RECAP:  In celebration of their 20^th anniversary season, Dayton Scream Park has been completely rebuilt into an all new facility for 2022.  The adventure begins through a DSP façade where Butch, The Caretaker, who’s wearing a necklace of severed, bloody fingers, explains the rules and gets the experience underway through an initial pipe maze.  A number of scenes are visited along the winding route including Plumber Joe’s, that finds the tradesman drinking toilet water and anxious to share a snack out of his recently used plunger asking, “Hey you hungry?  Want a taste?” and a circus area ruled by Checkers and his chainsaw-packing cohorts.  Apparitions lead the way to a conflict with a mad emergency room doctor equipped with giant syringes and a surgical saw that’s followed by the howling Dr. Backwolf dining on recently captured human prey.  A refrigerator walk-through escorts the course to a Cincinnati Bengal, “Who Dey” party bus, then a darkened room containing unexpected, light-up startles from hidden, mask-illuminating fiends!

Confrontations come at the hands of a crazed villain with a cross on her forehead bashing a barbed wire wrapped bat on a fence; a gory stop at Stitches’ Meat Market that discovers the irate culprit devouring bloody body parts and internal organs topped with his very own brands of special "sauces;" a trip to “Chernobyl,” where gases and fumes spray out of leaking pipes and toxic monsters go on the attack; and an run in with deranged Dolly, who laughs wickedly while crowning her most special guests, and handing out Depends diapers as well as bloody, water balloon surprises!

A boneyard and children’s Insane Asylum are still to come as scares intensify upon entering a well-done “SAW” scenario that witnesses tile, blood-spattered walls, a victim’s chained, cut-of foot, another desperate captive with a deadly, reverse bear trap-like contraption bound to her cranium, and a terrifying collision with Pighead!

Detection of a jail cell interrupts an electrocution, while inmates warn against dropping the soap and extend offers to lay down in their bunks with them!  Other memorable segments are comprised of a well-decorated Salem witch hunt; a near-miss, horn-honking hit-and-run truck; a progression hindering dispute with a pumpkin-headed creature; and a wicked encounter with the devilish Chaos and his leashed, soul-selling Hellcats!  Carnevil features colorful, 3-D paintings and squabbles with crazed clowns Nightmare and Rainbow preceding Lil Creepy’s bog adventure into a misty, murky swamp!  Still on the horizon is a battle with a bandage-faced lunatic armed with a baseball bat, and a masked, junkyard brute trying to coax you into the back of his a pick-up persuading, “Come on in!  It’s got just enough suspension for me and you!”  Elusion through a maze of campers and skeleton driven trucks brings about an unforeseen ATV astonishment from the rear that pushes advancement into an evil show-stealing clash with Hillbilly Clown Bubba, the biggest and baddest of them all, who just happens to have some pre-used, bloody Vaseline he’s ready and willing to make use of for some sort of violent, immoral, act threatening, “You’re all gonna ride the meat train tonight!”  Escape is obstructed by a path-blocking ghoul forcing “sinners” to jump, climb over, or crawl under a wooden, bench-like pew in order to get away! 

Sparks chaperone the journey into yet another vicious skirmish, this one courtesy of the imprisoned, psychotic Jingles who can’t wait to, “Put his balls where the sun don’t shine!”  An all-out jailbreak-like ambush is soon unleashed when Jingles crashes out of cell 69, and a madman having f*ck you imprinted on his forehead along with a white-masked outlaw join forces mandating groups to kneel and beg for salvation and freedom!

Up next, the trek passes beneath an archway of skulls, and tangles with Jeepers Creepers and Chucky before arriving on the OVH award winning set of Freddy vs Jason that showcases the two infamous slashers dueling it out!  Krueger throws Voorhees through a table, takes his mask, and happily boasts, “I never did like that mama’s boy!”  But it’s not over yet, as a 2^nd face-off breaks out with Freddy being manhandled and tossed through a picnic table smashing it to pieces!  Jason proudly celebrates his accomplishment by putting his foot on Freddy’s motionless body in triumph while mimicking the notoriously creepy Friday the 13th sound effect, “Ki, ki, ki, ma, ma, ma!”

This is a tough act to follow, but Area 51 aliens give it their best shot, even spraying water at passersby, then sending them into Travis County Texas, where OVH award winner Leatherface is pent up in the Hewitt homestead cabin.  Sparks fly off his murderous blade and “blood” gushes from his restrained sufferer as this Texas Chainsaw Massacre recreation turns into a lethal chainsaw chase-out of Dayton Scream Park!

ANALYSIS:  The redesigned attraction now combines its separate sections into one lengthy event making for over an hour’s worth of fun and excitement!  Many of the “Nightmare on Valley Street” classics we’ve come to know and love through the years remain.  The killer clowns, ATV chase, and Hollywood Horror Movie tributes just to name a few all have new homes in rebuilt scenes!  What the haunt might lack from extensive detailing and expensive props, they make up for with great, quality acting, which is top-notch, and carries the load!  Interaction is strong from their more seasoned workers.  Most attackers are armed with a variety of deadly weapons, and there’s no end to their wicked laughter and tormenting taunts.  Clowns continue to be some of the most relentlessly intense characters around, and their threatening persona is further strengthened by their menacing dialogue along with the aforementioned assortment of lethal weapons they clutch onto and visibly display, which combine to instill fear and send chills down your spine!  Earning honorable mention for their performances are Plumber Joe, barbed wire gal, path blocker (girl forcing you to jump the furniture), Stitches, Bubba, Chaos, Jingles, Lil Creepy, jail cell inmates, white mask creature, F.U. assailant, doctor with syringes, light-up surprise girl, bandage goon, brute with pick-up truck, Dolly, Pumpkinhead, Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface!

DSP has added a few mechanical props this season, and louder music compliments the soundtrack, which is heard throughout much of the attraction.  New Saw segment is appreciated and can easily be expanded upon in the years to come.  Lil Creepy’s bog is another new addition that likewise impresses and catches the eye.  Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Freddy vs. Jason recreations similarly stand out, the latter of which climaxes with Jason adding the renowned “Kill her mommy!” sound bite.

Weaknesses arise from previously visited scenes being partially visible at times through the black separation screen, especially early on while walking down the pathway, and some characters are repeatedly encountered on multiple occasions.  Lighting could be improved upon as well, but keep in mind this entire attraction was entirely reconstructed from scratch in less than a single season!  Polishing this season's efforts supplemented with additional detailed buildings in the years to come would further enhance scares and elevate them to the next level.

Cost of general admission is $20 on Fridays and $25 on Saturdays.  Pay a visit to Dayton Scream Park where you’ll get the yell scared out of you!  And if they offended you, you're welcome!