Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Shocktoberfest
Website: www.shocktoberfest.com
Location of Attraction: Sinking Spring PA
Date of Review: Saturday September 15th 2018
Total Number of Attractions Available: EIGHT
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 8
Entertainment and Food Rating: 7
Atmosphere Rating: 8
Overall Costume and Make Up Rating: 7
Overall Cast and Crew Rating: 8.5
Overall Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 8.5
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 8
Overall Feedback: Shocktoberfest is also known as “Zombie World Theme Park” and we really have to congratulate them on truly sticking to the zombie theme from start to end! It’s rare in our coverage area (PA, MD, NJ & DE) that you encounter a haunt with the same theme carried so perfectly throughout the entirety of the haunt! Shocktoberfest easily sets themselves apart from other haunts in so many different ways. The biggest difference from other haunts is the variety of attractions that Shocktoberfest offers. Laser tag, zombie run, walk through attractions, hayride, escape room and even a chance to be an actor inside the Prison of the Dead… boy they definitely keep you intrigued with their variety of offerings. 2018 is Shocktoberfest 27th year in the industry! Zombie World gives guests the chance to view an array of natural and genetically engineered Zombies in a safe and controlled habitat. In talks with Patrick prior to beginning our review we were informed that Shocktoberfest unfortunately flooded out FIVE different times throughout the off-season. But clearly they worked hard to get the haunt ready for this season. All the standing water definitely makes for a large number of mosquitoes… our squad was eventually more concerned about surviving the mosquitoes verse the zombies! Our squad spent a solid 3.5 hours at Shocktoberfest - definitely plan for a nights worth of spooky fun! With it being only night three of the season Shocktoberfest is still finalizing their midway/entertainment area. Over the next few weeks they will begin to add in carnival games, more food vendors, live entertainment and much more! As our group headed for our first attraction of the night we discovered our first zombie of the night. This actor was fully immersed in her zombie character and did a spooktacular job. Unfortunately we were hoping for more midway actors but we only stumbled across one throughout the evening. We began our night with the always amazing Prison of the Dead. Shocktoberfest sets the theme for this attraction by having guests board an actual prison inmate bus which transports you to the front of the attraction. You can’t help but truly feel as if your an inmate headed for “the slammer”. At the front gates a security guard reviews with the guests what they are about to experience during their journey through the Willow Penn State Penitentiary. The Prison of the Dead by far is one of the longest and biggest walk through attractions we’ve come across. A solid 25 minute walk through that takes place over 50,000 square feet of attraction! We are always amazed by the detailed and lifelike scenes in this attraction. You’ll truly feel as if you’re in a rundown penitentiary during your journey. We absolutely loved the actors we came across in this attraction! They all possessed high energy, great skits and the urge to scare the pants off the guests. The actors definitely utilized the darkness to their advantage… as they delivered numerous jump scares to all of our members! We did feel that there was a lack of actors throughout this attraction, especially during the final few minutes. Although, quality actors is far better than a large quantity of mediocre actors. Shocktoberfest did change up the ending to this attraction. Let’s just say it allows the actors the ability to contain their guests so they can torment them one final time before they escape. Next up we headed to Ground Assault: Zombie Laser Tag. This is still a fairly new attraction at Shocktoberfest, only in its third season. In 2016 we said “The combination of laser tag and the zombie actors made this attraction the group favorite! This version of laser tag is like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. It was fast paced, realistic, and the zombies seemed to come out from nowhere.” Once again, this statement holds true! Something about zombies and lasertag is truly a GENIUS IDEA! In the midst of the game you're so tuned in to shooting the other team players that you completely forget about the zombies… then suddenly you have a zombie ready to chomp on your shoulder! Our only suggestion for this attraction would be to add in more zombies - we felt there was much less zombies this year than in years past. Next up we headed for the Zombie Safari Hayride. Before boarding the hay wagon guests watch a short video clip which sets the theme for this attraction. The introductory video clip definitely adds a unique touch! Due to all the rain and flooding issues over the off-season the hayride pathways were literally like a swamp, which certainly added a disgusting smell to the experience. We were amazed to still see the actors sloshing around in the mud to ensure the hayride guests still received a good scare. Once again you’ll find some pretty innovative scenes which include some rather awesome animatronics with a touch of pyrotechnics. The overall lack of actors definitely showed the most on the hayride. There were several scenes that had just one actor which definitely put a damper on the thrill factor. Throwing in a few more actors to each scene would definitely up the scare/thrill factor and ultimately provide a better guest experience. To finish off our evening we headed for The Unknown 2.0. One of our favorite parts to this attraction is the awesome 3D intro video. We were a bit disappointed when we didn’t get to experience the intro video due to what was said to be “technical difficulties”. The Unknown 2.0 definitely brings your worst fears and phobias to life. We love how thought out the scares are in this attraction. The incorporation of smells, sounds, touch, etc. really help bring the scenes to life. Drop panel placement in this attraction is about the best we’ve ever seen. They are placed in spots where the customer is vulnerable and disguised to the point where the most extreme haunt lovers have a difficult time spotting them. The variety of scenes is intriguing for all customers and ultimately presents something for everyone. Regarding smells, the scent in the funeral scene is about enough to knock you to the ground… it truly smelt as if a rotting corpse was in the coffin. The actors interacted with our group and stayed in character perfectly, although again we felt there needed to be more actors! The Unknown 2.0 is a rather quick walk through, taking our group about 6-7 minutes to complete, but the Prison of the Dead definitely makes up for it! Across the board at Shocktoberfest you’ll find a diverse attraction offering, truly something for everyone. The actors for 2018 were relentless and provided phenomenal performances. Costume and makeup is hit or miss with some actors possessing more quality and believable makeup than others. Although Shocktoberfest doesn’t change much each year beyond tweaks, it really should be experienced at least once by haunt lovers. If you haven’t given Shocktoberfest a whirl yet we definitely suggest paying them a visit. Make sure to put your running shoes on because those zombies are vicious! When you visit Shocktoberfest make sure to tell them Fright Review Squad sent you their way!
Individual Attraction Review:
Attraction Name: The Prison of the Dead
Overall Attraction Rating: 9
Cast and Crew Rating: 9
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 9
Attraction Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 9
Attraction Name: Ground Assault: Zombie Laser Tag
Overall Attraction Rating: 8
Cast and Crew Rating: 8
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 8
Attraction Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 6
Attraction Name: Zombie Safari Hayride
Overall Attraction Rating: 8
Cast and Crew Rating: 8
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 8
Attraction Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 7
Attraction Name: The Unknown 2.0
Overall Attraction Rating: 7
Cast and Crew Rating: 7
Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 8
Attraction Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 7