Ohio Valley Haunts

HAUNTED HOUSE REVIEWS
HAUNTED ATTRACTION
NETHERWORLD
Ohio Valley Haunts
RATING: 9½+
Category:  Professional Venue
Reviewed 10/10/14
Netherworld
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LOCATION & ADMISSION INFO:
The Masquerade
6624 Dawson Blvd
Norcross, GA  30093
(404) 608-2484
Sept 26 - Nov 2 also 11/7 & 11/8
Fri/Sat 7 PM - Midnight
Sun - Thurs 7 - 10:30 PM
Admission: $22 - $50
REVIEW
NETHERWORLD (Season of the Witch):The queue line winds its way through the Netherworld museum, which displays various artifacts of the attraction's history, as well as flashbacks to popular horror movies.  Sights include The Abomination; a personified, living tree, and a disorienting mirror maze in addition to Woody Harrelson's chainsaws (Zombieland), Necromonger (The Chronicles of Riddick), Robert Downey, Jr.'s head (Eight Legged Freaks), Myers Tombstone (Halloween), etc.

The overwhelming assault of the senses itself begins through the majestic iron gates of a frightening cemetery, and immediately into the clutches of an enormous, yellow-eyed beast, wearing a necklace comprised of gears, and holding onto an elongated staff, while directing progression onto a rearing animated horse, whose rider madly waves a murderous sword, and displays a recently severed head!  Continuance past an old haunted house decorated with "Happy Halloween," unleashes an unexpected overhead surprise, and the emergence of a stalkabout-like creature whose head protrudes from the center of its chest!  Upright caskets surrender undead conflicts, as the enormous head of a bright, green-eyed grim reaper comes flying down the path right next to a bottomless pit that appears to descend forever and ever!  Arched passageways, and stone-lined, ivy-covered walls escort the route through torch and candle-lit corridors, and a tunnel illuminated in red that soon dumps through a spinning vortex into the grasp of a four-armed mechanical ogre.  Dense fog, air cannons, and intimidating sounds, complicate navigation through cobwebs and imprisoned skeletons, and onto a collapsing walkway before yielding along fossilized hallways into eventual darkness that claustrophobically pins advancement up against a neighboring wall!  Body vaults, witches, a tipping bucket, and an absolute onslaught of animated surprises follow, including a space-invading defilement courtesy of a bloody-mouthed rat!  Unstable footing directs furtherance beyond spooky paintings provoking the wrath of a gigantic, fanged, blue-eyed creature that attacks as flooring simultaneously gives way, and aparitions commandeer the surroundings!  Elusion past a fireplace littered with the boney remnants of its flesh devouring flames leads past suits of armor, a toppling mirror, living statues, CGI startles, and a chained crate in the midst of a ceremonial ritual that shifts about of its own volition, then onto a wall of moving mouths and eyes, and a mummy-containing sarcophagus into yet another mechanical encounter, this one at the hands of a snorting, bellowing, oversized pig!  Butchered hogs accompany the vicious sight of man being savagely sawed in two, then it's onto the piercing red beam emitted from an elevated eyeball that lights the way into a laser-dispersed, vortex-like tunnel lined with coffins that tips and vibrates as you make your way through.  From there, its onto a den highlighted by a sculpted bust, and a series of animal head trophies mounted to walls including deer, an elephant with impressive tusks, and a bear that reanimates on the cue of a witchdoctor-like character that restores life to the now dejected beast!  Spiders, dripping water, and tentacles busting through walls hinder advancement through body bag-like cocoons, and an immense mutant insect that sprays forth deadly venom combining to set the stage for a vampire-infested zone that houses caskets; an animated gargoyle; and a massive, carnivorous, sharp-toothed behemoth that bursts onto the scene defying progression!  Forging onward evokes the reluctance of an overgrown stalkabout in advance of a cavern-like cave-in under duress of an enormous, red-eyed, shackled monster that fades through a claustrophobic passage inciting the anger of a bungee surprise before accessing a mirror maze that departs through vertical tombs, a swinging body bag, and more animated assaults.  A voice distorted struggle with a Devil-like character is still to come, as narrowed passages present more cramped encounters, and a Baphomet-headed obstacle infringes upon the path summoning an enormous, winged dragon into asserting its dominance over the nocturnal domain!  An oversized gator, mutated fly, and a homicidal fiend armed with an axe are yet to be dealt with, as overhead nuisances compound the maneuver through a quagmire-like swamp!  All Hell breaks loose, as more mechanical aggressions linger on the horizon, accompanied by shifting floors and tilting walkways that invite huge, moving skulls into more space-invading violations, that progress to an overhead zip-line surprise that's soon followed by the violent invasion of an enormous, orange-toothed beast that literally knocks you out of the way, and into the line of fire of a contemptable brute thrusting a log directly into the route ahead!  Stars light the sky as a cantankerous, flying gargoyle descends from up above shadowed by a humongous skull that sends the course fleeing through a tentacle-lined hallway into the waiting arms of octupus-like creatures that have arms and limbs growing out their mouths and noses!  Sirens blare, firecrackers pop, and gears pierce and protrude through walls as the route stumbles upon a half-human robot having a drill for one hand, and a clamp for grasping as another!  Gigantic cogs and pinions rotate behind him, and walls cave in as running for your life only discovers a 20 foot tall, supersized specter carrying a bloody spear, and guarded by skeletonized gargoyles that climaxes with a dual chainsaw sendoff from Netherworld!

