of the night. The giant monsters were stunning. The visual effect of different parts were really nice Halloween vignettes. However, some of the themes were just yucky and not scary. The army camp - yuck- at first I thought it was a campground and thought it was brilliant. Not so. The place with all the nooses - I really didn't like seeing the guy get hung. Not fun scary.-Dottie

Everything had a long wait even though there weren't that many people. It had rained a little earlier, so not big crowds. My highlight was hearing a scream from Dottie that I had never heard before. A monster came up from behind her in line and REALLY caught her off-guard. Then the monster said, "Score!" The hayride was just ok. The monsters came up to us but weren't as interactive as other hayrides we've been on. The baby doll monster was my favorite and at one point a girl monster had a live chicken she was throwing around. All of the female monsters were very scary so I give them an A+.
We had to go into the Haunted Forest and Maze with 4 other high school kids. They were hilarious, and even though the one was 6 feet + tall, he wouldn't let go of my jacket. The forest is great because we weren't restricted and could move around freely. Monsters came out of everywhere and the 6 of us screamed our heads off the whole time.
The maze became frustrating after a while because we kept going in circles. The darkness and smoke made it extra scary, but stepping in puddles in the dark was annoying. Finally, after the 6 of us sang the ABCs, we were shown the way out.
This is a good haunt because it's different than many others. I would recommend this, but wear warm AND junky shoes.-Trixie

Tips for visiting haunts

From Dottie:

What to take to make sure your haunted house trip is not a real nightmare:

1. Wear layers. Always wear too many clothes. Gloves, hats, scarves etc. Always plenty of time in line to put some back in the car if you need to.
2. Its the world of port-a-pottys: pack a little flashlight, hand sanitizer, toilet paper.
3. A snack if you are really cheap. Its cold and that will make you starve.
4. If you are the scaredy cat like me, be sure the person in your group ahead of you is wearing a hoodie. Trixie thought of this. Holding onto her hood is my Linus blanket through the haunts.
5. Bring cash, don't expect them to take any form of plastic. Bring extra because there might be a fortune teller, some wonderful weird snack food, a pumpkin, or another nearby haunted house you want to try.
6. Get your coupons from Fearfinder or online from the individual house you are going to. Weekdays are often cheaper and the lines are shorter.
7. Don't carry much (except a little backpack is ok). Wear something with pockets that zip. How many times have we heard people say they lost heir car keys/cell in the house? That's a real nightmare!
8. Wear shoes that are warm and that can get dirty.

The Crypt

http://www.crypthauntedhouse.com/

From Dottie: This one was not as good as St. Lucifer's and Cell Block 13, but still a good solid haunted house. It is about 5 minutes up the road from those two. I think I would go to this one first, since its not quite as A+++ as the other 2. I give it a B. (Trixie's side kick gave it an A, being less of a haunt snob than us.) It had nicer set ups, but in lots of rooms, and I was lonely for a monster and a scare. Too many machine monsters. The pitch black parts were great, but no monster came. :( The seaweed monsters were very scary. No monsters were out in line to pre-scare me. :( The chainsaw was good at the end because I didn't hear him coming.

From Trixie: I was a little leery that this one would not stand up to St. Lucifer's or Cell Block 13, but I was pleasantly surprised. One of my favorite parts was going over a bridge through a rotating mirrored tube. The optical illusion made you feel like you were going to fall off. I could have stood there for an hour. There were corridors that were completely pitch black, and some music or a monster would have added a special touch in these sections. I was also disappointed that there were no monsters outside while we were in line, and the Halloween soundtrack that they played over and over consisted of 3 songs. (I started to rap to the Halloween theme song). At the end of it my sidekick, Tiger, pushed me out of the way and I nearly fell over as he ran for his life trying to get away from the chainsaws. That was one of the funniest things all night.

Cell Block 13 Haunted House

http://www.wickedhill.com/links.html

Yet another amazing haunted house in Flint. This is right next door to St. Lucifer's. The experience started with waiting in line: I loved watching people come out of the prison screaming with 2 chainsaw monsters behind them. One chainsaw guy actually went up to the occupied port-a-potty and ran the chainsaw all over the door. When the guy came out, oh man, it was SOOO funny to watch him. The crazy heckling gatekeeper monster called Trixie mom. This scared us on a different level - so what if we were the oldest people in line in a sea of teenagers...its not our fault most adults suck and hate Halloween. They let us go without another group attached to us, thank you very much! Inside, more great monsters everywhere. Hardly a break from them! The best was the one with the gun who couldn't scare me for anything, but my goodness he tried. Please, a gun? I'm from Detroit monster man. Even the tank doesn't shake me. But I give him credit for trying and suggesting therapy. I believe his professional recommendation was 4 days a week. Almost as good as Saint Lucifer's. I recommend the 2 houses together. Rock on Flint. -Dottie aka Dr. Bug

The entertainment while waiting in line was perfect. However, I could have done without the taunts from the smart-ass gatekeeper, but I suppose that was his job. This haunted house was very dark and full of creepy interactive monsters. Our buddy, Tiger, screamed "f*** this sh**" on more than one occasion. A swamp monster that looked like Chewbacca came out of the wall and really got me good. You can buy a combo ticket for $24 and these 2 haunted houses are definitely worth the ride up to Flint. -Trixie

Saint Lucifer's Asylum 2009

http://www.fearfest.net/about.htm

Trixie: This was my favorite last year and once again it's my favorite this year. This haunted house is very scary! The psychotic patients pop out of strange places and follow you every where. A lot of maze-like corridors and dark corners for them to hide. Many times what I thought was a prop jumped to life at us just as we passed by. We screamed and laughed so hard, especially at the end when the awe-inspiring chainsaws chased us out of a narrow corridor to the parking lot. Can't wait to go again next year!!!

Dottie: OUTSTANDING. Time to take an October vacation to Flint, Michigan. Oh Yeah. Flint is the center of the haunting universe. Saint Lucifer's was my favorite last year and is again this year. The monsters were AMAZING. The very best scare was when one monster scared the crap out of me, then another one snuck up on me, and there was even a third all at once. The levels of my screams were piled on top of each other. Everywhere I looked I was scared. A+++ monsters. They also kept in character, but not overacting. Just plain creepy and scary. This was the first haunted house where I actually thought I wanted the nightmare to be over - get me out. DELICIOUSLY DEVILISH. SUCCULENTLY SCARY. FABULOUSLY FRIGHTENING. Plus the price was reasonable. Waiting in line was great because there was a real girl hanging from hooks. I just couldn't look away. Mmmmmm. I love Halloween.

All Hallows Eve

This year Halloween is on a Saturday, which only happens like every 6 years (don't forget leap year, folks). So we would like to know what fun things are happening on this spookiest of nights in the Metro Detroit area. One of the bigger Haunted House attractions, Slaughtered at Sundown, is having a special where you get into the attraction cheaper that night if you're wearing a Halloween costume. What else is going on out there?

http://slaughteredatsundown.net/HomePage.html

2009 Fear Finder

The 2009 Fear Finder is out!!! There are some new haunts along with some old favorites. A few of our favorites that we plan on visiting again this year include "Haunted Farm of Terror" and "Saint Lucifer's Haunted Asylum". Some new ones that we are looking forward to are "The Haunting" and "Haunted Hollows". We are SO excited for this Halloween Haunting season and can't wait to get started!! -Trixie