Land of Illusion Adventure Park – Full Review

Land of Illusion Adventure Park is a Haunted Attraction located in Middletown, OH.

8762 Thomas Road, Middletown, OH 45042
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Haunt Type(s):

Multiple Haunts1HauntedHouse1HauntedTrail

Links:

Land of Illusion Adventure Park Facebook PageLand of Illusion Adventure Park WebsiteLand of Illusion Adventure Park Twitter PageLand of Illusion Adventure Park on InstagramLand of Illusion Adventure Park on YouTubeTickets to Land of Illusion Adventure Park

Contact:

Call Land of Illusion Adventure ParkEmail Land of Illusion Adventure ParkMessage Land of Illusion Adventure Park on Facebook Messenger

Features:

Paid Parking, Restrooms/Porta Potties On-Site, Food/Concessions, Gift Shop/Souvenirs, Optional Games/Midway, Special Events, “Hi-Tech” Attraction, You will NOT be touched, Original Characters, Celebrity Appearances, Indoor/Outdoor Waiting Line, Indoor/Outdoor Attraction

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This attraction was reviewed on September 6, 2019 by Team Zombillies.

How Do We Get These Scores?

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Final Score: 8.38

How Did We Get This Score?

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Summary:

What better way to kick off our scary season than to hit up a haunted scream park with 4 haunted houses, a haunted trail, and a zombie paintball hunt? Land of Illusion is always one of the first haunts to open each year and it’s the perfect way to start off the tours.

When purchasing tickets to the scream park, unlimited access to all haunts is included! That means you can go through The Temple of Terror, Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate, Phobia, Killer Klowns, The Middletown Haunted trail AND – starting in 2019 – Zombie Sniper Patrol (zombie paintball) as many times as your little black heart desires.

But that’s not all; There’s a reason why this is considered a haunted scream park. Not only does LOI offer multiple award-winning haunted attractions, they also offer additional entertainment, food, drinks, and alcoholic beverages at their full bar! You can show up hungry, thirsty, bored, ready to be scared, in the mood to get your dance on, OR you can show up ready to rock out with your, uh, well, you know what we’re getting at… and they will have you covered! You can even buy spooky attire and more in their Ghostly Gift Shop.

For this review, we’ll break down each attraction individually so you can decide which ones to hit first. Though, we highly recommend hitting each haunt AT LEAST once. No two are alike and they all bring something different and unique to the table.

Let’s break down this giant review, shall we?

Individual Overall Scores:

Middletown Haunted Trail: 8.59
Phobia: 8.17
Killer Klowns: 8.62
Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate: 8.32
Temple of Terror: 8.21


Cast: 8.01

How Did We Get This Score?

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Each night can be different at a haunt, but on the night we visited, there was an apparent increase in actors throughout the whole park compared to seasons past. We’re the type of haunt-goers that like to interact with the actors and, by and large, most of the monsters did pretty well at engaging with our group. We could tell who the rookies were, though, as some of them would cut back on their intensity once they realized we weren’t terrified. The areas where this happened were the low marks of the evening, but aside from those instances, we truly had a blast with the cast! Most were able to fluently ad-lib with us and executed their roles really well. Let’s dig into what we found in each attraction:

Middletown Haunted Trail:
With the Trail being the longest attraction at LOI, it makes sense that they’d have the biggest variety of characters as well. The monsters here ranged from the classic Michael Myers and bloody butchers to hellish hillbillies and sinister spiders.

Dialogue was really good in most areas, but we did get a lot of repetitive ‘help me’ pleas from the victims here. Some of their deliveries were outstanding, though, and we really got a sense that they were trapped and needing our help. Others just didn’t seem to be into it and, honestly, we didn’t feel so bad for leaving them in their cages.

The guy at the beginning of the catacomb area was debatably the most believable on the Trail. Some of the younger – or possibly less-experienced – actors were a bit harder to fall for. Though, this typically gets better as the season progresses and after they start to find their groove. Those in the sewer scene, the voodoo people, the witches, the kitchen / school staff, the plague doctor and the ‘Death Guide’ were among the most interactive with our group.

