Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Reaper’s Revenge
Website: www.reapersrevenge.net
Location of Attraction: Scranton PA
Date of Review: Saturday September 21st 2019
Total Number of Attractions Available: FOUR
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 10/10
Entertainment and Food Rating: 9/10
Atmosphere Rating: 10/10
Overall Costume and Make Up Rating: 10/10
Overall Cast and Crew Rating: 10/10
Overall Props, Animatronics and Set Design Rating: 10/10
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 9/10
Overall Feedback: Nestled in the dark woods of Scranton PA haunt enthusiasts can experience a haunt experience like no other at Reaper’s Revenge! It’s officially our 3rd weekend for the 2019 review season and one of our squads most looked forward to reviews is upon us. 2019 marks our squads 4th season of attending and reviewing Reaper’s Revenge. Each of the last three seasons Reaper’s Revenge has ranked in the #1 spot amongst our squads favorite haunted attractions. Where does Reaper’s Revenge rank thus far in our 2019 campaign? Well, lets just say that their 2019 performance was a unanimous 10 out of 10 amongst our squad!
On a perfectly eerie Saturday in mid September our squad elected to pay Reaper’s Revenge a visit early in the season. Reaper’s Revenge is easily a 3-5 hour drive for most of our members/reviewers so it’s quite the road trip. Earlier in the evening we had paid Hellstead Manor a visit which is about 30 minutes north of Reaper’s Revenge. So we didn’t arrive at Reaper’s Revenge itself until around 9:30pm. As we pulled into the parking lot it was clear that Reaper’s Revenge had a MASSIVE crowd on hand. If we remember correctly they had to park folks in their 2nd lot, which is something they’ve never had to do before on opening weekend! We’re sure the large crowd had partly been due to the major savings deal the haunt was running for opening weekend; granting guests almost ½ off general admission! What we love about Reaper’s Revenge is the immediate immersement into the haunt from the moment you enter the gates until the time you set foot back in your vehicle. The energy and thrill from attractions just radiate throughout the entire property, it’s truly an amazing thing to feel! We had nearly our entire squad on hand for our 4th go around at Reaper’s Revenge; a perfect mix of folk who have and haven’t visited the haunt before. The pathway to haunt is a perfectly eerie one. Upbeat music echoing in the background as lights and fog lay across the pond on the right side of the path. Beware of the new scare addition the Reaper’s Revenge team added to the walkway; we watched several guests be startled by this new frightening addition! Prior to entering the haunt we had some time to parooze the entertainment area while meeting up with the owner of Reaper’s Revenge, Paul Kotran! This man has a clear passion for the Halloween season and its clearly seen how much he values input from his guests regarding their experience. We’re always blown away and greatly appreciative of Paul’s generosity and hospitality when we pay him a visit! After chatting with Paul, we snagged our tickets, signed our waivers and headed for the VIP/Fast Pass line. At Reaper’s Revenge they have a unique way of ensuring guests receive a solid 90 minutes of in attraction experience with minimal to no wait in between attractions! All guests will wait in one line to board the hay wagon. The general admission wait time on just the 2nd night of operation was nearly TWO HOURS; so thank heavens for fast pass admission! We definitely recommend visiting Reaper’s Revenge early in the season or consider purchasing fast pass to keep your wait at a minimum. Our squad personally would prefer to have a longer initial wait that way you can experience all the attractions back to back while never losing the adrenaline rush!
