Trail of Screams & Screamatorium Haunted House 2017
Screamatorium Haunted House and Trail of Screams
Rockford, IL
Reviewed on: Sunday, October 8, 2017
For those looking for an evening of all things haunted, look no further than Rockford, Illinois. Here, you will find the Trail of Screams, Screamatorium Haunted House and Zombie Outbreak Paintball Experience, all conveniently at one location. Complete with a concession stand and a gift shop, this is sure to be a jam-packed evening!
We began our night with Screamatorium Haunted House, this year, their attraction being titled “The Sanctum”. Celebrating their 10th year of fear, the minds behind this attraction definitely raised the level of intensity! Here, you are brought into a domain filled with darkness, torture and pain. As you make your way through a labyrinth of darkness and winding paths, the demons within are luring you to join their coven. The question is… will you join them?
One of our favorite scenes as we made our way through was the fallen angel. With beautiful details throughout, this angel was losing her feathers on her wings and slowly the darkness was taking over her. With perfect lighting and a great actress portraying this character, we didn’t want to leave the room! Weaving through other scenes of Satanic worshipping and darkness filled walls, it definitely felt like the darkness was going to take over our group!
As we made our way out of the attraction, we came to a sign that read wait here for “Captain Spaulding’s Murder Ride”. Not knowing what to expect, we waited a short time for our “chariot” to arrive along with the man himself, Captain Spaulding. As we were ushered into a white van, the murder ride began. Here we were informed we were being taken to the middle of nowhere and have to take the trail to survive. With some witty banter and some great lines from “House of 1000 Corpses”, the Captain definitely turned it into a wild ride.
After being dropped off, it was time to enter the “Trail of Screams”. Celebrating their 16th season of fear, we knew we were in for a real treat. Our group was given a flashlight and told to stay on the trail and beware of everything and everyone lurking in the dark. Making our way through the trail, we came upon scenes that our group would stop to watch the actors interact with us. One of our favorites was the movie theater, complete with theater sitting, you’ll be in for a surprise when the lights go dark! Another scene we enjoyed was our trip to Santa’s workshop. Complete with an evil Santa, he told every member of our group what gifts we deserved and for some of us, what toy we would become! We commend this actor for his creativity and performance!
Lastly, as we made our way off the Trail, we were ushered to the final attraction “Zombie WarZ”, which is all new for 2017. Set up as an interactive paintball experience, patrons are given a paintball gun as you stand behind a window and the opportunity to hunt the zombies in the night. With fast moving actors, take a good aim, as you never know where the next attack will come from!
After our hunt for zombies, we waited for Captain Spaulding to pick us up again, as we took the Murder Ride back to our car. With even a wilder ride than the first trip, it definitely brought the attractions all together three-fold.
The Bottom Line: For a jam-packed night of things that go bump in the night, head over for a walk at the Trail of Screams and Screamatorium, and let’s not forget hunting some zombies in the dark! It’s an action packed night with a triple threat and even includes a pretty sweet ride with a certain Captain!