Phobia:
Phobia is different than most haunts, in that the haunt itself is what’s supposed to provide most of the scares… rather than the actors directly. It’s designed to be more of a ‘psychological’ scare instead of an actor-driven one. With it’s short duration, they typically use about 10-14 actors on any given night.

Don’t get us wrong, we still crossed paths with a few blacked-out brutes that seemingly came out of nowhere – and with perfect timing, we might add! They weren’t the most talkative bunch (it’s very loud in most of this haunt anyway), but they definitely did know how to use their scenes to our disadvantage without using dialogue.

Killer Klowns:
The Klown crew was on it! This was probably the best performance we’ve seen out of this entire haunt in all of the years we’ve been reviewing LOI. Everyone was energetic (sometimes literally bouncing off the walls) and didn’t let up from the time they saw us ’till after we were well out of their scenes. Most were eager to describe how they were going to rip out our [list body part here] and do [such and such] with it’ which did get a little redundant after a while.

On a typical night, you will meet around 14 different clowns, so be prepared. You’ll likely see some of them more than once as well, which filled out the haunt nicely and virtually eliminated any dull moments. While it’s hard to choose from such a good lineup, ‘Terrorist,’ ‘Craze,’ the pinball clown, and Chompers were all standouts of the night.

BTW, did we mention clowns love boogers?

Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate:
The sickos in Psycho’s – much like the Trail – also varied scene by scene. Our journey through the Estate started with a lone survivor of the evil Doctor’s experiments warning us of what was to come, and that we shouldn’t continue going through. Of course, you know we did…

Along the way, we encountered cannibalistic hillbillies, most of which had good dialogue but weren’t overly aggressive. ‘[Insert threat], pretty boy!’ and promises of getting our eyes plucked out by chickens was the common theme in their shanties’ all the while thoroughly popping our personal space bubbles.

We also encountered a few medical staff operating on apparent previous passers-by, as well as other residents of the Estate, including the Doctor’s daughter. There was one hillbilly, however, that seemed to be lurking around every corner and kept us looking over our shoulders, wondering where he was going to sneak up on us next. Sometimes he was hiding above us, below us, and unknowingly right beside or behind us. Kudos to you, poor sir!

Temple of Terror:
The Sandman and his impaled doll head ‘Sally’ greeted us into the Temple this year. Combined with the introductory elevator scene (more on this in ‘Special Effects’ below), this was by far the best haunt intro of the night. It was blatantly obvious that he’d rehearsed this skit and executed it flawlessly; he even managed to ad-lib with us and made it work with his story. Bravo!

The Temple’s tormentors also had a good variety of vocal talents, easily disguising their natural voices and producing quite a choir or snarls, growls and snorts that kept us from letting our guards down. Occasionally, we’d get a random spell-speaker or two, but they were definitely the exceptions and not the rule. We did hear ‘Get out!’ one time, but overall, this cast sounded more evil and demented than most at LOI.

This was also a pretty interactive haunt, cast-wise, both verbally and physically. With a mix of traditional ‘pop scare’ techniques and longer, more in-depth encounters with witty wordage, it was harder to predict what would be lurking around the next corner. At other times, we’d have actors darting out in front or behind us’ you know, just to make sure we weren’t getting too comfortable with our pace.

We would also like to mention the temple dog that waited in a variety of nooks and crevices for our group. At times, we found him climbing on things and, eventually, proving to be one of the most interactive characters of the night.

Individual Scores:
Middletown Haunted Trail: 7.98
Phobia: 7.2
Killer Klowns: 8.85
Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate: 8.09
Temple of Terror: 7.91


Costuming: 7.69

How Did We Get This Score?

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Middletown Haunted Trail:
The Trail’s costuming varied in quality on the night of our visit. For the most part, each of the monsters matched their scenes well. Some were very good at blending in with their areas, such as the scarecrow, and even some of the kitchen crew were grimy enough to hide amongst their dingy dishes with ease. We also saw some morph-suited creatures in a certain “tunnel” that you won’t want to get stuck to the walls in.

Several good masks added an extra layer of realism, and copious amounts of blood were used in the kitchen, cafeteria and hillbilly scenes.. Notable standouts include the Death Guide, the plague doctor and demon counterparts, and those infected by waste “bugs” in the sewer system.

