RECAP:  If someone asked you to conjure up the perfect haunted house, THIS just might be it!  Boarded up windows, flickering lights, spooky music, frightening characters roaming the premises; the list goes on and on.  The adventure itself begins with an early photo op upon entering The Fall Festival, which is comprised of several seasonal booths and games including Dracula’s Revenge, Witches’ Brew, Boo Blasters, Bone Throw, Dead Head Shot, Bobbing for Apples, Costume Contest, and many, many more.  An enormously tall, Kürbis-headed monster rises up out of the pumpkin patch, and carved jack-o-lanterns light the way as the queue line winds its way closer to the moment we’ve all been waiting for.

The much anticipated approach to the Dent Schoolhouse squeezes past a stationary yellow bus that separates the event from the outdoor waiting area before arriving at the entrance proper.  Inside, the main floor remains much the same, beginning in a trophy room highlighted by a living statue surprise, then continuing through a dusty desk maze, along a CGI hallway, and past lockers and drop panels that hide several jump scares and sudden startles.  Every effort is made to create an unmatched haunted atmosphere that gives rise to various classroom scares; a library featuring tilting bookcases; a delinquent pupil getting swatted for his bad behavior; a living doll encounter; and an overhead, zip line decapitation courtesy of a live, screaming “Flyer!”

Downstairs, missing students are found bludgeoned and hung from the rafters as the course continues through dimly-lit archways prompting multiple run-ins with Charlie, The Janitor, swinging an over-sized wrench!  Atrocities include a distraught girl who’s missing her eyes crying out for help shrieking, “Charlie did this to me!  He took my eyes!  Now I can’t see!” and a desperate victim barely clinging to life from an upright, blood-soaked mattress despite missing the lower half of his torso!

Other sights take the form of an extraterrestrial-like creature forging through a wall; a giant, carnivorous insect engulfing a person whole; catacombs of skulls, where a horned, beast-like entity leaps from the rafters onto a candle-lit shrine; and a series of large sewer pipes emptying into an adjacent cistern, a few of which trigger surprises!

Debuting scenes showcase an aerial zombie assault from an elevated ledge that towers over a visually impressive array of coffins, and a majestic church complete with non-traditional stained glass windows; ghosts seated in pews; an animated “Fallen Angel” propelling from the altar; and an irate, unholy nun adjudicating, “You’re all sinners!” while condemning us to eternal suffering.    

A revamped circus segment now includes an unsure curtain maze along with a large cotton candy display that prompts the emergence of a previously concealed clown armed with a chainsaw!  Returning favorites include a helpless captive trapped within a cage that’s suspended from the ceiling above; a walk-in freezer preserving life-size cadavers; a murderous table saw splitting a carcass in two; and a squealing, snorting pig springing forth out of a barrel in a most disgusting kitchen that’s occupied by an enraged cook armed with a meat cleaver!  Divergence through a claustrophobic garbage dump of dismembered body parts discovers an entangled martyr pleading for help in advance of a frantic insane asylum that witnesses frenzied lunatics literally climbing the walls of a padded room!

Still to come is a fog-filled morgue run by a deranged mortician that reveals body vaults of still moving legs and feet of undead cadavers leading up to Dr. Dent’s ghastly laboratory for the unveiling and reanimation of Frankenstein’s monster!  From there, an exploding toilet, a smoky boiler room, another airborne assault, and a python slithering down a tree to capture human prey while another oversized snake invades the path all must be avoided as navigation persists through a spider-infested corridor, more hanged kids, another chainsaw-packing maniac, and a bubble bath maze to a guard dog bark-out of The Dent Schoolhouse!

The attraction exits into the "Monster Midway," where you’ll find everything from photo ops with past animatronics to a Haunted House Museum, to Axe Throwing, and a chance to experience what it’s like to be “executed” in a smoking electric chair!  A ghoulish DJ spins seasonal tunes; donuts, cider, fudge, and more tasty treats are available at Fall Favorites; and souvenirs can be purchased at the Spooky Gift Shop!  There’s also a booth selling your group’s pictures from way back when you first entered The Fall Festival.  Four escape rooms are likewise available for $5 per person – Charlie’s Basement, The Lab, Locker Escape, and Zobo's Revenge.  OVH completed Locker Escape in "record time" according to our attendant!

ANALYSIS:  The 2024 rendition of The Dent Schoolhouse boasts a new addition and a longer show for an attraction already recognized for its accomplishments and detailed set designs!  Elaborate costumes, theatrical makeup, and custom-fitted full or partial prosthetic masks are on display throughout.  Winged bungee jumper and Asylum Wall Climber debuted a season ago and remain impressive scares!  Zip line “Flyer” is also amazingly memorable.  New Church scene anchored by Nun and Fallen Angel is a powerful addition, as is “Leaning” Zombie, but a vampire in the starring role would make more sense, as the character's depicted atop a collection of caskets, and talks.  Other stand-outs are girl missing her eyes, half-torso sufferer, caged captive, python victim, Dr. Dent, and Charlie, whose presence in the basement is essential and INVALUABLE!!!

Favorite props include Kürbis, tilting bookcases, water-draining pipes, stained glass windows, freezer, table saw, hanged children, mechanical teacher paddling a student, CGIs, morgue vaults, body part Claustrophobia, insect, python capturing and hoisting a live victim, and the large, yellow-eyed snake actortronic just to name a few!.

Cost of admission begins at $25 if purchased online for Thursdays and Sundays, $30 on Fridays and $35 if you go on Saturday.  Tickets purchased on site are $5 more.  Fast passes run an extra $20 and it’s a $40 upcharge this year to get you to the front of the line.  (Prices are subject to applicable fees).

A special, non-scary Lights On event takes place from 4 – 6 PM on Sunday, October 20^th with Trick-or-Treat candy and prize stations located throughout the schoolhouse.  And their popular Lights Out performance returns Nov 9^th from 7:30 PM to Midnight!

Aiming to regain OVH’s top honors, this year’s changes definitely put them solidly in contention!  Don’t miss one of the best haunted houses the world has ever known!  Pay a visit to The Dent Schoolhouse and see why it's a 3-time winner of OVH's prestigious Haunt of the Year Award!  The Dent Schoolhouse proudly welcomes Legendary Haunt Tour on Friday, November 8^th, and will not be open to the general public.