On Oct 28^th the BSC finished out our reviewing season by visiting Legends of the Fog in Aberdeen, MD. We had a great time! We visited all 4 of the attractions, first up was the Sinister Circus. This attraction incorporated lighting techniques that we have never seen! There were some rooms where the fog and lights were so intense that we couldn’t see a foot in front of our faces! The clowns in there were so creepy. They would jump out or make a loud noise before we could even predict which direction they would be coming from! It was the best we have ever seen the circus go. Way to go clowns! Next we ventured to the Hayride. Legends Hayride has added a few new pieces and some different characters. The hayride has some of the creepiest scenes we’ve seen used for a hayride. This year it felt like there just weren’t enough actors to cover all of the areas where they had covered in years past. There were scenes that stood out, the butcher, the cemetery, and a BSC favorite set is always the Dairy Scream. We like the firehouse too. However the hayride wasn’t as scary as we remembered it being, and after having our wits scared out of us in the circus it just wasn’t as scary. On to the corn stalks we go! The corn stalks are eerie all on their own. There may or may not be actors there. We will just say, we had a few times where we jumped. Now for the grand finish we headed to Carsins Manor. We certainly saved the best for last. This place was awesome. Right down to the butler that welcomes you in. Take a whiff of his breath. You won’t have to lean in. Let’s just say he could kill some of the characters of Twilight with that breath! We entered the manor and from the jump it was go time. We followed a demon into a fireplace and it was insane from there. The demon chick gets a 10 out of 10 for her acting skills. From there we are greeted by other creatures and monsters. The manor was insane. We really had a few “gotchas” a piece. There was something in there that scare everyone. The rooms were shaking, noises coming out of nowhere. They even had things coming at us from ALL directions. We will just leave it at that. Legends is definitely a Maryland favorite. We did get inside word that 2012’s focus is going to be revamping their hayride. If they step that up to where the manor and circus are, this place will blow away a lot of others on the scary scale! With all of that said we highly recommend you visit Legends. They have awesome food, great merchandise, and the some of the nicest staff we’ve met yet! Good job guys, BSC gives you 8.73 out of 10!

On October 22^nd BSC made the drive up to Penn Hurst Asylum. It was well worth it; let me start off with that! The attraction is made up of 4 parts. The first part we went to was the Asylum. We have been to many, many attractions that have an asylum, however this is the first to take place in a REAL previously used hospital. The ambiance of this place is so ridiculous. You can make a haunt on any farm, or put a blow up tent at any mall, this attraction sits on a property where patients were once held, treated and mistreated. That alone makes this place scary. We went through this part in about 20 minutes. It felt like we had walked into a horror movie about a mental ward. The props here were horrifying. Some may say offensive. This part wasn’t a lot of surprises or things jumping out at you. This part was used to mess with the guests from a psychological aspect. We had scenes unlike any others. The makeup on these actors was enough to make your hair stand on end. They had a few actors in this place that we thought were props until they moved. It was insane. A girl so bent up they had to have hired her from a circus. Did I mention this place used real live snakes?! We have never seen so many different rooms pull off one massive movie. It really felt like we were on set. I hope I didn’t spill too much there. So we survived the asylum portion and made our way to the dungeons. The dungeons had a lot of awesome props, and dedicated actors. This area had a few more of the classic jumping out at you skits and the use of lighting made it very creepy. The guys jumped a few times in there. So from there we head to the ghost hunt part. This is where they have left everything as it was. Your group of 10-15 is given 1 tiny flashlight, and you can explore the Mayflower building at your own pace. We took a lot of creepy pics and had a lot of fun exploring. So at this point we had figured that we knew what to expect from the last part of the attraction, good actors, and a few scares. WRONG. Into the tunnel we go. This tunnel once used for transporting living and dead patients to different areas of Penn Hurts underground, is scary all on its own. The masterminds behind this place have added strobe lights demented actors, and more fog then we have ever seen used in an attraction. This is the scariest part of the attraction. Save it for last! There were things coming at us from all directions. We couldn’t keep up with all of it. This is the first attraction to make one of us actually laugh and cry and scream with terror. I am not kidding! This place was sick!!!! The actors and their glowing eyes and their way of touching you when you can’t even see that they are there. WHOA. So with all of that said the entire group of us that went gave Penn Hurst a 10 out of 10. You scared the hell out of us. Way to go!!!