Along with the good costumes, however, we also found a few that appeared to be incomplete. We saw portions of undistressed street clothes, makeup that seemed rushed (or may have been sweating off) and at least one chainsaw victim with no blood where her attacker was aiming, just to name a few instances. Nothing was overly disregarded, however, but we saw enough throughout the trail to justify a dip in score. We presume this is at least partially due to the warm weather in the beginning of the season, causing some characters to not want as many layers or extra accessories that would otherwise provide a more finished look.

Phobia:
Phobia’s wardrobe was far less expansive than the Trail’s, probably because they knew they were pretty hard to see in most areas. In each scene, the attire, makeup and masks matched the fear at hand with the most complex creation being a fluorescently-colored voodoo guy. Others consisted of morph suits or, more commonly, simple black cloaks and a mask. While the “floating clown head” did do the trick in the nearly-pitch-black passageways, we’re curious to see if they decide to put some more detail into their darkness-dwelling monsters in the future.

Killer Klowns:
The Klowns, as a whole, were the definite standouts of the evening in the costuming department. With the exception of a few errant pieces of street clothing visible from time to time, each of these characters presented themselves well and matched their scenes respectfully. A good mix of masks and makeup were used and, while each character had little issue pulling off their own unique appearance, we didn’t note any particular harlequins as considerably standing out apart from the pack.

In a few areas it was hard to see the small details that some of them were displaying, but you’ve gotta watch getting too close to those things anyway…

Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate:
Psycho’s came in at a close 2nd at LOI this year for costuming, as we saw several detailed outfits during our walkthrough. Well, some were in your classic bloody “beaters” and jeans – as with the hillbillies – while others had appropriate makeup and more-elaborate attire that produced some very believable characters. It was obvious that Psycho was a fan of “getting dirty” with his work; lots of blood was present and some of the victims and staff appeared to be missing some skin!

Standouts this year include Dr. Psycho, the cremator, and the dolls. One was dressed so similarly to a real doll that we thought they were fake too’ but not for long!

Temple of Terror:
A select few characters in the Temple had exceptional costumes this year, while the bigger bulk of them tended to be pretty average for what we typically see. The Sandman, for example, had clearly taken quite a bit of time putting together a detailed get-up. Just a few rooms further, we were back to distressed cloaks, stringy cheesecloth and blockier makeup. Then, someone else would have some decked-out duds. It definitely seemed like there were a few iconic characters and several “fill-ins,” and some of whom we saw several times.

We did, however, see a few good masks and a surprisingly well-hidden ghillie suit that scares us every year! This was another one where we just never knew what was going to be waiting for us around the next corner, but they did make efforts to match either the ancient Temple theme or the actual scene they were in.

Individual Scores:
Middletown Haunted Trail: 7.89
Phobia: 7.43
Killer Klowns: 8.2
Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate: 8.09
Temple of Terror: 6.94


Customer Service: 9.72

How Did We Get This Score?

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We’re not even sure where to begin on this one. LOI has put so many precautions in place to ensure their guests are safe while easily navigating the park.

First of all, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the place. We passed at least one billboard and, once it got dark, they had a giant spotlight that can be seen for miles. If you’re in the general vicinity, it’s probably safe to just follow the light if you don’t have GPS. We even heard their ad on the radio multiple times!

Once you’re close, you’ll see a large LOI sign by the road marking the newly-concreted driveway and entry gates. Parking is $5.00 per vehicle, so be sure to bring some cash with you for this. While it’s never fun to pay for parking, their gravel lot is huge, well maintained, and full of flaggers to direct you to the closest available spot. After you’re parked, you can’t miss their additional haunt signs and large facade.

This attraction makes a clear effort to focus on customer safety. You can’t get in without going through their front gates and, to do that, you need a ticket. There was a policeman on patrol in the parking lot and a K-9 unit inside the entrance to the midway. We highly advise you to not try any funny business here, or you may become the next bloody prop hanging on one of their walls!

