Statesville Haunted Prison & City of the Dead 2017
Statesville Haunted Prison & City of the Dead
Crest Hill, IL
Reviewed on: Friday, October 13, 2017
For those that have never been to Statesville Haunted Prison and City of the Dead in Crest Hill, Illinois, you’re missing out. Located in the mere shadows of the real Stateville Correctional Center just down the road from their location, this attraction has one word associated with it… Legendary.
From the time that you enter the parking lot, the grounds of Siegel’s Cottonwood Farm come to life, where the prisoners have rioted and darkness has taken over. Within its walls, house some of the worst criminals to ever walk this Earth, and you will encounter them all. The creative minds and build team behind this attraction every off-season work their hardest to change up parts of the house and give patrons a whole new experience each time they come to visit. Being deemed a top attraction from many nationally acclaimed publications, Statesville Haunted Prison is a Beast of its own.
Here, the word FEAR is a huge role throughout both attractions. Think to yourself, what are YOU most afraid of? Prison? Tight Spaces? Spiders? Snakes? Rats? Clowns? Doctors? Or what about the dark? Between Statesville and City of the Dead, they have your fears covered, even down to incorporating LIVE animals into their show! Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
As we made our way onto the property, we reached the front of the prison façade entrance, where numerous line actors roamed the queue lines, terrorizing the souls of patrons, as the recoil from their .50 caliber gun was shot off in the background. Every year, the wait entertainment at Statesville is some of the best, and this year it seemed like there were even more actors scurrying about! This year, while spending some time in the dog cage, we got to experience B-Rad the Clown, who definitely had some witty comments to say back and forth with our entire group. You may have encountered him already, unknowing to you, which he’s used this year in a lot of Statesville’s promotional billboards and videos. A wonderful job done by this actor!
Beginning our visit to the prison, the show began with the traditional Warden opening, along with a few sparks here and there torturing the prisoners, with booming sound to rattle the walls, and even the floor!
As we weaved our way through the rows of cell blocks, inmates attacked from all angles. Continuing on our journey, we made our way through the showers complete with bubbles, clown room, had an encounter with the Blood Bitches and even hung out with the sisters.
Once again this year, we had the distinct pleasure of spending some quality one on one time with Shakedown Sam. Be prepared for him to take something of yours, it could possibly be your shoe, a sock, or even your gum! You never know what may happen with him!
Once again, Statesville throws you for a loop when we entered their newest creation for 2017, “Ward 7”. Filled with more actors than you can count, the inmates turned into patients are literally bouncing off the walls. Attacks from all angles make every twist and turn you make unknown of where the next person will come from. A sensory overload, Statesville’s actors do an incredible job of putting you out of your comfort level and getting very up close and personal.
Making our way down the long corridor, chainsaws whizzed at our legs giving us one last good scream as we realized we had escaped the walls of the prison. Just as we caught our breath, we were thrown into their second attraction, City of the Dead.
For years, this attraction has always been the little sibling to the Beast of Statesville. Last year, a ton of time was spent on renovating a large portion of the attraction, and this year was no different. The concept behind City of the Dead is this is where the bodies of the inmates have been buried, and left to be tortured forever.
Within the walls of COD, they step it up a notch and bring in the use of LIVE animals! (Please note, that all these animals are handled by professionals and are used with complete care and safety with the best intention of the animals in mind) Putting some members of our review team completely out of their comfort level, getting up close and personal with snakes and spiders will definitely put you on edge!
Throughout City of the Dead, actors here create their own “language”, that’s followed throughout the entire house! This isn’t just your average growling here, it takes a lot of training to be able to execute what they do here! With the additional use of animatronic props, it’s a perfect balance to keep patrons wondering what else lives within these caves. Once again, COD proves that its tough enough to hang with its older sibling.
The Bottom Line: Once again, Statesville & City of the Dead put through another large amount of changes and details for the 2017 season. If you haven’t gotten the chance to make it out there, we definitely recommend making your way there this season!
