Land of Illusion is the First Stop on The Grand Tour

September 22nd, 2009

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We had the chance to visit Land of Illusion on September 11, 2009 this year and had a blast. Based in Middletown, Ohio this isn’t just one Haunted House but actually four! The four different Haunted Attractions are:

• Middletown Haunted Trail
• Temple of Terror
• Dr. Pyscho’s haunted Estate
• Killer Klowns 3-D

We got there at dusk and the attractions don’t open until dark so we had a chance to walk around and check out the midway. It feels more like a plaza than a midway with a giant bonfire in the middle of square shaped space covered with crushed rock. The ticket booth is on one side with a small concession booth serving funnel cakes (love that smell!) next door. Across the way is another larger concession booth with a full menu  of fall favorites. And on another side is the gift shop that looks like it was transplanted from DisneyWorld  – its very nice. The bonfire is clearly the focal point and adds great ambiance to the event – I wish it has been a little cooler that night so  we could really enjoy it.

The Midway serves as the hub with the Haunts as the spokes. We first went to the Haunted Trail. Based on the size of the queue line infrastructure, this is one heavily attended attraction. A movie screen was located in the queue looping trailers and scenes from horror movies to help pass the time while we waited for dark to come. Once we started down the path on the Trail, it got VERY dark which made for a spooky start to the evening. The Haunted Trail was a lengthy attraction and I didn’t time it, but it was easily 25 – 30 minutes. Plenty of actors along the Trail provided for plenty of scares throughout. My favorite parts were Area 49 which is a government installation themed scene that looks amazing – concrete pads with chain link fences lead you to a Quonset Hut with a metal walkway through the center and water on either side (all inside the Hut). It wasn’t the best scare on the trail, but very cool eye candy and done very well. The Junkyard scene was also fun  – the actors put on a good show using a propane weed burning torch on a helpless victim and then threatening us with it.

The 3D Killer Klowns was next and to be upfront about it, I don’t like 3D Haunts as a general rule. They usually seem like an afterthought to me at most places. We still had a lot of fun in the attraction though thanks to a couple of fantastic actors. One actress was funny, silly and had a great voice she used for her lines and was the highlight. The actors in the chain link maze also did a good job of menacing without overdoing it. I get annoyed with actors who just stand in the path trying to be intimidating instead of doing something creative and these actors delivered their scare and moved on which was ideal.

Dr. Pyscho’s Haunted Estate featured an outdoor portion and indoor portion inside what looked to be an old farm building which added to the eerieness. I enjoyed the outdoor graveyard that made good use of the area and had a great Halloween feel to it. We followed up with the Temple of Terror where we found some of the bigger (and more expensive) animatronics present.

Land of Illusion is owned and operated by Brett Oakley who was a great host and even spent some time telling us about his facility and future plans. the event currently utilizes approximately 30 acres but has 110 acres availabel to it so we can’t wait to see how this event grows!