We saw staff members all over the place wearing fluorescent green LOI staff shirts. There was also someone at the entrance to each haunt who were friendly and helpful at answering any questions we had. One of the roaming clowns made a balloon animal dog for us and the folks at Zombie Sniper Patrol even babysat him while we slayed zombies. They even took it a couple steps further by naming him and giving him a collar! “Clovis” will now be riding to all the haunts with us this season. (See pics below)

Each attraction is now brightly marked so it’s easy to tell where you’re going, even the Middletown Haunted Trail. Once inside the attractions, we did encounter some uneven spots, ramps, and stairs. Nothing particularly dangerous, but it’s good to know there are some toe-grabbers if you’re the type that tends to run and not watch where you’re going. Phobia, on the other hand, is very dark in many areas, so definitely don’t run in this one; you will body plant into a wall. Ask us how we know, and we weren’t even running!


Atmosphere: 8.65

How Did We Get This Score?

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LOI promotes a fun and spooky atmosphere with an overarching “amusement park” vibe. It’s immediately obvious that they want their patrons to be comfortable and entertained while visiting the complex.

As soon as we pulled in, our anticipation to enter shot through our car’s roof. A massive house facade with animated windows and watchful gargoyles beckoned us to enter while emitting ominous sounds across the parking lot. We couldn’t get up to the ticket booth and get our tickets fast enough!

Entering the park is similar to what you’d expect at any amusement park with multiple ticket windows and then turnstiles. Once we entered, we stood there, mouths gaping open, trying to take in everything that greeted us.

Do we get our pictures taken first? Do we look at the map? Do we go hit the Temple of Terror? Do we eat? Agh! That’s when a sneaky midway clown decided to show himself (the one that gave us our new co-pilot balloon animal). As we looked around closer, there were quite a few other characters roaming about too including one in a moving bed!

The entrances to most of the attractions are decorated appropriately and some build more excitement than others. Zombie Sniper Patrol has some military-style decor at the end of a long multi-colored light tunnel. The Trail is next to ZSP and, as we approached the queue line, we got the feeling we were getting further and further away from all civilization (this was the fast-pass line). The General Admission line has a large projector screen that was playing horror movies – “The Shining” on this particular night. Phobia has a large banner out front and Killer Klowns has a colorfully-painted sculpted clown exterior. The line to Psycho’s is similar and the Temple is quite a bit less obvious, alluding to the “recently-discovered archaeological find” theme. All queue lines are indoors or under roof, except for the Trail, which aids the transitions away from reality. Though, we will say that most of the queues, except for the Temple, were pretty bare and could benefit from a facelift.


Special Effects: 8

How Did We Get This Score?

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Middletown Haunted Trail:
Fans of large set pieces and animatronics alike, boy are you in for a good show! Once again, one of the most impressive effects to us on the Trail is their amazing sound effects. We have been through many a haunted trail in our day and we don’t recall any others having sounds quite this realistic and consistent.

The Trail has many large effects and detailed scenes throughout the fearful forest. From graffitied walls and running water in the sewer, bio-hazardous toxins, real guns, body bags, heads on stakes and the sounds of banjos to animal carcasses, a covered Cherry Hill Bridge and real flames – just to name a few – it’s quite obvious that this is no place for any human to be’ unless you’re ready to die! Hell, you can’t even lose your balance in their vortex tunnel or you’ll find yourself impaled by spikes!

So, back to the animatronics and large set pieces, if you’re a big fan and love seeing them in haunts, LOI in general is a good place for you to visit and especially the Trail. Their variety consists of giant human-smashing walls, real busses protruding upwards from the ground, giant mutants, a headless horseman (and horse), giant evil pumpkins and trees and more!

Phobia:
Phobia featured the best sound effects of the night, mostly loud enough where we could feel them deep within our bodies! Now, imagine dealing with that while walking through bugs, thick fog, and past giant creatures that will get extremely close to you. Yeah, this is one spooktacular way to absorb some special effects.

We can say that we noticed quite a few additions this season, without giving away any of the phobias that are in place. Sudden blasts of air, a stun gun and some very effective strobes are just a few of the more-common effects you’ll see.

