Unreal Nightmares Review (2019)

Management informed us that there are only a dozen or so actors scattered throughout the 14,000 square feet of the building that’s actively being used as a haunt. Those of you that follow our reviews closely might already be picking up that this isn’t very many monsters to go around. However, with some extensive knowledge of their layout and a few quick costume changes, we can still say that we didn’t go very long without crossing paths with a few members of this highly-energetic cast of characters.

When we say ‘energetic,’ we mean these things were climbing up the walls, disappearing into their hiding spots, popping out through the walls, and laughing hysterically at us throughout most of the tour. Some would stand at the end of a dark hallway where we could see them, then retreat just out of sight in the direction we were headed, while other scenes depicted an onslaught of assailants that came at us from every direction!

Of notable mention here is the fact that Unreal Nightmares gives ‘guided’ tours, but not in the typical sense. Instead of actually leading your group through the haunt, these guides hang out at the back of your group. We thought this was an interesting take on allowing our group to do our own thing, being able to view the scenes as intended (without some weird guy blocking our view), and still following local safety regulations. Way to think outside the box!

A good chunk of these actors wore masks (more on this later), so their use of dialogue was relatively limited, and the stuff they did say was a bit muffled. Though the butcher made it quite clear that he was not one to mess with, and one of the dolls demanded that we tell her why we wouldn’t play with her. We just didn’t have the heart to tell her it was because she was creepy as Hell!

A few of the stand-out tormentors of the tour were the doctor and his restrained victim, the lady in the wheelchair and the victim she shared the hospital scene with, and the creature with the giant mouth on a chain that came after us and got loose as we fled towards the exit.

We saw a bit of a mixed bag with Unreal Nightmares’ costumes on the night of our visit. In fact, it may be the broadest spectrum of styles that we’ve seen in a single haunt to date! While some wore plain-looking bib overalls with hoodies and those light-up, ‘purge-style’ masks, others portrayed horrific creatures with highly-detailed and -outlandish anatomical features, such as giant, gnarly teeth, claws, exposed rib cages, and entrails, etc.. The latter was especially the case near the exit of the haunt, which left us with a lasting impression of what these guys are capable of creating.

To be fair, some of the more plain costumes were witnessed on more than one occasion, which is directly attributable to only having 12 actors spread throughout the haunt. However, we recognized familiar voices coming from different monsters, so that verified we weren’t crazy and some of the aforementioned costume quick-changes that we mentioned earlier were actually taking place.

Some of the more-original looks that we noticed included a butcher apron made of skin, a giant doll-like creature with eerily-elongated limbs, a patient with a pair of scissors jabbed into her forehead, another with rotten sores all over the side of her face, a crocodile-like mask with a moving jaw, and one character with test tubes (or syringes) on their fingers. Combined with some cult-like robes, bloody jumpsuits, some street clothes, and other popular (yet high-quality) haunt masks, there’s no denying that we never knew what kind of vicious villain would be waiting for us around each corner.

One of our group members was able to pull up Unreal Nightmares on GPS, while another was not. That said, we typed in their address just to be sure we all arrived at the same place. When we got there, we quickly parked in the first lot that we found that seemed like it might be near the haunt (which it was)… which was free, paved and well-lit (well, our cars didn’t get towed, and no one yelled at us for parking where we did’ we’ll put it that way). However, there was no visible signage that indicated we arrived at the right place. That is, until we got out of our cars and approached the front of the building. There, we saw a red, illuminated skull-pture (see what we did there?) and a couple of ‘Unreal Nightmares Escapes’ signs in the windows’ but that was it. The rest of the building was pretty dark and devoid of any other ‘haunted house’ markings.

Once we ventured inside the front door, we found a few ‘Rules’ posters, a white outline of a human body on the ground, and some friendly people at the indoor ticket booth. They promptly helped us get our tickets and, after a few minutes, a cloaked character showed us to the indoor queue area and answered some questions about the haunt for us.

The building is an old warehouse, so most of the flooring is smooth and solid concrete. However, there are several obstacles built into the path that requires guests to stoop, bend, step over, or possibly crawl to get through (depending on how you choose to negotiate them). Our group didn’t have any issues here, but we don’t see these types of obstacles very often in the haunts that we typically frequent. That said, we aren’t sure if they are a legitimate safety concern or not, as it ultimately depends on your group and no time-sensitive emergencies taking place while getting through them. Though the owner did inform us that they’ve been working closely with their local fire marshall to ensure that everyone’s safety is kept a top priority, so it’s likely that there are bypasses around these obstacles if ever the need arises.

