Reaper's Revenge 2015 Review
On October 10th HRC paid a visit to Reaper’s Revenge in Scranton PA & it was CRAZY! We entered the 60 acre attraction through a dimly lit, unassuming path. Our first impression was “did we drive 3-4 hours for this?” We are happy to say, it was well worth the drive, as we entered a nonstop assault on your senses!
As we got in line to enter the hayride, we noticed that line or queue system was different. They use a dynamic queue that can be adjusted as needed to control the flow. Once on the Reaper’s property, we saw PLENTY of security & other staff, which we appreciated.
The Hayride was phenomenal! This is not the typical hayride, as each scene was well thought out & themed; it did not look like a junk pile. The sets are custom built; not the standard prop-shop type. Attention to detail seems to be paramount here. We could not believe how well the hayride flowed from scene to scene. There are some cool surprises in the hayride….A disco ball! One of our members (Cara) was blown away with the quality of the sound system. This is high end movie quality sound for sure. At some point we were forced off the hayride and sent hiking through the woods (NOT CORN) & that was just trippy!
The path led us to the Lost Carnival, which was creepy! Ponder walking through an old abandoned carnival circa 1950’s… it was filled with old rides that looked like they were hit by the Chernobyl atomic disaster. We had to keep our eyes open here as the creeps hid in strange places. After the carnival we found our way back to the hayride.
Our next stop was ‘Pitch Black’ and as the name implies, it really is PITCH BLACK! We thought Mike was going to come unglued in this thing! With a lack of light, our other senses were heightened. They have a droning soundtrack playing that scrambled our brains to the point we literally found it hard to focus! There were some SCARY surprises waiting for us in Pitch Black; this was definitely an HRC favorite.
The last attraction was Sector 13. This had a bio-hazard, nuclear blast theme. Yes, we know what you are thinking…this was done back in the 90’s, & so what. You would be so wrong! This had a movie set feel that embraced us. There were armed guards protecting us & the facility as we entered. They had very realistic news report on the monitor that explained the situation; from there it was us and the mutants…Good luck! One of our members (Yolonda) was literally grabbed, tossed on an exam table, assessed as “infected”, and shoved off the other side to be quarantined!
Reaper’s Revenge is a baby, at 7 years old, and it rivals most of the old veteran haunts. The 60 acre property has an incredibly efficient layout that lends itself to a haunted attraction. The actors definitely had a level of professional training; they DID NOT break character! Not to mention, they were sporting movie quality makeup. To build an attraction of this magnitude in 7 years requires research & strict project management; for example, the Sector 13 attraction was built in 14 weeks. The mad scientist, Paul, took us on a behind the scenes tour of Sector 13. This is a true haunt nerd’s dream; the building was engineered well and is filled with the latest technology. This was not some random pile of metal. They actually hired a structural engineer to design it!!
In closing: Reaper’s Revenge exceeded our expectations, by a mile! This should be on your ‘MUST DO’ list. Tell them the Haunt Review Crew sent you!