Again, Phobia is more of a psychological scare with dark transitions between the actual scare scenes. Some of the darkness feels like it takes a while to get through, which translates to a lot of “dead space” after the first encounter or two with a pitch-black hallway. Personally, we hope to see more scenes built in the future to cut down on some of the time between them.

Killer Klowns:
Killer Klowns is a 3D attraction where you can put on some 3D glasses and nothing will scare you…hehe. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a fib.

Aside from the fluorescent and three-dimensional artwork on the walls, we faced several very fast-moving animatronics (more in “Scare Factor” below), a shrinking room, a giant walk-through pinball machine, and we nearly fell down a bottomless pit!

We must say, the maze design was much improved this season and the addition of thicker fog only made it better. The choices of music were very interesting for clowns in some spots, but still appreciable.

Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate:
We noticed a lot of changes outside the Estate this season, including a significant path change through the outdoor section. We did encounter some realistic sounds, but we felt they didn’t quite match the quality of some of those we talked about earlier.

The Estate does have some well-decorated and intricately-designed scenes. There’s also a lot of grunge and blood which enhances their overall storyline.

Some of the effects we came across included a real and haunted hearse, a playground, a quarantined zombie infestation, a rotating meat conveyor, ungodly amounts of body parts and blood, a sewer system, dolls, and a whole lot more.

Temple of Terror:
Our journey began in a rickety elevator-type contraption that had a mind of its own. Be ready to hold on for dear life! There were so many coffins and bones in this Temple that we’re convinced it’s almost solely made from them. Keep this in mind when wandering through so none of yours end up in their collection…

Amongst the death and bones were giant creatures, creepy sounds, stalactites, a falling ceiling, moving floors, a claustrophobic passage and snakes just to name a few.

The lighting is dim in many spots, so it makes it feel as if you’re truly in a place where the sun doesn’t shine. It also helps the creatures hide. Despite the darkness, there was still some limited vegetation down there accompanied by a swinging rope bridge!

Individual Scores:
Middletown Haunted Trail: 8.66
Phobia: 7.66
Killer Klowns: 8.04
Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate: 7.7
Temple of Terror: 7.93


Theme: 9.1

How Did We Get This Score?

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Middletown Haunted Trail – N/A
The trail doesn’t stick to one specific theme. Instead, this forest frenzy twists through a motley mix of unexplainable events and monsters. We trod through a sewer, a spider’s sanctuary, past The Patch of giant pumpkins, through the Witch’s Brew, and even a school that was far scarier than anything we went to when we were younger.

Phobia:
In Phobia, the task of facing some of our biggest fears was forced upon us. Once we entered, we had to face them whether we wanted to or not, as there was no turning back! Before we stepped inside, The Witch of Phobia gave us the rules and a general idea of what we’d encounter inside so we were fully aware of the theme before entering. The only real “downside” for this haunt in this category was the lengthy black hallways mentioned in Special Effects above. Adding more scenes that attack more fears could help in this department.

Killer Klowns:
Just the name gave this one away. The clowns did a great job of keeping the rooms and theme traveling smoothly throughout the attraction. They were feeding off what each other was saying and even referring to one another and various items in their scenes.

Don’t fall for eating their ‘sticky sweets” either, they aren’t what you think they are…

Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate:
As we found ourselves wandering through a wooded path, a wandering fellow approached us. He introduced himself as an escapee of the Estate and gave us some pertinent information on what was lying ahead of us. Of course, we didn’t heed his warning and we were off into the demented world of Dr. Psycho himself.

You see, this is no normal estate. The doctor has turned this multi-story house into his own experimental hospital of death. It’s even complete with operating rooms! As we made our way past his hideous experiments, they reiterated the scene and other characters, thereby enhancing the overall story.

Temple of Terror:
Once again, we were greeted by an actor outside Temple of Terror that explained a bit of the theme to us before entering. We will note that this is a welcomed aspect to each haunt we experience this in. It really does help give us an idea of what to expect and give the story more meaning once inside.

As The Sandman led us to a small room, where we would soon be temporarily trapped, he warned us of what awaited ahead and bid us good luck. It was obvious that we were going to need it…

Without a doubt, there are some corpse stealers around these parts’ It soon became clear that they wanted to keep us down there forever, both by the scenery and the inhabitants.

