Amhurst Asylum
Valparaiso, IN
Reviewed on: Saturday, October 8, 2016
With just a little over an hour commute from Chicago, located in Valparaiso, IN, is Amhurst Asylum. Since their opening back in 2010, they have consistently held a place on our annual Top 13 list. But, this attraction just keeps getting bigger and better each year, with 2016 being no exception.
As you enter the property, it sets the mood for the visit ahead. Driving down the long, dark and rocky driveway, we arrived at the entrance. Even after experiencing the same drive year after year, it still brought chills up our spine. Staring into the darkness, is it just your imagination that someone could be lurking in the woods watching us?
We began our night walking through the front yard to the asylum. This year, it was filled with a fire eater, dancing to music and setting the eerie tone for the freaks that we were about to encounter within.
Once we reached the front door to the asylum, we were greeted by a patient named Scarlett, who we have had the pleasure of visiting with the past few years. Now, here at Amhurst Asylum, they definitely take a big step out of the “ordinary” for a haunted attraction. The actors here are allowed to touch you. This concept alone can mess with any persons mind and it definitely gives the reality that there are unstable patients at this asylum!
Making your way through the attraction, a strict insane asylum is kept. Scenes fit the theme and story-line, and keep the illusion running throughout. Room after room, they are filled to the rafters with detail, and the story-line engulfs you into the illusion. With a seemingly never-ending tour, we quickly felt as though we may never get out! Numerous patients from all different angles bombarded us with their crazy comments and unstable actions as we made our way through. At one point, there are so many patients, you don’t know where to look!
Something very unique to Amhurst is their house-wide “event” feature. We haven’t seen anything else like it throughout our adventures during the seasons, so this is definitely something you have to see in person! Set to trigger at random times, an air-raid siren goes off throughout the entire attraction and every single actor immediately stops their performance, covers their ears, hovers in a corner, or some, even go crazier! Even as you make your way through the rooms, every actor engages in this until the siren ends. This is a unique and extremely innovative idea and really helped to tie the entire attraction together!
Some of our highlights included the room that was on fire, the elevator, the locker room, and the courtyard. One of the newest features is the hallway that seems never ending! Just when you think you’ve made it all the way through, you turn around and still keep going. The use of foreshadowing here in beyond brilliant. We couldn’t believe our eyes and definitely enjoyed this new addition to the asylum.
Making our way towards the end of the attraction, we made our way through the white curtain maze. Actors within knew the perfect moment to attack, and the one young girl in there didn’t want some of our group to leave! Filled with witty banter, she made you feel as if you truly did need to check yourself into the asylum with her!
As always, making our way out of the asylum, we can’t help but leave with a huge smile on our faces. There’s just something about interacting with mental patients that just somehow can put you in a good mood because you never know what will come out of their mouths!
The Bottom Line: If you haven’t made it out to Amhurst Asylum, this should be added to your “must-see” list. We were given an idea of what’s to come for 2017, and we can’t wait to see the expansion that’s coming in the asylum. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to see all the crazies within their walls. Who knows, you may never want to check out of the asylum!