SPLICED:  Roaming monsters terrorize the approach to the secondary on-site attraction called Spliced.  A spinning vortex of spikes initiates the adventure that continues across vibrating floors, past pipe-lined walls, and descending ceilings that dangle remnants of skin in people's faces in advance of a path-blocking monster ingesting human tissue.  Encased skeletons shadow progression, along with hanged corpses suspended by their wrists as bloody hands grasp down from above, floors shift about, and breathing walls comprised of intestines and guts expand and contract trapping visitors inside!  Electrical short-circuits, severed heads, imprisoned captives, and a bottomless pit compromise navigation onto a CGI surprise, that's soon followed by an assortment of revolving arms and legs, stockpiled for potential use in the next spliced together experiment.  Monsters reach their tentacles out from within cages, as the route continues into the clutches of a giant, tusked beast before departing through a tilted hallway, where a snake bursts forth from within a cadaver, and mutilated torsos are encased like fossilized specimens within surrounding walls.  An overhead fan beckons advancement across more unsure footing, and more hanging tentacles as a body is split in two spraying passersby with blood, as an enormous rotating saw thrusts its way forward, and a gigantic locust-like insect pesters continuance into some sort of dental mishap that erupts with another spraying surprise.  Walls comprised of body vaults sway, and close in from both sides, as a huge-toothed monster pounces onto the scene, and the metal bars from an elevated jail cell come crashing downward permitting the escape of its incarcerated detainee.  Forging onward through a red, rope-lit tunnel springs more mechanical confrontations including a 3-fingered mutant, and his giant-tongued cohort.  Boarding a moving subway car transporting dead passengers exposes gas-masked wearing fiends, then climaxes with an onslaught of ambushes that include a horn-honking, near-miss hit-and-run inside an auto repair shop that's guarded by a rabid watchdog!  Still more animated creatures make their presence known as lifeless bodies litter the surroundings, and hang from chains suspended from the ceiling above, prompting entrance into a fog-filled, brilliantly-lit maze of blinding white light that excites an unexpected chainsaw chase-out of Spliced.
Overall Analysis:
LENGTH - 9, Season of the Witch = 21 minutes/Spliced = 9½ mins.
ACTORS - 9+, Elaborate costuming is present throughout.  Dialogue is minimal, but cast's purpose is to supplement scares within an absolutely overwhelming environment. Roaming characters entertain crowds waiting to enter, and are equally as well attired as their indoor counterparts.  Total Characters = 36 (Season of the Witch)/ 16 (Spliced).
SCARINESS - 10, The atmosphere that exists within is completely indescribable.  Dim lighting and specialized soundtracks compliment Hollywood style scenes from start to finish that are jam packed with action.  So much is happening all at once that you often don't know whether to stand back in awe, take cover, or run for your life!
DESIGN - 10, Netherworld is an absolute gothic masterpiece from a design standpoint.  Astoundingly elaborate sets combine with mind-boggling animatronics to create total sensory overload. Spliced presents a more bizarre theme, focusing primarily on experimental, cloned mutations, while Season of the Witch casts spells that unleash more traditional horrors.  With its incredible special effects and captivating monsters, this place is like the best haunted attraction you've ever visited on steroids.
PROPS - 10, No stone is left unturned from a decoration standpoint, and the density of mechanical, animatronic, and actortronic scares is second to none.
VALUE - 10, Prices vary depending upon whether you visit during the week or on busier weekends.  Regardless of the cost, this is THE haunted house experience of a lifetime! 
RATING:  9½+, If ever there was a perfect 10, here it is!!  Many of the animated scares project directly into the path creating numerous space violating invasions.  For true haunt enthusiasts, this is one place you just have to see to believe!!! 
Ohio Valley Haunts - Haunted House Reviews