We weren’t able to find much information online. They do have a Facebook page with their pertinent info, but no website or other means of finding more-detailed information that we could find (aside from messaging or calling them). But again, once we arrived, they were happy to answer any questions we had and their pricing was posted right near the entrance.

The haunt is located in a 100-year-old brick building that has a spooky ‘abandoned’ presence to it at night. Red lights illuminate some gnarly-looking decor by the front door, but those were pretty much the only things the haunt has going for it outside.

Once inside, the first thing we noticed was a crime scene outline on the floor. When we entered the main waiting area, it was fully decked out with a strange, red, gooey substance on the walls with human heads and a vintage dentist chair set up in the corner. This was also where we met our tour guide, who was in a full costume awaiting our arrival. Right before we entered, we could hear banging on the walls and screams coming from the other side of the door that we were about to enter. As soon as the door opened, we could already hear the creepy sound effects too, which definitely got the tour started on the right foot.

Unreal Nightmares is an old-school haunted attraction where the actors are the center of attention’ in most areas. However, they did have some unique effects that we haven’t seen before mixed in as well.

When it comes to sounds, they had some very unnerving whispers, screams, and strange little girl sounds that were all warped together in varying pitches and volumes, which made the hair on our arms stand up! Come to find out, most of them were custom made by the attraction. With as many haunts as we go to, it starts getting easy to pick out sounds that we’ve heard before’ and we hardly recognized any of what we heard here. The volume used was also high enough to make it difficult to ignore throughout most of the tour, without being so loud that we couldn’t hear the actors (or ourselves think). Well done!

Right after entering, we noticed this gooey-looking muck covering the walls. After noticing a moving teddy bear stuck in it, we then saw what seemed to be hundreds of other toys stuck in it as well! We decided it was probably best to stay away from it; we didn’t want to end up just like the toys and stuck in it forever. Later, just when we thought we were trapped, some bloody handprints led us through a secret door (as a matter of fact, always follow the handprints)! At first, we were all thinking, ‘No way do we walk through there,’ but they proved us wrong.

Aside from these items we also noticed a unique cage entrapment for one of the scarier monsters (apparently it wasn’t that strong, though), real balloons, an interactive hallway where we had to go over and under things, several strobe-lit areas, they threw something at us that caused a loud noise and spark, authentic medical equipment was in use, and a whole lot more. One of the most memorable effects was seeing a baby crib fly across the room and stick to the side of the wall!

By contrast, however, we must note that a good portion of the scenes are quite obviously unfinished. Bare lumber wall framing is blatantly exposed in many areas, and several original walls and fixtures of the warehouse are left visible and untouched along the show path. While we eventually started ignoring these aspects of the show, keeping in mind that the owner informed us the 2020 haunt season *should be significantly different, they were still a looming reminder that there’s a long way to go before reaching the same level of detail that we see at most other haunts.

Overall, everyone in our group of 4 received a healthy dose of frights! There were a lot of nooks and crannies for the scarers to hide within and they took full advantage of them. Sometimes they were high and low while others were on both sides of us at once!

We were on the receiving end of several unique techniques as well while we traversed the Nightmares. Due to scene layout, they instilled some trepidation into our group as they kept peering at us through hidey holes before we got to them. They also banged on doors that we had to walk through, so we knew that we were about to rendezvous with these attackers. There were also several suspenseful sections where we were all looking at each other like, ‘We really have to go THAT way!?’

At times, the music alone was enough to give us the heebie-jeebies. But, we were also targeted with sudden moving objects, hidden attire, entrapment, disorientation, and a few downright scary-looking costumes among others!

General admission to face these Unreal Nightmares is priced at $10.00 per person. Children ages 5-10 are $5.00, and children under 5 are free.

Each group’s tour time will likely vary due to the maze and other interactive areas, but our group was tormented for 13 minutes. This brings the MPD (minutes of entertainment received per dollar spent) to 1.3 which is above the average of 1.0 that we’re seeing most often.

Aside from the entertainment we received inside the haunt, there were a few things to take pictures of in the waiting areas and on the outside of the building. We also had our tour guide in the waiting area with us, filling us in on some of what to expect of the experience.

Unreal Nightmares gave quite a surprise to this review group for only being a second-year attraction, and we can’t wait to see what they produce in the coming years! They have a great location for a haunt, some excellent costuming skills, clever scare tactics, and such an energetic crew.

Are you brave enough to face what’s inside their murky walls?