Eleventh Hour Haunted House in Elk Grove Village offers a thrilling experience for those seeking Halloween scares. This review delves into various aspects of the attraction, providing insights into the overall experience. The location is easily identifiable with bright lights and a corn maze near the street, making it hard to miss.
Wait Entertainment
The wait entertainment was enjoyable, with actors from the corn maze engaging the crowd and setting the mood for the haunt. Their demeanor was not over the top, but it was enough to get anybody in the mood to enjoy what was to come. Everything good here, actors waking throughout the attraction, not lines because you have your group called out before you enter the event. It's nice to keep warm, get eats, etc.. before you go into the event.
On a slower night, there might not be much wait entertainment, but on busier nights, a heated tent is provided with music and food. A creepy troll-like creature patrols the line, adding to the anticipation. The ticket taker was also funny and entertaining, joking around with people.
Length of Event
The length of the attractions felt rather long. It took about 40-60 minutes to complete all four attractions. The corn maze could take some people more time to complete, but we didn't have too much trouble getting through it. Through the house I had an idea of how it could go, but it's good to know that I can be pleasantly surprised by opening walls, creaking stairs, ripped hallways and narrow hallways as well as bleak open courtyards. The third and fourth attractions flowed so well together I barely noticed the shift in atmosphere and location.
The last two had so many critical thinking induced scares, like walking through a pitch black maze of drapes and crawling through tiny crevices, that I was glad to be out of there as fast as possible. The second attraction felt like the shortest part of the attraction.
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Actor Performance
The actors were on their game! Actors done an excellent job here, everyone was picture perfect - for once ! This may have been there best job ever - in the 3 years we have attended this event. In one room I enjoyed the demonic franticness this one actor had as she mumbled to herself and rocked back and forth with a book in her hand before leading the way to another room. In the final two haunts the atmosphere itself only enhanced their acts.
They utilized their environment to both scare and make me uneasy. There were multiple points that I was frightened so bad I fell on my butt. Being a tall guy, it's a funny sight to see. One that scared me was a ghoul who came from around a corner with his hand out like a zombie. I was so scared I literally fell on my butt and crawled backwards towards the opposite end of the hall. Whoever that was, touche.
On busier nights, the actors were energetic, filling in any gaps effectively. The sassy 50's era naughty housewife in the kitchen was particularly enjoyable, being offsetting without being overly scary. The clown in the bedroom, Mr. Snuggles, also provided serious creeps.
Scary Comp. V76
Patron Flow Inside Attraction
The flow for all the attractions were phenomenal in terms of length of wait time, time to get through each haunt and ability to be scared along the way. Just to put it out there, I went by myself on a slow night. Some work need here - we have always had some bottle up in the haunted houses and this year was the same - we ran into 2 other groups within the event, waited to clear and all was ok. The corn maze can get grouped up but that is expected!
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On a busy night, being in a group of about 12 was manageable, with groups breaking off naturally inside the houses. Impressively, there were no instances of running into other groups inside the houses.
Appropriate Ages
Completely appropriate for my age and even younger as well. If I had kids, they would be scared, but still safe in all four haunts. I would say 10 years and above. I don't think children 10 and under should be taken to Eleventh Hour. The last and second house, "INTENSITY" would certainly be too much for little children. I think this should be for ages 9 and above since some scenes are scary and creepy and the young kids shouldn't come through
Props / Special FX
The rooms in the haunted house has such a good display of visuals. Haunted house props were great. Lots of mixed effects and props all worked great here. The shaking floor and rooms are nice (nice touch throughout several events this year) and give you a real effect while walking through the attraction, I really enjoy this touch! Theatre type effects keep getting better and everything moved fast and keep entertainment high.
In the third haunt, at first I was skeptical about a rotating hallway and shaking elevator, but the sounds were believable and at points a little too scary, but I also don't like elevators. Go figure, haha. I loved the FX of all the haunts. The creep factor of the corn maze, the detailed theatricality of the house, the decay of the maseuleom and the blaring music and darkness of intensity.
I did like the toliet in the bathroom of the main house and the giant demon of the maseuleom. The air cannons got some good scares as well as the electric floor in the lab. I want to give props to whoever decides on the music selection for the whole haunt because each room had it's own music and I really think it helped transport you into the scene. The kitchen and dentist room music were my favorite by far.
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Costumes / Make-up
The costumes themselves were somewhat predictable, but most of them I hadn't seen before. Costumes and make up was excellent, no cheap masks here - everything well done. All the costumes fit nicely with each haunt. The makeup was great! I loved nurse betti's makeup and the corn stalk guys makeup.
Summary
In summation, I would saw this haunted house was a good use of my evening. Overall we enjoyed this haunted attraction very much, lots to do here and they do an excellent job for the show value. You have 3 built in events which move together throughout one and then the next, and the last (4th event) the corn maze. All the haunted houses are action packed and well staffed to give the fright you need, the only weak spot is the maze. The wild ride elevator has entertainment value and gives you a great experience overall.
Some of my favorite parts were the final two haunts. not only did I have to make it through physically horrifying spaces and obstacles, but the characters and atmosphere were not to be toyed with. The same location every year, but a GPS will take you there. By myself, it lasted only about an hour for the total package, the effects and visual displays were inviting and frightening altogether.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this haunt to those in the northern Chicagoland area and even in greater parts of Illinois. AND, if I could give one piece of useful advice, don't be afraid to interact with the characters if they talk to you. Especially if they end up scaring you, it's a complete scene-maker when that happens.
The best way to find this haunt is to find the berthold garden center sign and park right in their lot. The parking is free so that is a plus in my book. When I visited there was plenty of parking, but it is always a good thing to go a little early. Parking does tend to fill fast so the earlier the better.
Overall I enjoyed this haunt! I thought $23 is plenty for all 4. Corn maze was creepy as it was awesome! I didnt bumoped into anyone and did get lost in it, so it did add a great solitary feeling. Eleventh Hour had great acting, especially Betti the guy and girl in the dentist/ morgue room and the library room. Mineshaft/Mauseleom had a good dark ambiance. The truck was fantastic and the end. Intensity was another creep filled haunt with me being lost. I did love the clowns in the cage area, with one following me and the other jumping around. I have gone year after year and they never cease to please me. Love the changes they made.
I do have one criticism. I did notice that the corn maze didnt have a lot of actors, so maybe another 2 would help fill the gaps of the maze. Also a few more outside actors to entertain the waiting customers would be great. Overall great makeup, good costumes, awesome scares and great decor! On the night that I went they had two guys helping direct people into the parking lot as well as well lit signs and a tall wind blowing thing that caught my attention.
The show has improved so much and I think the time it takes to go through the houses has even increased. You can tell that these actors really enjoy what they do and they are good at it. I will definitely be coming back next year and telling all my friends about this place. My only complaint is they could use a few more actors in some unused spots. But other then that I would say this haunt is well worth the hype. There's a large lighted sign along the road so bypassing it is almost impossible.