Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Temple of Terror
Website: www.thetempleofterror.com
Location of Attraction: Pottstown PA
Date of Review: Saturday October 27th 2018
Total Number of Attractions Available: ONE
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 6.5/10
Entertainment and Food Rating: 3/10
Atmosphere Rating: 6/10
Overall Costume and Make Up Rating: 7/10
Overall Cast and Crew Rating: 7/10
Overall Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 7/10
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 7/10
Overall Feedback: On a cool and dreary Saturday in late October our squad elected to brave the crummy weather to pay a visit to not one, not two, but THREE different haunted attractions! Our second stop of the evening was Temple of Terror, located in downtown Pottstown PA. Temple of Terror is about a 10-15 minute walk through which is why we elected to bunch the experience with two other local haunted attractions (Terror Labs and Bridgeport Elks Lodge Haunt). Temple of Terror is located inside an authentic masonic temple, which is sure to give you an adrenaline rush just by looking at the outside of the building. Tucked in a quiet block of Pottstown, Temple of Terror has a perfect eerie location. At the haunt itself there is not much in terms of entertainment/food, but have no fear as several restaurants are located within walking distance of the haunt. As we waited in line shortly after opening time a light drizzle began falling; this put a rather eerie vibe into the atmosphere. We were pleased to see that groups of 5 or less were being entered into the haunt ever 3 or so minutes. This gave us hope that we would never run into the group ahead of us… which we never did end up encountering other groups! For $15 Temple of Terror is a very affordable haunt experience, one that local haunt enthusiasts could easily tack onto their weekend plans. As we entered into the first scene we stood behind the mysterious yellow line and watched a brief introductory video. As soon as the video concluded the video screen went flying off to the side and an actor came running full speed at us. With the strobe lights disorienting our vision we received a great startle from this actor. This was a perfect mood setter for the rest of the haunt experience. With three floors of haunt to explore we encountered a little bit of everything from dolls/teddy bears to clowns to your classical dining room scene. Set design throughout featured very little use of animatronics and large amounts of handmade props. These scenes weren’t just thrown together, they featured a special touch of creativity and uniqueness that played off the eerie vibe of the masonic temple! The temple itself was creepy and it was great to see how they incorporated elements of the buildings natural elements into the set designs. By far one of our favorite scenes was the doll/teddy bear room where a two foot chucky doll fooled our entire group… we were shocked when this doll came running at as screaming! We thought this was a plastic doll and boy were we wrong. Temple of Terror was staffed with an appropriate amount of scare actors as very little to almost no dead space was encountered. But on that note, the actors were big chunk of the haunts downfalls. There were certainly a handful of actors who delivered top notch performances/skits but their were also far too many who lacked creativity. We heard the popular actor lines “what are you doing here?”, “get out” and just plain screams far too many times. There were even a few actors who seemed very lackluster and dull. If the scare actors can receive some guidance with their skits and step up their energy level, the overall haunt experience would be much improved. A consistent thrilling atmosphere was carried throughout our experience at Temple of Terror. They incorporated a solid mix of creepy actors and pop scares which added a decent scare factor to the haunt. Although Temple of Terror did have a few high startle scares we still feel it is of a family friendly nature. Temple of Terror put the three floors to good use and provided a solid 10-15 minute spooky fun experience! We were pleased to hear that Temple of Terror and Terror Labs work together to send one another business. If guests take their ticket stub from Temple of Terror to Terror Labs you can receive $3 off your Terror Labs ticket cost. Nowadays many haunts are too worried about their competition, so it’s nice to see two haunts supporting one another. Like Terror Labs, we do not feel that Temple of Terror is worth too far of a drive to visit. Although, if you can bunch the two together in one night it is definitely more worthy of a trip. If you’re passing through the Pottstown PA area make sure to swing by and visit Temple of Terror, you’ll have a spooktacular experience!