31 Freak Street: The Little Haunt that Could

The season was almost over. We had seen two haunts already. Halloween maze was new to us, Freakling Bros was familiar, both were so much fun. We had also dared to make costumes and debut them at one of the biggest parties in our city. But I didn’t feel like we were done yet. I don’t know whether it was some kind of FOMO or just a desperate need to hold on to the haunt season for one just one more adventure. But there was one haunt left that we hadn’t seen. A friend of mine had worked part of the season there. He told us that it was run by the people that used to run a haunt called Bonnie Screams. That one was near to Las Vegas, but I had always missed it because I was acting during the years when it was open. (That is one of the disadvantages of working a haunt; you don’t get many chances to experience them yourself).

31 Freak Street seemed new to Vegas. It was definitely its first year in the Tivoli Park location. It didn’t offer a fast pass. That either indicated it didn’t want to, or it didn’t need one. The day we went, there was a high wind warning, which made me hesitant to wait in a long line outside in the dust. But the friend who acted in it reassured me that the haunt and the line were inside, on the second floor in an office space. So we went for it.

Finding the haunt was almost harder than finding the way through it. If we hadn’t known it was there, I’m not sure we would have known to look for it until we were on the section of the street that advertised it. Our friend told us the building number, which helped a lot. A greeter on the bottom floor was there to direct us up to the haunt’s entrance. It consisted of an entryway, a photo wall, a decorated entrance door, and a normal-looking exit door. As we came out of the elevator, a group ran out the exit door to the sound of chainsaws. Seemed promising.

We bought our tickets and chatted with the owner as we waited. She confirmed that the haunt used to be at Bonnie Springs called Bonnie Screams at Halloween. Bonnie Springs used to be an old west type town outside of Vegas, with petting zoos and melodrama shows. But the haunt had closed down when the town was demolished for something more modern. She said it had skipped around Vegas for a few years before this one.

There were only a couple of groups in front of us. Before we went in, the owner told us that we would finish one house and then go into the other, but the actors would tell us where one ended and the other began. Then she opened the decorated door and let us in.

Sets:

I had looked up the haunt before we went. It was supposed to consist of two mazes.

The first, Intruders, was supposed to be an empty street with an “abandoned” house. The second, Twisted Terror, was a cemetery with clowns from the carnival next door. I had somewhat expected two different lines, two different entrances. I was not too disappointed when we found out that wasn’t the case. 13th Floor in Denver had done just that and it turned out fine. And the owner had told us we would be able to tell when one ended and the other began. It didn’t seem super obvious to me, although when we thought back with the themes in mind, I could figure it out. But that’s a lot of thinking for your run-of-the-mill haunt guest.
You could tell that you were in an office space. They didn’t do anything to cover up or decorate the walls or the floor. I’m not sure if they weren’t allowed to, but it did stand out. They did make good use of the nature of office spaces though. They slammed the doors loudly to add jump scares, and the sounds were amplified by the echoes of the empty rooms. The lighting went back and forth from creepily dim to dark enough we couldn’t see the sets. One room had a very colorful clown hanging from the ceiling, but other than that most of the sets were placed on the floor within the maze of chain link fence walls.

Those sets were big, dramatic, and usually well placed. A couple of the anamatronics were ones I recognized from our visit to Spirit Halloween, like Cotton Candy Dan. But I don’t mind that. Not every guest is going to memorize the stock of Spirit, and besides, what else are those big anamatronics for? And the cotton candy murder gave me a bit of a laugh too.

They may have wanted to do a bit more work converting the space. At least they could have covered the emergency exit sign on the door out. The chainsaw chased us right to it, but I didn’t want to go through because I thought I would set off an alarm!

Acting:

I could tell that they welcomed all levels of acting, and they placed them well. There were some performing simple jump or bang type scares. Others had full lines, or even full rooms to themselves. They didn’t seem to be repeating a script. Some of the lines didn’t even seem to have a theme or point. Some of them were relevant to the room they were in, but not others. I’m not sure I blame that on the actors though. It’s hard to make lines appropriate to a theme when the sets don’t lend themselves to it either.

A couple of the actors stood out in my memory and deserve two thumbs up. The actress in the first room had a wonderful scream. She echoed off every wall and had us jumping and trying to figure out where she was screaming from. Another actor in an elf mask had had honed his ability to read the room perfectly. He was persistent, demanding that we pay attention to him, but not in an overly obnoxious way. His lines were clear enough to understand just how creepy what he was saying really was.
I felt a bit sorry for the chainsaw guy. If I ruined his scare by refusing to go through the exit door, how many other groups did the same. He was a good sport about it though.

Theme:

As I mentioned earlier, the website for 31 Freak Street advertised two themes; an abandoned house and a cemetery with clowns. Not bad themes, to start. Not overly original, but solid. Where they lost it here was the execution. Because I did my research, I could pick out both of those themes. If I hadn’t I don’t think I would have been able to pick out the first one. There was a ghost or a sick girl in a wheelchair, a structure with wolves or werewolves, and possibly a kitchen. That one had sinks, but the room was so dark it was hard to tell exactly what was in them. The clowns were easier to pick out. It’s hard to mistake a clown. I’m not sure I caught that they were supposed to be in a cemetery, but that may have just been me.

They could have improved a bit with a good intro speech or recording. The story was well written on the website, but not everyone reads the website. Some only look at it to buy tickets. Walk-ins might not even see it at all. Even a sign at the line area with the story on it could have helped.

Scare Factor:

I would call this one the little haunt that could. They’ve been trying to rebuild ever since Bonnie Springs died. They’ve gone from trailers to a building, one side of town to another. I could tell the actors were giving it their all. No lackluster lines or missed scares here. The displays seemed to be good quality and well-maintained. They just need a bit more something, and I’m not even sure I can say What. It just seemed incomplete in some way. Decorating the walls would be a good start, to fully immerse the guests in the scare. A better intro could draw guests into the story more.

I jumped a few times at the volume of the scares, and people coming from directions I didn’t expect. One actor got me by banging on an inside window I didn’t even know was there. Some of the anamatronics made me smile, some of the actors impressed me. But I’m not sure I would say it scared me. I will give it a few stars for scaring the normal guests. There was an equal balance of screamers and walkers at the exit door.

I offer this haunt all the best, and hope it can grow and improve in the future. The owner had such heart. I would love to see her succeed.