On F
On Friday Oct 21st, BSC went to Halloween Park. We have been here every year since even before we were reviewing. This place is a clue house. The only interactive haunted house (as far as we know) around. The goal of this attraction has always been to solve the puzzles and get onto the next room successfully. So, when we arrived at Halloween Park, we thought we knew what we were in store for. We couldn't have been more wrong! Halloween Park (as did many places in the North East this year) experienced devastating floods from storms. The BSC worried if they would even open this year. Since the floods caused some damaged Halloween Park used it not as an opportunity to cry, but as a time to make major changes. First we went to the house of doom. The person greeting us there was so in character that he was creepy to just look at. We were ushered into a room where a short movie was played explaining the horrors that occurred in that very mill. This really set the tone. We all looked at each other and said "this isn't the same Halloween Park." So with that the movie ended and next we met a talking skeleton who explained we were going to walk in the dark and find our way through the house of doom. The house of doom was amazing!!! They have added new clues, new props and new actors!!!! In the past Halloween Park used its ingenious puzzles and props to surprise you for the most part. Now, they have actors in all of the right places. We had so many scares in here it was unreal! 5 of us went to review and all 5 of us were so surprised and happy with the changes they have made. Heather and Jackie were literally kidnapped in the middle of the house and separated from everyone and forced to go back and solve more puzzles and face more monsters all by themselves! Not funny Halloween Park. (Ok it was awesome) There was no way to know what in the world was coming next. Notable scenes, the room with Annie, the room where we gave the skull to the gate keeper, the possessed girl, the demon in the cowboy hat, and I swear the creepiest best played clown ever. We've seen clowns at just about every attraction something was extra creepy anonymous this one. Probably the evil laugh or the way it turned its head to study us. As we came out of the house of doom we were out of breath. Well done house of doom! Next we saw the area where guests can pay a little extra $$to become part of the scares. We won't give this away, but if you've always wanted to be a part of the scares this is the only attraction we've seen that will give the guests their chance. Next we went to the food Haha! Always yummy eats at Halloween Park. There were no face painters or shoot the spook games this year, but boy was the food tasty. Fried everything you can imagine, hot dogs, fries, mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers...wait we are reviewing for scares...back to the haunt now. So off we go to the catacombs. This is your chance to experience being buried alive!!! It is definitely an interesting experience. Give it a shot! If you are not good with small spaces, maybe this isn't for you. Off to terror behind the walls we go. This has always been a funny and creepy time. They (like everything else here) have stepped it up. It was a pitch black maze except for the occasional ghoul shedding light on you or behind you. The monsters scare you, surprise you and point you in all of the wrong ways through the maze. They had us so confused I didn’t think we would ever get out. It was so fun. We had to laugh at how many times we literally hit a wall in there. Halloween Park, you blew us away this year. We highly recommend everyone attends this one. It was amazing. Definitely not the way it was years past. If you have been thinking of visiting, now is the time to do it. With all of that said, we are so excited to tell you the scores,  3 members gave it  a 10! The other 2 said 9.7 and 9.6… with that said your score Halloween Park is 9.86!

