Karnival of Karnage 2019

Karnival of Karnage
Belvidere, IL
Reviewed on: Sunday, October 6, 2019

Karnival of Karnage Haunted House in located at the Boone County Fairgrounds. While this may sound way out of the way, it is only 14 miles from Rockford and 38 miles from Elgin. We wanted to point this out because we don’t want anyone to pass this over simply because they thought it was “too far.” This is an attraction that is certainly worth your time and money, as it has a superior bang for your buck!

Themed after a circus… well, a bloody circus… there is a small country of clowns running around ensuring your complete lack of “safe space.” As we entered the attraction, ringmaster Mari introduced us to her friends, and some of the creatures that would be lurking in the night. As her friends lurked in the rafters she asked our fears and prepared us for our journey. She was certainly letting us know what we had in store. Our adventure then continued on through a number of classic scenes, and some with new-age spins! We definitely loved crawling through the spiderwebs, finding our way through the curtain maze, and discovering our way out of the freezer in the seemingly dead end room. But, our favorite was finding ways to maneuver around some of the obstacles. Well-done!

And let’s talk “lighting.” Some of the best scenes and scares occurred in the absolute pitch black. AND some of the others occurred in the “3D” portion of the tour. Instead of these glasses performing like traditional specs, they completely altered our vision creating a similar effect to “drunk goggles.” It set us off balance, and exposed us for their actors to attack again and again!

Part of what we look for in haunted attractions is not just fear and fright, but also fun and entertainment. Karnival of Karnage has many scares, but also just as many moments to smile and laugh. We loved this! We actually walked out of the attraction with some of the biggest smiles on our faces yet!

The bottom line: This is one of the best years we have been able to experience Karnival of Karnage! From the moment we entered the waiting cue to the moment we left, there were an abundance of clowns, and characters making us laugh, cry, and enjoy every moment. Take your family, friends, enemies, or anyone you can and enjoy this classic haunted attraction that will make you fall in love with the season all over again.

But, don’t just take our word for it, check out these images from our visit: