Welcome Back Freakling Bros! We Missed You

Freakling Bros has been in Las Vegas for as long as I have been visiting haunts. And it has always been one of my favorite haunts to visit. But because of circumstances (too busy one year, closed down another), we haven’t visited it in a while. So I feel like this year could merit a new review. Keep in mind, My Readers, that I have seen this over and over. This makes for a better review since not much surprised me, but also a somewhat jaded one as nothing much surprised me. It may also be familiar to some of my Readers, as the Dragon reviewed this one a few years ago (click here to remember).

The location moved to a Desert Breeze park, but since it was still in a dirt lot. No real change there. The setup isolated itself from the soccer games and children in strollers, so it still felt like a haunt, not a park. A few actors were wandering around outside, looking amazing. I miss the years when Scorch the Clown was blowing fireballs into the air. But still, great costumes and atmosphere

The fast pass included a cool looking T-Shirt, and I am not much in the mood to wait in long lines this year, so we went for it. I will say that, after doing a fast pass twice, it does make the experience a lot shorter. Not worse, just shorter. So if you wanted to be out all evening at the haunts wait in the lines. Or pick somewhere fun to go afterward and decamp.

The outsides of the haunts looked the same as they had in years past. Since the Frealking Bros put a lot of effort into the exteriors of their haunts, that isn’t something I would expect to change. Or not something I expect to change until they debut a new haunt.

So we put on our cool new shirts and talked to one of the creators, Duke, about his idea of the best order to go through the haunts. He suggested in order of scare level. That meant Castle Vampyre,

followed by Coven of 13,

followed by the full contact Gates of Hell.

Since we didn’t have line length to guide our decision this year, we decided to follow his advice. So on to Castle we went. They paired us up with groups every time, which I was happy with. I like seeing new people get scared. But two out of the three groups made us go first! The only exception to this was in Coven of 13. It was fun to see them sit in the chairs at the beginning, and rescue their friend. But they weren’t too interesting after that.
But this review is supposed to be of the haunt, not the guests, so I guess I’d better get on topic. Here we go

Sets:

I know that at least one room in each haunt changes every year. So I was looking out for those rooms. But since it has been a couple of years since we have been to these haunts, I was only able to discover the change in one of them.
That being said, I do not think I’ll ever have a complaint about the sets at Freakling Bros. The scares fully encompass the space they have to work with. The light is enough to see what they want you to see, but dark enough to keep the creepy vibe. The fun bits of Castle Vampyre made me smile (always swing on the rope). We got slimed in Coven and shocked in Gates. The slime made me jump and scream even though I knew it was coming. There was a girly moment of “ew, it’s in my hair!” before I remembered that it washes out and I was being silly.

They also have a really good track record with repurposing their best scares, like the falling wall in Coven that used to belong to Circus. Repeat guests might notice the familiarity, but it doesn’t detract from the haunt at all. They changed the rest of the room so entirely, it fits right into the new theme. Plus it’s a fun easter egg to show friends that may be coming in for the first time.

While there are a few familiar haunt bits, like a claustrophobia and some glowing spiders, I love Freakling Bros for their originality. Especially in Gates of Hell and Coven of 13, there are rooms that I have never seen in another haunted attraction. These rooms stand out, so when I run into someone else who has been and say things like “how bout that demon birth?”, they know and remember exactly what I’m talking about. I think that makes a great haunt. They have scenes that stick with you for years.

Acting:

Freakling Bros has different levels of scares, like in all good haunts. They had specific characters giving rules at the beginning, which is one of the roles that has the most time to show its character. These actors did well in setting the mood for the haunt they were assigned to every time. The opener for Castle Vampyre had a fun, bordering on campy Transylvania accent that she managed to keep even through the fangs. The haughty vampyre distaste for mortals came across well too. Coven of 13 had witches telling you a story about needing to add to a coven, and the actor delivered the story well. I only wish we hadn’t had a group of Woo Girls in the line next to us so that we could hear better. But not the actors’ fault; they didn’t miss a beat. The Gates of Hell has two intro actors that repeat the same warning in slightly different ways. I am aware that this is because of the liabilities inherent in a full contact haunt. To their credit, they did it with enough character that it didn’t sound like a broken record.

Now to the inside of the haunts. There were actors with a variety of scare levels inside, and a variety of talent levels as well. Most of them were placed accordingly, and the ones with full scripted bits seemed to know their stuff. My only criticism was that there were a couple places where the lines seemed rushed and lacked inflection. I’m not sure if this was the actors’ getting tired of doing the same script over and over, or if they were just trying to get through the lines before the guests left the room. If it were my haunt, I would cut the script a bit to give them more space to act. Also, maybe giving them a bit of creative license in their lines could keep the script from getting stale.

I do give props to one particular actress. The electricity girl at the end of Gates of Hell was amazing. She kept us there exactly as long as she needed to, gave attention to every member in the group, and kept attention riveted on her the entire time. Great job!

Theme:

With haunts like Freakling Bros (and LV Haunts) as the basis of my haunt knowledge, it’s no wonder I’m so critical of a haunt without a strong theme. This is one thing that the Freakling Bros has all wrapped up. They don’t pick a theme they can’t make a whole haunt out of and they don’t hold back when they pick one. Plus their themes are inventive, ones you don’t see 13 million times in one city.

The Castle has strong old-fashioned Transylvania vibes all the way through. It uses old-looking stones, rough wood coffins, and ornate old-fashioned decor to keep that aesthetic. Gates of Hell is brutal, to the point of being gross and painful. The theme was originally described to me as ways you can get to hell and what happens when you arrive. They have a vibe of sharpness in that haunt, of harsh realities that hit all of the senses. Coven is more wild and earthlike. It makes you feel like you have been kidnapped into a New England forest in a time before roads and skyscrapers. What makes these themes so strong is that they would still be there without the actors. The actors provide the scare, but the builders and designers provide the backdrop for them to work in front of. It takes both to make a truly immersive haunt.

Scare Factor:

I Have to base this on the reactions of people around me, since I have visited these so many times that I don’t have much of a scare reaction to them anymore. The guests that went with us each time seemed to be scared though. They were convinced they would fall into the pit in Castle. They screamed at the gunshots in Gates. Coven even got me, but that was as much gross as scared. But I guess gross is a kind of scare. So while going through these haunts is fun nostalgia for us, they definitely maintain their scare level as far as the rest of the guests are concerned. I recommend them to people every year, and next year won’t be any different.