Our squad was eager and excited to board the hay wagon to embark on the always glorious venture that Reaper’s Revenge provides! Due to nearly our entire squad attending as well as our friends at Fear Fan Reviews we actually had an entire wagon to ourselves, how frickin awesome is that! Once loaded on the wagon the staff reviewed standard haunt rules and wished us luck. Reaper’s Revenge is truly a haunt adventure with varying levels of intensity; they have something to satisfy literally every haunt goer! As the hay wagon rolled into the first scene a massive grim reaper animatronic towered above the wagon. The intense sound effects echoed throughout the dark woods and fog filled around the hay wagon. Even with this being our 4th visit at Reaper’s Revenge our hearts still begin to race as we look around in fear of what lays ahead. As the hay wagon eventually rolls through the first scene the grim reaper appears from the woods and taunts the patrons! It is at that moment guests quickly understand the high quality performance they are going to experience! Throughout the hayride at Reaper’s Revenge guests will encounter many horror film favorites in Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and even Samara from the Ring! Each of these characters is PERFECTLY executed by the scare actors making guests feel as if they are truly in a horror film! Also along the hayride guests will encounter MANY unique scenes that we’ve never encountered before; from the visually stunning Alice in Wonderland light spectacular scene to the creepy as hell scene with dozens of bodies hanging from the trees as strobe lights flicker throughout the woods. We also can’t forget to mention the aesthetically pleasing pumpkin scene that really accents and features the woods and nature itself! Massive pumpkin creatures tower above the hay wagon with several that include moving parts, it's truly amazing to see. One major feature about the hayride at Reaper’s Revenge that we love is how well rounded and thought out each and every scene is! Many hayride scenes at other haunts end once you pull out of the scene… this is NOT the case at Reaper’s Revenge. As you exit event the backside of the scenes are just as visually pleasing as the scene itself. Clearly we could talk all day about the pure elegance that the hayride set designs boasts! Now let’s rave about the scare actors. These hayride scare actors are true professionals and have really mastered their performances. The overall creepiness they portray along with their interactivity with the guests really provide a thrilling and creepy experience! The Haunted Hayride at Reaper’s Revenge hands down is our #1 hayride ever experienced.
As we exited the hay wagon we made way to the Lost Carnival. The Lost Carnival is exactly as it sounds in the sense that it’s truly a carnival, lost in the middle of the woods. We’ve never encountered a haunt that truly makes you feel immersed in a demented carnival, yet alone one that can do it in the middle of the woods! Just as it was on the hayride the elegant scenes carried throughout the Lost Carnival. You’ll encounter all aspects of a carnival from the games to rides to food stands to the clown funhouse and much more! Leave it to Reaper’s Revenge to somehow have a large operating Ferris Wheel along with a creepy Carousel in the middle of the woods; how amazing! Throughout the Lost Carnival many of your senses are impacted as they throw uneven walking surfaces, disorienting lighting, delicious and disgusting smells and much more your way! The scare actors we encountered throughout the Lost Carnival are some of the best actors we’ve ever encountered! Their improv skills along with their spooky fun tricks certainly make for both a frightening and funny experience! We went from laughing in one scene to running out of the next scene in pure terror; they definitely kept us on our toes! Long story short, the Lost Carnival at Reaper’s Revenge will likely never be able to be topped by another haunt. We have no doubts that the Lost Carnival will always rank #1 in our favorite clown/carnival themed attractions!
Next up guests head for the most terrifying attraction our squad has ever encountered at a haunted attraction: PITCH BLACK! We’ve experienced “pitch black” themed attraction at other haunts many times but none can compete with the unnerving and horrifying experience that Pitch Black offers! As guests enter the attraction you’ll await in a small tunnel outside of a sketchy looking elevator. It is here where we encountered one of our favorite scare actors of all time; the janitor! This actor had his skit perfected like nothing we’ve ever scene before. As “blood” from the zombies being shot dead splattered all over our group the janitor “cleaned up” the area while “accidentally” whacking us upside the head with his mop. Right on cue the elevator doors opened and the elevator attendant welcomed us in. This fellow also had a perfect skit as he interacted with the elevator as we plummeted to our near death. After nearly crashing into the basement floor the elevator doors opened and unleashed us into the PITCH BLACK! Everything about this attraction makes for one unnerving experience. Even the bravest of souls will exit this attraction short of breath and a little shaken up. Our sense of sight, sound and touch were repeatedly attacked. Just when we thought our eyes adjusted to the darkness we’d be awaken by a BRIGHT flash of light which bestowed the gift of short term blindness amongst us. The audio throughout the attraction is so LOUD that the walls literally rattle which in return really disorients guests as they venture through. After just a minute or two the intense sounds really begin to mess with your mind and put you on the edge of mass panic. And what better than messing with your sense of touch/feel to top it off! Perfectly placed scare actors along with many props are placed throughout the walkways. As you’re venturing down the dark path you’ll feel things touching your face, legs, sides, shoulders, etc. No one is safe from being startled in PITCH BLACK! Be forewarned that you may get a little wet on your journey as well. Nothing more disgusting then touching a wet object in the PITCH BLACK! We truly don’t know how the scare actors can handle acting in this attraction all night (primarily due to the lack of lighting and intense audio) but we assume literally scaring the shit out of people probably has something to do with it! PITCH BLACK is truly the definition of a simple but well executed haunted attraction! We have no doubts that PITCH BLACK will satisfy the scare/thrill factor for even the most passionate haunt goers.