On Oct 15th, the Baltimore Scare Crew ventured to Jason's Woods. As always the staff was very nice and the food was tasty! The first attraction we went to was the new Theater, which was pretty awesome. They changed what once was the museum into a theater that introduces you to the characters in which you will encounter throughout the night. The Beetle Juice character was pretty funny, might I add. There were some neat props in there, a talking skeleton and a giant bat. Nothing jumping out at us, but it set the tone and expectation that we were in for some scares. Next we headed to the mystery maze. It was fun and got a little confusing. There was a Freddy Krueger in there, his costume was awesome, but didn’t scare us as he wasn’t hiding. If you are afraid of Freddy don’t go in there. Next we headed out to the Hayride, this left much to be desired. There seem to be a lack of actors. There were at least 45 people on the hayride and most of the scenes only had 1 actor (average) the actors stayed in character but there just wasn’t enough going on to keep the entire wagon engaged. It was an eerie set up but we felt that there could have been more use of some of the smaller buildings and places to hide people. Onto "Lost in Jason’s Woods" this attraction was one of those attractions where the woods are dark and creepy and you expect a lot of things to make noise and come at you. In this case, we had a few things come out, they were just predictable. Onto the Barn of Terror, the Barn was actually one of the best attractions at Jason’s Woods. We had a few "gotcha" moments and we had fun in there. We then ventured to Pirates Revenge which had some great paint and make up jobs. The woman taking our tickets at the front was really made-up. It looked great! When we went in, there were some great scenes and it was really fun, not scary but fun. The last thing we did was the Carnival of Fear, this attraction was probably our favorite of the night. It had the most "gotchas" and the dark maze was hilarious. We kept running into walls and having to re-route. There were some seriously demented clowns in there. The Ring Master was very in character which made it a lot of fun. All in all the BSC thought that Jason's Woods was great for a family night, not for a night to get terrified. Since we rate based on how scared we got, we rated Jason's Woods a 6 out of 10 this year!

***We received many negative comments regarding our video review, but we just ask people to remember, the videos are meant to be brief initial impressions. We film them right on site and do not take time to articulate everything we saw. That is the purpose of these long reviews we write. We encourage every single person to visit all attractions and form their opinions. Just remember, we have committed to giving our HONEST opinions on reviews, not to please everyone. Sometimes the reviews aren't what the attraction expected. We aren't a mean group of people, and we aren't experts. We just love reviewing and so that's what we do. We also would like the public to know, we contact every single attraction prior to reviewing to ask if it is ok, and let them know we are interested. We hope that people understand that sometimes constructive criticism isn't a bad thing. We appreciate all attractions who allow us to visit and review them.**







On Oct 16th the Baltimore Scare Crew visited Bowie Baysox stadium as Tulip Gulch Proudly presents “Psycho Safari” Why aren’t you there? That’s really what the BSC wants to know. This is a can’t miss show! In MD we aren’t as fortunate as some other states to have a lot of haunted attractions and space to put them, Bowie takes a baseball stadium and turns it into a scary, wait, terrifying haunted attraction every October. Again, why aren’t you there?! This year the show started off with a creepy escorted elevator ride to which we are thrown out and into a jungle. This is one of few attractions that is about 75% wheelchair accessible (there is just a small part you would miss). This attraction is a long walk (about ¼ of a mile) through your wildest fears. When we say wild, we mean it. There were lions and tigers and a giant gorilla, to name a few! We really hate to give anything away! The use of fog, air, strobe lights, props and actors was incredible. There was literally something everywhere we turned. Quazi was not a fan of the snake. Guess it’s because it was real, or was it? Each scene is extremely detailed and decorated. There were times we forgot that this attraction is indoors. You can really tell the people putting on this show have a passion for what they are doing. Some highlights, a very scary Lion, a wolf that made someone run, some swamp thing looking creature, and a very gruesome looking tour guide. We really can’t say more since it could give away the shock value. Guess you will have to go into the wild yourselves! With all of that being said the Baltimore Scare Crew rated this show a 9.4 out of 10! VERY IMPRESSIVE TULIP GULCH! To the people planning to visit, bring some extra money they have snacks on the outside and the kettle corn is awesome! * We did also want to mention that much of the money made here is donated to charity, which we thought was pretty awesome! Keep up the great work!

