Shocktoberfest lacks awe
The haunt season is officially underway, and the first stop on the gauntlet is Shocktoberfest, a small attraction in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania.
Shocktoberfest has a much longer history than I was initially aware of. Created in 1991 under the name Maniac Mountain, the event later expanded to include two indoor haunts. This was my first time ever visiting the attraction, so I will not be comparing it to previous years.
The weakest of the three was a toss-up between the Zombie Safari Hayride and the Prison of the Dead. While it’s hard to pick a loser between the two, I lean toward the prison for reasons I’ll get into later. The hayride alternates between a few high quality scenes – most notably the opening stop and the worm den – and long stretches of unimpressive set design with little to no actors. Multiple scenes only had a single actor present, which more than once resulted in an anticlimax. Thankfully, the hayride made up for this somewhat with unique props I have yet to see anywhere else, stretching tension in certain scenes, and creative applications of otherwise uninteresting props. The opening scene, for instance, incorporates its otherwise immersion-breaking electrical equipment into the facade, and the saw mill scene cleverly uses bubble machines to simulate sawdust. On the subject of drawing out tension, the worm den is simultaneously the strongest and most disappointing scene of the entire night. On one hand, the combination of sensory deprivation, audio, and a long wait for its crescendo creates the scariest stop on the ride. It was a wonderful example of quiet horror and slow-burn dread that you’ll rarely ever encounter at places like this. On the other hand, that climax never happened. Our ride experienced technical difficulties with the door and animatronics before whatever climax was meant to happen could take place. Now, if this happened halfway through the haunt season, I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. However, for something like this to occur on opening night is, in my opinion, inexcusable. The fact that the worm den remains one of the night’s few highlights is a testament to its build-up.
Prison of the Dead started off very strong, then fell flat on its face not long after. The first indoor third – save for a few pitch dark hallways in which nothing happens – was the best indoor experience of the night. A combination of strong set design and a timed alternation between dim lighting and pitch darkness created a sense of dread that nearly matched the aforementioned worm den. Each time those lights went off, I was forced to brace for whatever the attractions actors would throw at me before they came back on. Unfortunately none of the attraction’s actors took any advantage of this brief span of darkness to catch me with my guard down. The gimmick is still a strong one, but a few well-timed ambushes would have made it unforgettable. After a five-ish minutes, the delicious claustrophobia of the indoor section transitions to an outdoor section characterized by lazy set design, more nothingburger corridors, and little to no actors. It recovers a handful of times through transitions back to tight indoor spaces and detailed sets, but these recoveries are few and far between. Had this one been shorter, its flaws wouldn’t have been as glaring, but it was about as much of a slog as the hayride.
The strongest of the three haunts was Unknown 3.0. While it didn’t reach the same highs as the other two, it possessed a quality the other two sorely lacked: consistency. Unknown maintained its quality throughout, save for a few minor sections of dark hallway. It suffers somewhat from the same pitfall as the prison – a phenomenal opening stretch followed by not-as-strong segments – but nowhere near to the same degree. The only reason I can say that is because Unknown was composed entirely of set pieces, whereas fifty to sixty percent of the prison was not. Those first couple minutes of Unknown were like walking through an antique mall or crowded storage unit: boxes, furniture, and knicknacks stacked atop each other in a chaotic pile, punctuated with actors and animatronics hidden among the mess. It was an awesome theme that I wish the attraction stuck with the whole way through. Unfortunately its latter half settled for the same medley of disjointed cliche themes that characterizes so many other haunts.
Overall, Shocktoberfest wowed me with its handful of sections that clearly had true care and craft poured into them, but the bulk of its experience offered only an underwhelming slog. The worst thing I think a haunted attraction can do is bore you, a sin this place unfortunately committed far too many times. Unless you’re within a half-hour drive, I do not think Shocktoberfest is worth the trip.
