Chilling and thrilling: Clarion reviews area haunted houses

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Kassie Ramirez

People waiting outside Midnight Terror Haunted House

Kassie Ramirez, Staff Reporter

This Halloween season I made it my mission to go to a variety of haunted houses and review them to the best of my ability. It was a fun experience and I hope you all enjoy.

Midnight Terror Haunted House   

This haunted house is located at 5520 West 111th street, Oak Lawn, IL 60453. I went to this haunted house on the opening night, September 29, the price for the opening night ticket was 13 dollars each. My friend and I parked at a Metra station and to our surprise there was a free shuttle to Midnight Terror.

We got on the shuttle and were greeted with a scary woman that sat by people and scared everyone. Once we arrived at the haunted house we waited in line with clowns and zombies walking around everyone and taking pictures with people.

The actual haunted house consists of two separate houses. When you go inside the first house everyone watches a short film that explains the haunted house and what it means, it goes along with the setting of the overall haunted house.

All the decorations were well thought out and designed to perfection. It all looked so amazing, a lot of time and effort were put into every room.

I give this haunted house four stars out of five stars, I recommend everyone to attend this haunted house whenever you can.

“Everyone loves it… I started it (the haunted house) when I was 10 it turned into a hobby and now it’s my career. Come check it out. Experience the fear.”  said the owner of Midnight Terror. 

Cicero’s Town Hall of Horrors

This haunted house is located at 4937 W 25th St, Cicero, IL 60804. I attended this haunted house on Friday October 21, the price for admission was 25 dollars per ticket. 

My friend and I arrived at the haunted house around nine pm. The lines were set up in an odd way, there are four lines and people are let in according to line. I didn’t reach the second line (which is closer to the entrance) until ten fifty, then another ten minute line to go into the opening of the haunted house.

The haunted house itself was not bad, the beginning I feel was the best part, it makes you very anxious and nervous. I think there was a shortage of staff because most of the haunted house consisted of us walking around, so might as well get your money’s worth and slowly walk.  

My biggest issue was the actors themselves, they were not committed to their part one hundred percent. Every scene had a lot of effort put into it and all the rooms were done well, it looked scary, but the actors either weren’t in the room or just said “boo.”

I interviewed Michael Marshall, 18 year old that has been working at Cicero Haunted House for three years.

“You never know what kind of crowd you’re getting… some will be really scared and that’s the exciting groups.” said Michael.

Out of five stars I would give the Cicero’s Town Hall of Horror’s two stars. It was okay and the effort was noticeably there, but it just wasn’t that scary. But if you are going to go, please bring some people that are easily scared and put them in the front, it will completely change your experience.

Statesville Haunted Prison & City of the Dead

This haunted house was my absolute favorite. The address is 17250 Weber Rd, Lockport, IL 60441. My dad purchased VIP tickets because he personally hates lines so this review is from a VIP perspective, the VIP ticket was 45 dollars each.

The VIP line is in a small room and it seems closed off from the rest of the lines, I personally liked it. We saw prisoners playing fire, some were jumping around the buildings, and some were merely walking around scaring people.

When we entered the haunted prison they took us into a room and a little “show” was played for us, it explained the background and a little of what to expect, let me just say they did an amazing job with that first part, I was already in awe and so excited.

The prison is divided into three little sections, every single room was so detailed, everything seemed real. The actors were truly professionals, never broke character, never showed mercy. I was pleasantly surprised but at the same time so very much frightened.  

My favorite room was the clown room, it was scary, I couldn’t see, the lights kept flickering…it was horrible! My dad was in front and even he didn’t want to enter the clown room.

The second haunted house at Statesville is City of the Dead. As soon as we exited the Haunted Prison we got in line for the City of the Dead.

The City of the Dead is a second house filled with live snakes and amazing decorations everywhere. It was occasionally scary but not very much, I still enjoyed it.

Out of five stars I give Statesville Haunted Prison & City of the Dead five stars. I highly recommend everyone go! It’s scary but also so much fun!