Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill
Website: www.kimskrypt.com
Location of Attraction: Spring Grove PA
Date of Review: 9/18/2020
Total Number of Attractions Available: 3
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 8/10
Entertainment & Food Rating: 8/10
Atmosphere Rating: 8/10
Overall Costume & Makeup Rating: 8/10
Overall Cast & Crew Rating: 8/10
Overall Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 8/10
Overall Feedback: It’s 2020 and times are weird, but Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill is back for another year of providing SHEER TERROR! Kim and her KRAZY Krew were on top of their game and blew us away this year! On Friday September 18th we paid Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill a visit on their opening night for the 2020 season. Kim and her team have been busy the past few seasons updating and upgrading their attractions; and for 2020 their plan was to completely gut and revamp the Haunted Mill. Our squad has been progressively becoming more and more impressed with the experience at Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill and we certainly weren’t going to miss the grand reveal of the ALL NEW Haunted Mill.
COVID PROTOCOLS: Much like other Haunted Attractions this fall, guests should expect to wear a face covering and maintain social distancing while at Kim’s Krypt. Lots of signage was posted throughout the property reminding folks of these new protocols. We also took notice of tons of hand sanitizing stations scattered all across the property. Timed ticketing is also being utilized and encouraged to help control the crowd. Scare actors are also required to have a face covering on and for obvious reasons won’t be touching any guests this season.
We rolled into the parking lot around 8pm and to no surprise there was a steady flow of guests arriving, clearly eager to partake in some spooky fun! The midway area at Kim’s Krypt features several games, zombie escape room, hearse and coffin rides, food trucks, large merchandise/gift shop, and numerous roaming scare actors! Among those scare actors is a squad favorite, TRIXIE, who was as usual out and about engaging with the guests. For 2020 Kim has elected to only open three of her six attractions; House of Eyes, Terror Trail, and the Haunted Mill. Closed for 2020 are Dark Despair, Kim’s Krazy Maze, and Horror of Menges Mill. The ticket price for 2020 is $40 for all three main attractions, which at first seemed a bit steep, but guests should still expect to receive 45-50 minutes of in attraction experience! The zombie escape room is $5 per person and hearse rides range from $5-$10. Later in the season guests may want to consider upgrading to the RIP combo for an additional $25, which grants you front of the line access.
To kick off our evening we headed for the House of Eyes. Located in a decrepit old barn with documented paranormal activity, you can’t ask for a more sinister setting for a haunted attraction. Within seconds of entering the attraction you are immersed into an eerie and dark atmosphere. We’ve never been overly impressed with the set design throughout this attraction, primarily because it’s a bit dated, but it’s still effective and has its share of surprises. Be prepared to encounter scare actors from all directions, as they often appear out of nowhere to deliver a scare. Drop panels and air cannons were effectively utilized to keep things interesting while traveling through several of the dark passageways. Even some of our most stoic members were recipients of a spine-tingling scare! The actors played off the animatronics and utilized them as a distraction. When we least expected it they’d pounce on us to deliver the scare. Although not the most eye pleasing attraction at Kim’s Krypt, the House of Eyes still provides a thrilling 10 minutes of in attraction experience.
Next up we headed for the Terror Trail, easily our squad's favorite attraction at Kim’s Krypt the past few seasons! We’ve been continually impressed with the amount of time and energy the Kim’s Krypt team has spent updating and enhancing the Terror Trail. With the big undertaking of completely renovating the Haunted Mill, we weren’t expecting any upgrades to the Terror Trail for 2020, but boy were we wrong. Located on part of Kim’s 62.5 acres of land, the Terror Trail snakes along the Oil Creek in the dark and eerie woods. Featuring at least two dozen different scenes, guests should be prepared for a solid 20 minutes of pure insanity! Some of our favorite scenes for 2020 we’re the voodoo shack, toxic wasteland, JD’s Junkyard, hillbillies distillery, insane asylum, and others! Typically there’s a shortage of actors on the Terror Trail, but not this year! We were pleasantly surprised with how well staffed the attraction was, leaving hardly any moments of dead space! Kudos to the scare actors on the Terror Trail for being immersed in their roles and providing by far our best experience on the Terror Trail to date! We have a good feeling that the Terror Trail may just find itself on our end of year awards for being one of the “Top 5 Outdoor Trail Attractions” for 2020!
To round out our night we headed for the much anticipated ALL NEW Haunted Mill. Housed in the old Grist Mill dating back to 1783, the Haunted Mill couldn’t have a more horrifying setting. For 2020 guests get the pleasure of experiencing HORROR on all FOUR floors! The Haunted Mill was back BIGGER and BETTER than ever before! As we strolled through the Haunted Mill we were impressed with the amount of work the Krypt team did, as nearly every scene was completely gutted and redone. What was once a dull and unremarkable journey is now four floors and nearly 20 minutes of PURE TERROR! Scare actors came from all different directions and angles, leaving us unknowing of where the next would come from. Like in the House of Eyes, drop panels, air cannons, and animatronics were utilized throughout the Haunted Mill to help keep things thrilling and limit any potential dead space. One of our favorite scenes was the triple electric chair room, which delivered a blood-curdling scare! For those of you who may have visited Halloween Park back in their operating days, you may take notice of some of their sets, props, and animatronics being utilized throughout the Haunted Mill. We will say some of the new scenes throughout the Haunted Mill were a bit bare and in desperate need of more props to fill out the scene. But we have no doubt Kim and her team will continue to enhance and fill out the Haunted Mill in the years to come. But overall, the Haunted Mill was by leaps and bounds FAR better and more terrifying than ever before! Job well done to the Kim’s Krypt build team for pulling off a MASSIVE revamp of the Haunted Mill. All the hard work truly paid off for those folks as the Haunted Mill is now far more intense, lively, and horrifying than ever before!
Our squad was pleasantly surprised by the experience we received at Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill this fall. The mass overhaul to the Haunted Mill has really enhanced the overall experience. The scare actors for 2020 were spot on and immersed in their roles, possessing skits and utilizing improv to deliver an entertaining and nerve-wracking experience. 2020 was by far the best season of costuming and makeup that we’ve seen from Kim’s Krypt as well. For 2020 Kim has herself three solid attractions of PURE TERROR that are sure to please most haunt goers. For those of you who haven’t visited Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill before, or may have written her off due to poor past experiences, we strongly recommend a return visit as they’ve really upped their game! Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill has quickly become a must see Haunted Attraction Scream Park in the industry, so what are you waiting for? Grab your mask and head to Spring Grove PA to experience the spine-chilling, hair-raising, and downright unnerving Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill!! You won’t be disappointed!
Individual Attraction Ratings:
Attraction Name: House of Eyes
Overall Attraction Rating: 7.5/10
Cast & Crew Rating: 7/10
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 7.5/10
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 7.5/10
Attraction Name: Terror Trail
Overall Attraction Rating: 8.5/10
Cast & Crew Rating: 8.5/10
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 9/10
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 8/10
Attraction Name: Haunted Mill
Overall Attraction Rating: 8.5/10
Cast & Crew Rating: 8.5/10
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 8.5/10
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 8.5/10
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