Individual Scores:
Middletown Haunted Trail: N/A
Phobia: 9.25
Killer Klowns: 9.6
Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate: 8.78
Temple of Terror: 8.78


Scare Factor: 7.72

How Did We Get This Score?

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Middletown Haunted Trail:
As soon as we rounded the first corner on the Trail, one of its creatures caught us off-guard! We quickly discovered that they’d be watching our every move at all times. There were multiple times when they spotted us and we had no idea until they revealed themselves in a scare. This was mostly due to good hiding spots, but there were a few good distractions that fed us a startle as well. One actor in particular knew every nook and cranny of the last 1/3rd of the Trail and managed to scare us at least 3 times!

The Trail is the longest haunt here and, thus, it dished out the greatest variety. The length also gives them the perfect chance to add intensity from beginning to end, and they took great advantage of that! In the beginning, the scares were more spaced out, but the closer we got to the exit, it was like someone took a volume knob for intensity and turned it way up! We couldn’t even hear ourselves think by the time we got out of there. The actors towards the end would not let up on us and we’re darn surprised we didn’t end up dead before we escaped.

Some of the scare tactics that we only faced on the Trail include loud sounds, disorienting fog that made it nearly impossible to see, aggressive dialogue, and super close encounters with chainsaws. The fiends here can get super close to their kill due to their special chainsaws. Watch yourselves or you’ll become one of the missing posters on their wall!

Phobia:
Right off the bat, this haunt took away our senses of sight and hearing, thus rendering us immediately screwed. One of our members is afraid of the dark, so our journey was quite’ interesting’ to say the least. Be forewarned, the combination of lighting – or lack thereof – and loud music will leave your mind to play tricks on you. Some of these scares are limited only by your own imagination!

They did hit on a good variety of the most common fears. For those of you who visited last season, be prepared as well; they’ve added even more! To go along with the fear of the dark (nyctophobia), we also confronted disorientation, claustrophobic situations, superstitious areas, a bee colony, broken mirrors, a spider infestation, unexpected bursts of air and more!

This haunt preyed on our senses a lot too. Sometimes we thought we were seeing or hearing things’ but were they really there? As soon as we would gain a wink of night vision, they would take it right back away. It’s almost like they planned that or something…

Killer Klowns:
The actors were doing a marvelous job at providing distractions for one another. Several led us directly into other scares and it was fantastic. We were even scared just by several violent animated props!

We would love to see a great finale for this haunt. During our visit, there was a startle in the last room but it was actually one of the least-fierce areas of the whole haunt which left us wondering if there was something scarier waiting for us outside’ but there wasn’t.

Afraid of heights? Get dizzy easily? Afraid of clowns? If you answered yes to any of those questions, be sure to hit this attraction first; give your pants a chance to dry before you go through all the other haunts and get back in your car.

Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate:
Psycho’s gave us the least amount of scares this year. There were a lot of opportunities that were missed. However, by no means did we escape unscathed…

A sudden, loud horn surprised us first. Then the scares trickled on to several intimidating characters, a few great hiding spots, close encounters with beings that wanted nothing less than to eat us, and a bit of disorientation, among other things. Don’t get us wrong, an honest effort to produce some intense scares was made in several of the scenes here. But, for whatever reason, there was something a bit ‘off’ with this one tonight, and the execution just didn’t seem to be 100% effective.

There wasn’t to to the finale here either. The same as the past few years, we exited through a foggy sewer scene that definitely qualifies as ‘creepy.’ But, as we waited for someone, or someTHING, to come get us, nothing ever did. Hey, at least we escaped without becoming one of his experiments, right? This time, anyway…

Temple of Terror:
In the Temple of Terror, we just never knew what would come at us or from what direction. The designers here have meticulously placed a lot of great hiding spots within the walls. Because of this, the smaller scenes and overall ‘darker’ atmosphere, it was much harder to predict these subterranean scares. Some good ‘distraction’ techniques kept us from easily predicting our impending doom.

They warned us that the plants may come to life and, by golly, they weren’t joking. One came to life right next to us and another one from above, which resulted in some entertaining ‘sounds’ escaping from our mouths.

