Strangling Bros Haunted Circus Review

Strangling Bros Haunted Circus

Creativity: 9/10

The Haunted Circus has been the most creative haunt I have seen in a long time. The setup was very surprising, the tent is the queue for the line and they do a great job of entertaining while you are waiting. They have set up a carnival to complete the circus theme and add extra value for the customers. The real haunt is in the maze of trailers they put together. Each one is a different theme and there are some rooms that were so unique I was shocked at the creativity and effort put into them.

Artistry: 8/10

Many of the rooms were very artistic and the creative. Visually there were a lot of great features throughout the entire haunt.

Acting: 8.5/10

The actors had great timing with the interaction of the environment. Many rooms were surprising and confusing and that added to the ability of the actors to capture the horror needed to provide a great haunting experience.

Realism: 7/10

Although the haunt was very good as far as creativity and imagination, the realism was somewhat lacking. There weren’t very many situations where you feel you are in a real situation. There are moments you leave one trailer and move on to the next and are outdoors, at these moments you experience more realism than at any other section.

Price Value: 8/10

The basic haunt is $20, which is about standard these days for haunts. It is a decent length, around a half hour at your own pace. You never feel like you waste your money at any part of the night. The entire carnival experience is $35 and that allows you to go through the haunt, play the games and ride the rides they have. If you have smaller children with you this is probably more worth it, but for the group we went with, we didn’t find the value was worth the price.

Fear Factor: 8/10

The Haunted Circus has moments of excellence when it comes to the fear factor. The females in our group were terrified and literally dancing around with the faces covered to get away from some of the actors. There are other parts that are definitely tamer but have a lot of potential to be great.

Management: 7/10

The owners of the Haunted Circus have plenty of industry experience. One is a former co-owner of the Haunted Forest, and the other owns a special effects type company that does a lot of digital work for movies and other projects. They are great people, but a bit forgetful. We have tried to contact them many times about their haunt, and received little to no contact.

Overall Rating: 8/10

This is the first year of the Strangling Bros Haunted Circus and so far it impresses. I was not expecting it to be as good as it was. It is not easy to surprise me with something I have never seen in a Utah haunt before, but they succeeded. There are rooms that stick out in my head more than any other haunt. There is room to improve, but so far we give them 8 out of 10 as a solid haunt we think will be around for years to come.

Castle of Chaos Review

Haunted House: Castle of Chaos (Redwood Rd Location – formerly Nightmare Mansion)

Fear Factor: 8/10

There are parts of this haunt where you are not allowed to go if you have pacemakers, metal plates or other surgical enhancements in your body. This creates a feeling of uneasy concern that elevates the fear factor of the haunt. They have 4 levels of fear inside the haunted house, but didn’t identify them in a great way. You could go from level 1 to 3 and not even notice you had done so. The women we were with had sore throats by the end of the haunt from screaming so much. It is scary enough to be fun, but not too much to take the young ones.

Acting: 7/10

The actors never broke character and most were believable. Some were over the top and odd so it didn’t give you the terrifying feeling you should inside a haunt. There were young children in the haunt that did an excellent job with their roles. Any time you see a child with a quality role in a haunted house it sends chills down your spine.

Creativity: 6/10

The artwork inside the haunt was great. It was very creative and excellent color combinations. The haunt itself didn’t bring anything new to the table and felt traditional the entire way through.

Artistry: 8/10

It was very artistic the entire time. I found myself staring at the artwork on the walls and in the décor more than anything else. The use of low level lighting instead of darkness helped to support the artistry of the haunt.

Realism: 7/10

You always know you are in a haunted house at this Castle of Chaos. It is fun and entertaining, but you never quite get that feeling that what you are experiencing is real.

Wait Time: 9/10

This haunt does a great job in mitigating crowding throughout the entire haunt. The worst thing a haunted can do is shove as many people in as fast as possible. Castle of Chaos never had an issue with that. There are many choke points they use to split people up so you are not bumping into other groups. We went through the whole haunt at our own pace and never ran into another group or had one run into us, even though we got stuck in some mazes for a little bit.

Price Value: 9/10

At most you pay $18 to do the haunted house. But there is also a special where you can pay $25 to get in all three locations of the Castle of Chaos. This is the best deal I have seen in town, 3 for $25. Even two at that price would be great. The haunted house is of good enough quality that paying full price of $18 is not a hard pill to swallow.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Overall the Castle of Chaos on Redwood Rd (formerly Nightmare Mansion) is a good quality haunt. It may not be first on your list, but it shouldn’t be missed either. It is fun and a great value. It isn’t a typical dark haunted house but instead tries to get you with great artistry and environment. The management of the haunted house is doing a great job in taking feedback and making it into a reality. This young haunt will evolve into a powerhouse of peril in the future. I recommend hitting this haunt due to it’s central location, great staff and excellent artwork.