RECAP:  Thirty years have passed since this annual Halloween thrill show first made its debut on the Kentucky side of the Cincinnati riverfront.  Fast forward to 2022, and the old Dredge boat, formerly known as the William S. Mitchell, returns once again bringing more frights and scares to the Tri-State Area.  Better known as The USS Nightmare, the tour gets underway inside the Mitchell Museum for a brief history lesson, where ancient crew photos come to life exposing a sudden, terrifying surprise!  Visitors are quickly ushered into an old freight elevator operated by a bloody crewman dangling a decapitated head from a lengthy chain!  The old hoist rattles and shakes and lights begin to flicker as it thrashes its way up onto the main deck, where the exploration continues through sights of a drunken sailor warning, ”Abandon ship;” rusty lockers vibrating of their own accord; a tortured soul strapped to a wildly spinning wheel; and a foggy, face-to-face encounter with an oversized "Impaler," rising from its slumber!  Floors vibrate as the dejected beast tears his clutched victim to shreds, and the course continues past slide-down panels, and vigorously shaking pneumatics before crossing a wooden plank bridge, bending past coffins and caskets, and arriving on the scene of a Super Soldier conflict that witnesses a pair of distressed, camouflage-wearing servicemen arguing about which of the two is superior to the other, one of whom displays a large syringe and exclaims, “The serum didn’t work!  Let’s try it on YOU!”

An electrocution escorts the path to a darkened, metal walkway that accesses the second deck that houses the sleeping quarters, where bunk beds are covered with blood and occupied by convulsing corpses.  Apparitions accompany progression into a one-on-one run-in with Captain Mitchell himself, who detains intruders with a potentially lethal pickaxe!  Then an innocent game of hide-and-seek with his daughter Anna turns deadly in advance of a second dispute with the aforementioned "Impaler" the Captain affectionately refers to as, “Fluffy,”  which climaxes with unexpected, tilting consequences!

From there, it's onto the helm, where stormy seas are visible through a series of port holes followed by a clown-infested curtain maze promoting uncertainty and confusion while spinning the route through a rapidly rotating vortex tunnel!  A bizarre ghoul hangs down from the rafters above forcing passersby to duck underneath her in order to proceed!  Still to come is a filthy bathroom, where someone scampers out of a shower stall delivering a crawling attacking on the floor; an unappetizing galley serving up distasteful, smoldering delicacies; a rubber room housing the insane; a wretched infirmary of mutilated patients, one of which pops out from beneath a bloody sheet, while another has blood pumping through tubes coming out of her belly!

A foggy, dimly lit descent down another grating returns the journey to the lower level discovering leaky pipes spewing a mist of water, a slew of mechanical startles including a severed, upper torso convulsing as its guts and intestines spill onto the floor below, and a double encounter with a spark shooting villain demanding, “Come on!  Donate your brain to science!  You’re not using it anyway!”  Departure beyond a detached hose exhausting fumes and through a lightless corridor dumps into a swamp-like maze stalked by a sharp-toothed creature, the avoidance of which evacuates through dense foliage concealing a couple of additional surprises along the way to the engine room that hides a chainsaw chase-out of USS Nightmare!

The RIP EXPERIENCE includes minor touching and some extra rooms, some with various tasks that must be completed.  These bonus areas get patrons more involved in the action via participation.  There’s a Speakeasy bar serving up a foul-tasting shot, a decontamination chamber, the vessel’s Radio escape room, skirmishes with devilish “Dredge Vampire Girls,” a couple of group-separating entrapments behind barricaded doors, a galley taste test, and an added infirmary interaction with a bloody nurse.  OVH definitely recommends the RIP!

ANALYSIS:  Costuming and dialogue is good, especially in the RIP zones, and this has always been one of the lengthier haunts around!  An abundance of fog, professional lighting and sounds compliment the expedition from start to finish creating the perfect haunted house atmosphere!  Multiple spark cage battles are well done.  Pneumatics and animatronics were all found to be in working order, thus providing numerous scares throughout the boat.  Tilting balcony remains an awesome scare! Elevator attendant did a great job within his scene, and remainder of the cast was talkative and always engaging customers with appropriate dialogue.  Ticketing and pricing is confusing and rather pricey for Friday/Saturday upgrades.

The RIP upgrade discussed above is advertised to "immerse" you in the experience, and that's exactly what it does!  As referenced in our previous review, this unique, more interactive alternative is precisely what OVH has been calling for, and is a pleasant change to rough house tactics often employed at "extreme" haunts elsewhere.  This “special attention” is intended to get patrons more involved in the action!  Bravo to the staff and management for a job well done, and a jackpot, Haunt of the Year contending performance!  As good as the standard show is, the RIP upgrade is even better!  Pay a few extra dollars for the RIP performance, and experience The Nightmare like you've never seen it before!

NOTE:  There's also a less scary "Lights-on Matinee" Sunday, October 23^rd  from 4-6 PM ($10), and the UNRATED Captain's Tour November 4^th & 5^th , 8 PM-1 AM ($30/$50 Fast Pass/$70 Front of the Line).