The scares are a bit more ‘360’ in this haunt, meaning they come from all directions and above you instead of just at your level or next to you. We highly recommend you stay on guard’ well, as much as possible.

Individual Scores:
Middletown Haunted Trail: 8.4
Phobia: 7.66
Killer Klowns: 7.74
Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate: 7.21
Temple of Terror: 7.6


Entertainment & Value: 9.18

How Did We Get This Score?

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This is a tough category to score for LOI because no other attraction really offers the same ticketing options they do. As mentioned above, when you purchase a ticket, you’re purchasing an all-access pass to visit each haunt as many times as you want! For 2019, this also includes Zombie Sniper Patrol, meaning you can slay their lively zombies AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT in one night! Or, for those that are really hard core, you can purchase a season pass and go any time you’d like.

During the night of our visit, general admission tickets were priced at $54.99 at the door and Fast Pass upgrade tickets could be had for and additional $24.99 (can be upgraded at any time once you enter as well).

So let’s talk about this pricing because, at first glance, this seems like a lot to pay for a haunted house. If you take their 4 haunts and 1 haunted trail alone, GA tickets make each haunt $11.99 and that’s not including the Zombie Sniper Patrol. Once that’s figured in, pricing is at $9.99 per attraction. That’s still not all… we still have to consider the unlimited entry aspect, because everyone should be taking advantage of that! How many attractions can you visit and pay less than $10.00 to go through as many times as you want? The answer is, ‘not many.’

It took us a total of 63.5 minutes to make it through all of the 6 attractions. That’s just the time spent inside the haunt. This brings their overall minutes per dollar on just one trip through each attraction to 1.15, not including the Zombie Paintball since it’s not technically a ‘haunt’ even though it’s included in admission.

Trail – 27 minutes
Phobia – 6.5 minutes
Paintball – 9 minutes
Klowns – 9.5 minutes
Psycho’s – 11.5
Temple – 9 minutes
Total haunt time: 63.5 minutes

When it comes to additional entertainment received with the ticket price, LOI hosts occasional free concerts that are included with admission. There were also quite a few queue line entertainers roaming about. Several of them were doing a marvelous job at entertaining the crowd including the sliding clown and the butcher.

They also offer a variety of other things at an additional charge, like a mechanical bull and a mini escape room as displayed on their ticketing sign. Let’s also not forget about the $5.00 parking fee. LOI is a cash-only park but they do have multiple ATM’s outside the ticket windows in case you forget to grab cash before you get there.

Overall, Land of Illusion is one fun place to be! The haunts are unique, entertaining, and scary, and we always look forward to making this place our first stop for the year.


How Did We Get These Scores

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Guest Reviews
Guest Average: 8 out of 10

Jason Ross – 10/10October 19, 2019
Everything was amazing, great for the whole family and highly recommend a large group. There was a …show more concert going (acdc cover) that did extremely well and the concert was of high production. Sound, Attention to effects, cast, them park atmosphere all great. I have been multiple years and always excited to go back.

Tamara – 6/10October 4, 2019
This haunt is alot different from your backwoods haunted attraction. They seemed like they had their …show more stuff together. The only thing I did not like was they claim to sell tickets until 2am but they close the lines down for some of the attractions at 1:30 or 1:45 but whoever was in line gets to go through. It was good from what we saw because we had gone to another haunt first so we didn’t have time to make it through all of the attractions we only went to 3 of them. Overall experience was good

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Past Awards


2019 Awards

Memorable Moment - Clovis (Given by: Team Zombillies)


2018 Awards

Best Outdoor Scenes - Middletown Haunted Trail (Given by: Team Zombillies)

Actor Shout Out - Middletown Haunted Trail: Bubby - Mickey Jackson (Given by: Team Zombillies)

Actor Shout Out - Middletown Haunted Trail: Kalamity the Kreator - Beth Jones (Given by: Team Zombillies)

Actor Shout Out - Middletown Haunted Trail: Dr. CR33P - Christian Greschel (Given by: Team Zombillies)

Actor Shout Out - Middletown Haunted Trail: Jimmy Dawn - Justin Retherford (Given by: Team Zombillies)


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