On 10/8/11, The Baltimore Scare Crew made it's way to Philadelphia to review Terror behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary. This was the first time we have been to ESP for a review. The visual aspect alone upon arrival was creepy enough. We took the opportunity to walk around the perimeter of the prison during the day to get a better perspective of what we were getting into. All we can say is, "WOW"! The size alone was intimidating.
We parked at the designated parking lot around 6p.m. and took the Ghost Tour Bus over to ESP. Upon entering ESP, we were directed by some very effective actors and actress's to our first attraction called "The Gauntlet". This attraction gave us 4 Gotcha's within the first 5mins. BRAVO! After braving through Gauntlet, it was time for "Lock Down". This attraction took us through some of the actual cell blocks. The natural element of the jail cells and cell blocks made for some of the creepiest experiences. Actor and prop placement was top notch. Next up was the "Infirmary". Once again, actors and scares were plotted out well. This is key in any haunt. After mustering our way through the Infirmary, it was time for the 3D attraction called "The Experiment". We must say that there are some unique and different scares throughout this attraction that REALLY got us. FREAKY best describes this attraction! Next up was "Night Watch". Upon entering Night Watch, we were given a small key chain flashlight. This is the only light you have to guide you through the dark corridors of monsters and special FX. Mike said, "I thought it was great that they made you use a flash light through it! It gave you a choice of how dark you wanted it". After visiting the gift shop, it was time for the final attraction, "Break Out". This was a disappointment for us because we were expecting something more then what we got. What we DID get was, a 2 minute walk through of guards asking us if we had escaped prisoners with us. After that, we exited through the prison museum.
All in all, our ESP experience was enjoyable. Our only complaint was that it wasn't long enough. With that being said, The Baltimore Scare Crew gives Terror Behind the Walls a rating of 8.

Another impressive start to the haunt season by Field Of Screams. The Baltimore Scare Crew visited Field of Screams in Lancaster PA on Sept 17th 2011. This was the attractions 2nd day open to the public. There are 3 attractions at this haunt. The Den of Darkness, Frightmare Asylum and the Haunted Hayride. Our first attraction was the Den of Darkness. Heather and Mike found this to be their favorite of the 3. Yolonda commented on the "wall changes" and how shocking some of the scenes were in the den. The Whispering in the walls was a huge highlight. There was definitely something for everyone between each of the attractions. The majority favorite (for the first time since we began to review FOS years ago) was  the Asylum! It stole the show! They have added some very twisted props. I won’t go into detail, but what I will say is look all around you, including above and below! The silent hill area of the asylum was downright bone chilling! There were many interesting scenes, a favorite was the room where a "masked ball" was taking place. The actors in the asylum get a 10 out of 10! Onto the Hayride. This Hayride is one of the best we've seen. They have made changes from last year which gave us some unexpected "gotchas." They don’t have that same old haunted hayride typical skit where everyone just yells "get out of here" at you. Each scene is very carefully executed and you can just tell people love what they are doing. Since we did all 3 attractions back to back, it is really hard to remember which scene came from which attraction. Some memorable skits, other than previously mentioned were: The Deer room (ew), the room with the roaches, the arching wires, the dolls area, the torture scene from the hayride, the hands coming out of the walls, and Freddy Krueger! To everyone at FOS, we really want to say thank you for the hard work we know you put into your part, including during your off season. You all do a wonderful job giving us nightmares!
        The props you see at Field of Screams aren't your typical props. A lot of what they use, you will never see in a store or at a haunters convention. This is blood, sweat and tears craftsmanship! The actors at Field of Screams are so dedicated and into their roles that sometimes we aren’t sure if they know this is just a haunted attraction. For all we know maybe there are crazy people loose inside?! We also must make a point to mention an actor who walks or should we say bounces all around Field of Screams and terrifies customers. This guy is 100% into his performance as an actor here. What gives Field Of Screams a lot of their spark is the fact that, as Tim says, "They leave no stone unturned." The attention to every single detail here is amazing. They try to scare you even as you wait in line. Let's not forget the food and shopping you can do at Field of Screams! The food stands are so good that a few members who live closer to it actually went there for just the food last Friday! We all made some purchases at the Field of Screams store in which they have Halloween props, glow in the dark items, and lots of t-shirts and hats. This attraction is one of the attractions we recommend the most when people ask us where they should go. If you missed it in the past, don't miss it for 2011!
The Baltimore Scare Crew gives Field of Screams a rating of 9 out of 10!