RECAP:  An enormously tall roaming villain armed with a gigantic pick axe stalks and startles the queue line, sneaking up behind unsuspecting guests waiting to enter into Carnage.  A festively-dressed Mambo Voodoo Priestess hosts a gathering and casts a spell over those daring to enter the Louisiana Bayou!  Lights go out and the room morphs into something more sinister, as the conjurer changes form and her curse over the land begins! 

A previously hidden passage behind a bookcase mysteriously swings open on its own and leads through an infestation of spiders and cobweb into a green, murky swamp inhabited by a well-concealed marsh monster and a giant, man-eating Crocodile!  Thunder rumbles as flashes of lightning illuminate the bayou sky, and soaking rain splashes down from above as the course forges deeper into the eerily-lit quagmire, where a giant Rougarou proudly clutches the head of a recently mauled human! 

Crossing an unsteady rope bridge brings an assault by a vicious slayer deciding, “Who should I kill first?”  Continuing past an old dilapidated boat dock summons another bizarre attack that soon yields to a wooden cabin occupied by a creepy man looking to cut the skin off of faces and wear it as his own!  Other scenes include a bedroom featuring an obese guy that feasted himself to death on pizza; a room filled with animal remnants encaged in glass enclosures that produces an unexpected surprise; a raging, foot-stomping, tail-raising skunk that delivers an unpleasant shock of its own; and a living doll room that witnesses a rocking chair and cradle moving about of their own accord!  Still to come is a CGI zombie kill; a haunted kitchen overrun with bugs crawling all over the walls, where cabinet doors vibrate, and drawers thrash open and closed on their own!  More scares arise from a bloody-mouthed, sharp-toothed girl gnawing on the testicles of her recently killed victim; a library highlighted by a tilting grandfather clock; a graveyard of animated screaming ghouls; a vulture savaging the remains of dead corpses; and a face-to-face encounter with a large, threatening predator!  A pig-faced fiend armed with an oversized butcher knife lies in wait creeping down a hallway off gutted hogs, demanding to know, “Who wants to be my new piggies?” just as a mechanical oinker comes snorting out of the darkness!  Screams of, “Time to Die!” and “Suey!” ring out approaching an old wood shop, where bloody body parts are dangling from hooks, a caged girl wales in horror, and a bunch of gory, decapitated heads come noisily crashing down from above!  Departure into a fog-filled, iron-gated cemetery that houses majestic mausoleums and massive tombstones gives rise to a conflict with a fanged, yellow-eyed python; a bizarre, black-hooded preacher; a colossal grim reaper; and a horned sorceress that’s practicing voodoo with a life-sized doll having elongated pins protruding from its chest!  Various creatures unleash a series of disputes via drop-down panels within the crypts themselves before escaping the bewitched land into the midst of Bourbon Street-like area just outside The Carnage Community Hospital! 

A mysterious violinist plays unnerving tunes in the alleyway outside Slabs butcher shop, where human body parts dangle and rotate from the ceiling on a moving conveyor belt!  Admission to the CCH is gained at the hands of an odd receptionist that struggles to get you signed in correctly before the course descends into a bloody x-ray room, where dead cadavers pop up from gurneys!  Medical mishaps include a peculiar patient quickly crawling out from underneath an operating table; a psychotic, bloody nurse feeding on the remains of a repulsively smelling, decomposing, headless body that has large syringes for fingers; the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that brings about unexpected startles from within an inhumane incubator; a large cafeteria featuring a menu assortment of human appendages, where an outraged cook proclaims, “I smell your fear from here!” Another terrorizing warning is soon announced, “1,2,3,4,5 - I’m going to skin you alive!  6,7,8,9,10 - You’re never getting out again!“  From here it’s onto a Psych Ward, where straightjacket lunatics laugh hysterically and jump on their beds, and another mentally challenged sufferer is helplessly chained to the wall of a rubber room!  Electro-Shock Therapy observes the demise of a poor soul being treated with just a bit too much voltage, and a lifeless Morgue sports coffin-lined walls, body vaults, and The “Broussard Crematorium, where smoldering carcasses are incinerated for all eternity, leading to the exit of The Carnage Haunted House!

ANALYSIS:  Authentic design and top-notch construction is what we’ve come to expect at Carnage!  Décor is exquisite and their scenes are lifelike all combining to create an outstanding atmosphere for their scares.  A "haunted" aspect is cleverly incorporated by means of numerous active events including drawers that vibrate on their own, rattling cabinet doors, a tipping Grandfather Clock, a cradle that rocks of its own volition, a secret passage concealed by a bookcase, etc.  There's also an abundance of anamatronics, pneumatics, and actortronic monsters and numerous "surprises" throughout.  Lighting is second to none and further compliments their outstanding attention to detail, which includes falling rain accompanying thunder and lightning!  Soundtrack is excellent as well - loud and assaulting.  The adventure gets off to a memorable beginning courtesy of the Voodoo Priestess and her room-morphing ceremony, then explores a well thought-out path that eventually winds its way through an elaborate mausoleum/tombstone maze before transitioning into the medical segment of the haunt comprised within The Carnage Community Hospital.  A ramped-up, more eventful finish would elevate the score even higher!

Actors are energetic and do their best to deliver the best possible frights.  Voodoo Priestess gives a memorable performance, as did cafeteria cook, bloody girl gnawing on a corpse, and the nurse with syringe fingers.  Amputee is missed this season, and sparks are absent from the finish.

Unique creatures (vulture, opossum, skunk, actortronic crocodile and python, etc.) are appreciated, as are special effects like the use of smells, smoke emanating from the crematorium, falling rain within the swamp, etc.  Density of mechanical "monsters" is likewise recognized and respected Pay them a visit and enjoy one of the most realistic spooky haunted attractions the season has to offer!