RECAP: The legendary Waverly Hills Sanatorium once again delivers a masterful horror presentation, combining theatrical storytelling, cinematic atmosphere, and relentless intensity from start to finish! The experience begins outside with a five-minute projection show cast onto the façade of the historic building above the entrance to the haunt itself - a unique and chilling prologue that perfectly sets the tone for what lies ahead.

Once inside, guests are immediately immersed into a 3D Freak Show, where glowing neon paint, spinning vortex tunnels, and distorted clowns blur the line between illusion and reality. Special glasses are worn to bring the journey to life, with notable encounters including a towering character known as “Slappy” wielding a sledgehammer, a long-nosed harlequin ambusher, and a toxic waste dump monster challenging with a chainsaw, all enhanced by visual, three-dimensional effects and cleverly set in motion.  After pushing through a progressively growing and tightening claustrophobic tunnel and crossing a vibrating metal bridge, the adventure transitions away from the colorful, introductory segment, and dramatically into the Waverly Hills hospital-themed section of this season’s haunted house presentation with the tone shifting from surreal to a more ominous and traditional Halloween concept.

The decrepit medical nightmare finds mutilated bodies, shock therapy patients, and deranged asylum inmates struggling, screaming and writhing within their confinements, while exposing a bedpan-slamming practitioner; a disturbing prenatal ward of disfigured newborns; a menacing laboratory showcasing a malpracticing experiment on an unwilling subject that includes a run-in with a confrontational nurse threatening with an oversized syringe; and the unforgettable Doctor Silas - a demented surgeon performing grisly dissections amidst plenty of gore.  Every major zone feels unique yet connected from witnessing mangled, limb-missing cadavers being drained of blood, to a cannibalistic cafeteria chef serving “eyeball spaghetti,” to the Pig Butcher’s murderous Freezer, and throughout an undead Morgue, mysterious Catacombs, and Chapel of the Damned, where a blood-stained nun unleashes a mechanical “Sister” attack!

Incursions continue to escalate with visits to fiery incinerator rooms, then into cave-like chambers of skeletal remains and clashes with restless, vampire-like creatures of the night emerging from the shadows. A bloody shower delivers a few surprises of its own in advance of an up-close-and-personal meeting with a baby-faced girl clutching onto a sharp knife that’s suffered the fate of having her eyes gouged completely out! Bending through “The Darkness” maze summons the wrath of a spark-emitting fiend, followed by zombies escaping from behind chain link fencing, and onto a lengthy, body vault-lined corridor synonymous to the site’s infamous body chute for a high-octane, chainsaw chase-out of The Waverly Hills Sanatorium!

ANALYSIS:  This season, the attraction focuses a great deal of attention on a wide variety of hospital-themed portrayals, which strengthens the impact of their annual haunted house by capitalizing on the building’s historic past. Further expanding in this direction by including well-known, iconic ties like depictions of Room 502, shadow people, etc. would carry them to the next level.

Pacing never lets up as professional lighting and atmospheric sounds compliment cinematic reveals and explosive scare clusters, while incorporating claustrophobic spaces, mechanical surprises, and abundant startles into the excursion. Staging the haunt inside such a renowned structure contributes significantly. Design properly separates the 3D introductory realm from the more frightening concluding legs of the overall event that cleverly climaxes in a “body chute” send-off. Outdoor light show and the course’s above average length are likewise assets. Seeing blood being drained through tubes from lifeless corpses is also a spectacular highlight. Offsetting a pair of spinning vortexes by angling the second in a slightly different direction from the first is appreciated and not used elsewhere. Soundtrack would benefit from being a pinch louder.

Memorable characters are Freak show’s sledge hammer enforcer, the clown whose Pinocchio-like nose appears to grow due to the effects, irate asylum girl, nurse, lab tech, Dr. Silas, pig butcher, bloody nun, vampire-like troglodytes, and chainsaw assailants at the end! Dialogue could be improved upon across the board to produce stronger, more intimidating interactions.

Gates open at 7:30 PM and the attraction runs from 8 PM – Midnight, September 26 through November 1. Cost of admission is only $20 and an RIP option is sold for $60 that includes a mini-tour of the facility, coffin rides, and Fast Pass admission to the annual haunted house fundraiser. Parking is $5.

For some top-notch Halloween entertainment, be sure to check out the haunted house at The Waverly Hlls Sanatorium - “The Most Haunted Place on Earth!”