RECAP:  Walking down a long, gravel road and through an iron gate labeled, “Livestock Only” accesses a series of metal animal corrals and cattle chutes that provide the first horrifying glimpse of the intimidating Karver Meats Slaughterhouse; a name you can trust!  Inside, the old butchery is covered with blood that's splattered all over the walls, tables, and counters, while severed animal heads litter the premises, along with bodies, arms, and legs of human beings!  Grandpa Karver, seen carrying a large, bloody meat cleaver, springs out of a nearby refrigerator ready to dice intruders up into barbecued chopped beef, while Grandma attacks with her oversized butcher knife, and the business’ Pig Mascot appears dragging a metal sign that reads, "Eat Mor Human!"  Lights flicker throughout the abandoned abattoir, the authenticity of which makes it clear that this is truly a place of nightmares!

Carcasses and body parts of animals and people alike comprise décor as the ghastly theme perseveres from start to finish.  Highlights include an ominous room with a candle-lit altar having “Welcome to the family" written on the wall in blood, and "She is my salvation" is similarly sketched overtop of a baby's crib, where a young girl dressed in black carries a headless infant in her arms!

Emergency broadcast alerts blare from a break room TV hosted by former ABC news anchor Sam Donaldson reporting that a plane carrying bio-hazardous waste has crashed in the area!  Meanwhile, a crazed man gatherers and sorts toxic barrels warning, “It's too late now!  You're all contaminated!"

Hooks and nooses hang down from above, gutted hogs drip blood; and metal containers overflow with crimson-colored plasma as the course continues past a horn-honking, truck hit-and-run and beyond a dock that discovers the bodies of deceased children dangling from the ceiling, and foul-smelling scents spill from hazardous barrels filling the air with their obnoxious aroma.

Another spooky altar produces a conflict with a deer-antlered creature having sickles for hands that’s followed by entrance to the facility's office that witnesses the CEO-like manager pointing to another television set airing the same tragic news bulletin, pulling out a pistol, and proceeding to blow his brains out while seated at his desk!  

Passing through a garage of junked cars finds steam spewing from leaky radiators, enormous meat crates crashing down, and a Karver Meats van that hides an irate ghoul shoving a metal cart out the open back doors as visitors try to make their way past!  Still to come is a chance meeting with an innocent man frantically searching for his lost daughter when one of the Karver brothers suddenly emerges swinging a chainsaw overhead and savagely attacks him shooting off sparks when the murderous chainsaw hits the floor!  Getting away through a side door escorts the path out into the woods, through a barn filled with tobacco that houses another violent creature, and into a desolate cemetery, before stumbling into a shack filled with body bags, a hillbilly campsite complete with a redneck chainsaw attack, and a strange white shrine where some sort of horned being has been nailed to a cross!  Continuance exposes the mangled fuselage of a crashed jetliner containing more of the toxic barrels seen earlier on the televised news footage along with a number of lifeless bodies.  Escaping the wreckage ends this industrial nightmare better known as The Chippewa Lake Slaughterhouse.

ANALYSIS:  The haunt plays on the story of a plane crash that’s introduced a crippling toxicity to the facility and surrounding environment.  Live news feeds strengthen the plot’s legitimacy with coverage being broadcast on several occasions during the exploration.  Even so, the attraction stays focused on the Slaughterhouse theme throughout with some of the original, authentic equipment found within looking like it’s been there since the site’s operational days because it probably has!  The Slaughterhouse itself is bloody, gory, and threatening with characters repeatedly stationed in such a way that you don’t know if they’re real or if they’re just static props until it’s too late!  This enables them to deliver some of the best jump scares around, many of which are accompanied by some sort of noisy weapon being slammed loudly on a wall, barrel, etc.  Top performers include Grandpa Karver bursting forth out of a refrigerator, crazed barrel sorter imploring that we were all contaminated, apron-wearing workers, and all the “stand-still” actors!  Distractions occur at just the right time, exemplified by an object that comes crashing down from the ceiling on one side just before an armed and dangerous brute crashes out of a life-size crate for a face-to-face confrontation on the other!  Actual ABC news footage plays on your emotions and then seeing the actual plane crash completes the realistic story.  Haunt is very well done and doesn't rely on pneumatics and mechanical props to produce believable scares.  The creep factor is high and the intimidating atmosphere is off the charts!  The Slaughterhouse revels in being a bloody spectacle, hitting the mark in every way.  A few major surprises or animatronic monsters would really push them to the next level.  OVH thoroughly enjoyed our visit to The Chippewa Lake Slaughterhouse.  We'll definitely be back!