A Wicked Good Time or a Wicked Waste: A Review of Local Haunted Houses

A Wicked Good Time or a Wicked Waste: A Review of Local Haunted Houses

As October approaches, so too follows the cooler weather, trick or treat, scary movies and various haunted attractions. Horror movies and haunted houses bring in large groups of people every year in search of the feeling of the excitement and adrenaline rush generated from being scared. Each Halloween season, my family, friends and I search out new haunted attractions to attend. In this article, I decided to review a couple that I have visited in an attempt to find a good scare.

Disclaimer: I truly love the experience of a great haunted house. I will try to rate these as accurately as possible, so to not lure you into a waste of time or having a false sense of security, where you are scarred for life. My numerous experiences have numbed my shock factor. Therefore, what I find to be a joke, might be a nightmare to you.

In an attempt to find a good scare, I asked a couple of people around SNU about their experiences, if any, with haunted attractions in Oklahoma. I found two people who have lived in the state for a while and asked their opinions and possible suggestions for a haunted house experience. One of those people was SNU senior Danica Grimaud. When asked if she has gone to any haunted houses, Danica stated, “Nope! I hate haunted houses. So, I avoid them with a passion.”

Another person I spoke with was SNU Alum Sylvia Lewis-Lott. Although not often, Sylvia has gone to haunted houses before. She described her negative experiences with haunted houses by saying, “I do not like being scared. My fight or flight reflex hasn’t worked in some time and I think it was replaced with fainting goat syndrome.” When asked to recall the scariest haunted house that she has visited in the past, Sylvia replied, “The Bricktown Haunted Warehouse.”

Unfortunately, The Bricktown Haunted Warehouse is no longer open, and due to the recent high amounts of rain, most of the outdoor haunted attractions were not available at the time this article was being written. Therefore, I chose two places to review in hopes of finding the ultimate scare: the newest member of the Six Flags’ family, Frontier City, and one of the larger indoor attractions around the metro, The Sanctuary.Frontier City roller coaster with a giant spider on the back

Frontier City offers an assortment of haunted attractions to attend. After admission to the park, three of the five haunted attractions require additional purchased tickets to experience all of the haunts. This quickly adds up to more than $70 if you are not a season pass holder. For the price,  the overall quality of the haunts is fairly low end with very little shock value, and I would recommend looking elsewhere.

Another haunted attraction that we visited this year was the Sanctuary. It features a large indoor facility that also has a restaurant and multiple escape rooms. While you are in line waiting for your experience, they have various entertainment with a carnival freak show atmosphere. With an entrance cost of $25, this haunt was far cheaper than Frontier City with a slightly better scare.

Unfortunately, I felt that both the aforementioned places were average and not worth the money nor the time. My advice is to bypass these two attractions and visit one of the other numerous attractions available in Oklahoma.

In the past couple of years, I have been to so many haunted houses throughout the state and it would be impossible to review all of them in this article. If you are wanting to find a haunted house near you visit http://www.uncoveringoklahoma.com/adventures/halloween/ and choose an experience that would make your Halloween season unforgettable.  

(Photos by Nathan Wright from Unsplash and Anthony Allford)