Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Brighton Asylum
Location of Attraction: Passaic, New Jersey
Date of Review: Sunday October 1st
Total Number of Attractions Available: TWO
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Entertainment and Food Rating (scale of 1-10): 6
Overall Makeup and Costume Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Overall Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Overall Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating (scale of 1-10): 8.5
Overall Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Overall Feedback: Located off a dark alley in Passaic New Jersey is Rich Gonci’s haunt, Brighton Asylum. As we drove down the alley our members all questioned if we were at the right place. The location is downright creepy and tucked back alongside some eerie looking buildings. This was our squad's first time visiting Brighton Asylum so we were excited to see why The Today Show called them “The Scariest Place on Earth”! Brighton Asylum boasts a little bit of everything for haunt goers! They have two walk through attractions, a Horror Museum and escape rooms.. Brighton Asylum also has special contact, blackout, and zombie attack nights.. seriously something for all level of haunt goers! We visited on a regular admission night and just participated in The Tunnel and Brighton Asylum. Even though we didn’t get the chance to experience the Horror Museum and Escape Rooms, we have heard great things about these opportunities! We began the evening with The Tunnel and it definitely didn’t disappoint! After completion of The Tunnel we headed to Brighton Asylum which finished off the night on a great note. Both attractions are housed on the first floor of a very large building. We spoke with Rich at the completion of our experience and he shared his interest in expanding into the second floor with another attraction. It was clear that Rich loves every aspect of Halloween and we’re excited to watch his haunt grow over the next few years! Both The Tunnel and Brighton Asylum featured very detailed scenes with homemade props. We felt Rich found a great happy medium when it came to actor and animatronic scares! This kept us on our toes, never knowing what to expect and where to expect something to come from. Unfortunately due to the safety code Rich needs to follow, many of the scenes expose the ceiling as most scenes weren’t constructed from floor to ceiling. For most haunt goers this won’t be an issue as Rich does a great job drawing the customer into other areas of the scenes. For the most part the actors possessed a lot of energy, passion and stayed in character. There were a few actors in both the Asylum and Tunnel that were a bit bland but overall actors weren’t an issue here! Speaking of actors… there were a few actors roaming about the queue lines and boy were they SPOOKTACULAR!! One of these roaming actors was one of the best actors that we’ve ever encountered at a haunted attraction (shout out to our favorite actor of the night… the crazed patient who sure loved her bubbles)! Makeup and costume was well down… It was believable and fit the scene the actors were in! In regards to entertainment and food rating, there isn’t much to do when not in the attractions at Brighton Asylum but for us the roaming actors did wonders in keeping us entertained and in the Halloween mood! Everyone’s favorite question regarding a haunted attraction is “how scary was it?”. Although we feel Brighton Asylum isn’t necessarily the scariest place on earth we can definitely say they gave our members a few spine-tingling scares, which isn’t the easiest task to complete! In our eyes, Brighton Asylum and The Tunnel rank around or slightly above average when it comes to scare factor. Definitely a suitable haunt for most of the family that’ll surely give everybody a fright! As we headed home we reflected upon our experience at Brighton Asylum. We were definitely pleased with our evening and we are thoroughly glad we visited Rich and the Brighton Asylum team! If you’ve never visited Brighton Asylum then we strongly encourage you to make time to visit them. Even if you have visited in recent years we encourage you to head back for another visit as Rich is constantly making changes and additions to his haunt. Thank you Rich and the entire Brighton Asylum team for a SPOOKTACULAR night! We will definitely be back to visit you all again in the future!
Individual Attraction Review:
Attraction Name: The Tunnel
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating (scale of 1-10): 8.5
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Feedback: After walking down a short hallway you and a small group enter a experimental decontamination room and after decontamination you board the elevator to descend into the tunnels beneath the Brighton Asylum! These two scenes made for one hell of an “entrance” into “The Tunnel” and by far have to be one of our favorite beginnings! After exiting the elevator you embark on a journey through the tunnels… this journey is definitely not an easy one as you encounter both staff and patients from the asylum who have clearly gone mad! A majority of the actors encountered featured high energy and great skits! Placement of actors was perfect… actors were coming at you from the sides, below ground and even up above your head! We really loved the set designs and props! The scenes were very elaborate and clearly featured handmade props! Some of the scenes had moving floors which definitely messed with your balance. Overall, The Tunnel is a solid attraction that is sure to appease many haunt goers!
Attraction Name: Brighton Asylum
Overall Attraction Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Actor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Props Rating (scale of 1-10): 8.5
Attraction Scare Factor Rating (scale of 1-10): 8
Feedback: Once again another unique scene to kick off the attraction. We entered a large room with a very visible doorway and then an actor came out from nowhere. She did a spooktacular skit and then moved a shelf of some sort and had us crawl through a large hole in the wall which lead to the façade of Brighton Asylum. We were definitely expecting to go straight through the doorway but were caught off guard when shown the real way to the asylum. Once inside the asylum we were a bit worried if we were ever going to make it out alive. The patients and staff had clearly gone mad as they thoroughly enjoyed tormenting us! The actors were just downright CREEPY and truly CRAZED! More elaborate scenes left us in awe once again. The scares came from every direction often catching us off guard! Our balance was once again put to the test with moving scenes and floors! The ending to Brighton Asylum had us running out of the attraction and into a large tank full of bubbles… we witnessed many laughs as people exited this attraction with bubbles coating their entire bodies. Overall, like The Tunnel, Brighton Asylum is sure to appease many haunt goers!