Reaper’s Revenge 2022 Review
Reaper’s Revenge, in Scranton, PA, marked 30 years of scares this year. Haunt Review Crew ventured to Reaper’s for a day and night media experience on September 30th. We learned what it takes to make Reaper’s the premier haunt destination that it is. They run 14 tractors about every 3 minutes. They operate with 200+ staff & actors, including 25 supervisors. Reaper’s has 4 attractions; the haunted hayride, the Lost Carnival, Pitch Black, and Sector 13. Once on the hayride, it takes approximately 90 minutes to complete all 4 attractions. We love their crowd and line control. The line starts at the hayride and flows into the rest of the attractions from there. Reapers has done a great job of giving their scenes a front and rear view, so you get action coming and going. This makes for great seats throughout the wagon. The audiovisual effects throughout the hayride always blow us away. There are numerous giant translucent screens strategically placed in scenes. Again, giving riders a front and rear view. The music, creepy noises, and scripted actors follow you throughout the hayride, changing to fit each scene. This is courtesy of professional audio by Rock Street and several generators throughout the trail.
The hayride is broken up by a walk through the Lost Circus. We always rave about this attraction within an attraction. You are pulled off the hayride and sent walking through the Lost Circus in the middle of the woods. It starts with an interrogation by Miss Patty, the security guard. Then you are sent packing through the woods. We love the lighting, actor placement, and vintage carnival props. The actors do a great job at crowd spacing, to ensure each group gets the full effect. We were blown away by the chromadepth paint in the 3D circus scene. This is truly a 360 degree 3D experience. The scenes are true art. We tried to take our time because we were admiring the artistry. We were back on the hayride after the 3D scene. There were a few more hayride scenes and then we were off to Pitch Black. The name truly fits……it is pitch black inside. This is a maze of darkness, tight turns, and interesting smells. Many visitors have been known to skip Pitch Black due to the overwhelming visual sensory deprivation. Don’t worry, there are several emergency exits (chicken doors) if you can’t take it until the end. We made it out without using the chicken doors.
The final attraction, Sector 13, takes you to sensory overload. This is a post-apocalyptic adventure, with lots of sounds, visual effects, and tactile stimulation. We were decontaminated before venturing through. We encountered lab & military personnel, as well as many mutants. This is a very interactive attraction, so they keep you in smaller groups of 4-6 for a robust experience. You might be thrown on an exam table for inspection, thrown in the freezer, or thrown in a cage. The further you venture into Sector 13 the more fog and progressively extreme mutants you will encounter. They seem to be around every corner, but you struggle to see them due to the fog. This place uses about 12 55-gallon barrels of fog each season. So when we say fog, we mean FOG!!!!
When you exit Sector 13 you head to the midway. On the way, there are a few photo op spots. In the midway there’s a stage with music and videos playing, a giant bonfire, more photo ops, and food vendors. There’s hot dogs, cheesesteaks, french fries, and more. They have deep fried everything. We mean everything! This is the only place we have seen deep fried koolaid, and yes, we tried it. And, yes, it was really good. Be warned, it’s really hot. Or as we liked to call it, hell lava. Make sure you let it cool before taking a bite. They also have old fashioned candied apples, as well as caramel apples, fried Oreos, hot apple cider, hot chocolate, and so much more.
And you can’t leave without hitting the merch shop. They have shirts, hoodies, sweat pants and more. They have sizes up to 4XL. There’s even adult diapers for those who might need them!
Reapers operates with 100% in-house scene creation. They are in the mountains of northeast PA, so they get alot of winter weather. That being said, Reapers takes down the majority of their scenes after each Halloween season. We are talking a lot of deconstruction at season end, and reconstruction prior to each season. That’s a huge amount of work year after year. The work is not just September and October, that’s for sure.