To finish out the evening we headed for Sector 13, the 4th and final attraction at Reaper’s Revenge. Sector 13 is the final bridge to the “normal” Western US after a massive bio-nuclear attack created cannibalistic mutants of all varieties! The facade to Sector 13 truly does a phenomenal job at setting the tone for the entire attraction. As guests wait in the queue lines security guards can be seen scanning the property for any cannibalistic mutants trying to sneak their way in. Once inside the doors guests must go through some intense high level security. A word of advice would be to “keep your hands across your chest” until you exit decontamination! The decontamination process was surely an exhilarating one. Once being decontaminated all guests need to do is make their way through Sector 13 while avoiding numerous mutants! This certainly sounds a lot easier than it actually is! To no surprise the impressive and immersive set design has carried itself into Sector 13. In the first few scenes we truly felt as if we were in a doctors lab. Several of us appeared “sick” and needed worked on by the demented doctors and nurses staffed at Sector 13. Another word of advice is be prepared to exit the attraction with a completely different group of people. Guests WILL be split up from their group which really takes people out of their comfort zone. Several of our members were locked in a cage and harassed by a MASSIVE mutant that looked like a science experiment gone wrong. One of our members was caught off guard as this said mutant shook the entire cage and jostled her around; talk about TERRIFYING! Scene after scene we were continually impressed by the elegant and believable set design! We think this is truly the most unique part about Reaper’s Revenge and it’s especially notable in Sector 13! While venturing through Sector 13 you truly are made to feel like your life is in danger! As we rounded the corner and could see the exit to the “normal” western US we were assaulted by a perfectly executed finale featuring two components; a massive man eating mutant and a chainsaw wielding maniac! This finale certainly had a large portion of guests running through the doors looking rather horrified as the tried to recall what they just encountered! Kudos to the scare actors throughout Sector 13 for being hands on and truly providing an immersive and personal experience!
After just experiencing nearly 100 minutes of legitimate in attraction experience our squad was once again BLOWN AWAY by the performance Reaper’s Revenge provided! Somehow each season when we return Paul and the Reaper’s Revenge team finds a way to once again step up their game. As our squad gathered back in the entertainment area we were able to grab some munchies and kick back by the bonfire. We eventually were able to meetup with Paul to discuss our experience. Rumor has it that the Reaper’s Revenge team has thoughts of a 5th attraction likely to be ready for the 2021 haunt season! Only spoiler is that guests likely won’t have to worry about walking through this attraction and no, it’s not another hayride! Thanks again Reaper’s Revenge for somehow stepping up your game and continually providing a TOP NOTCH and a truly WORLD CLASS haunt experience! If you’ve yet to visit Reaper’s Revenge we strongly urge you to pay them a visit. We have no doubt that you’ll be exSCREAMly satisfied with your experience! Be warned that Reaper’s Revenge is not for the faint of heart and always remember to FEAR THE REAPER!