So, first when you pull up all you see are trailers with lots of Red lights on top of them. They surround the Creepyworld compound as I’ll call it. You pull into the parking lot (Cost $2) and then walk down a hill to the entry area for Creepyworld which looks sort of like stockades at a slaughterhouse for cows. Actually, its more like a farm entry between the trailers and there are porta-potties outside the entrances and just inside the entrance for folks who need to relieve their bladders before and/or after they enter this Screampark. Once inside this entrance you walk through a rather large queue part of which goes past the box office [where you buy your ticket(s)] which is all located under a massive tent to help protect you from the elements.
After waiting no more than 10 or 15 minutes (It was a slow night) we entered Ravens Mansion. As the owner Larry Kirchner describes it; it is kind of like a mini-darkness. You wait outside this huge mansion façade.
(In the Daylight)
(As we saw it at night)
You enter what really seems like an elaborate attraction on the same scale as Darkness Haunted House. The attention to detail seemed to work well. The first room you enter is the sitting room. This room really impressed me because I did not expect an attraction that is “removable” to look so good.
As you progress through the house you are frightened by some very well hidden actors. I have to give this company credit if there is one thing they do well, its hide the actors. I don’t want to brag on this place too much, because I don’t want anyone to think I work for them. I do not. We progressed through this house at a pretty steady rate and I really enjoyed the study.
(The Study)
That steady rated ended though when we entered a bedroom and you see no exit, but after we took about 3 minutes to think about it. We decided that we probably have to go through the closet to go on. I did joke with my friends that I feel like I am in “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” to which one of my friends replied “Yea, but I don’t think you are entering Narnia on the other side.” And she was right we were thrust into the kitchen from what appeared to be where the fridge used to sit.
(The Kitchen)
You exit this room and shortly are thrust outside where you walk over a bridge across a large pond or small lake with water cannons and fire cannon (blows less than five feet from you). After making our way across this outdoor area and through a green house we are dropped in front of Dominion of the Vampires.
This attraction strikes on one of my biggest fears; VAMPIRES! I know I am a wuss, I love watching vampire movies, but I do not like them face to face. When you start this attraction, you are dropped just outside Dracula’s Castle.
When your going through the castle, you never see the upper floors to this place and I had no problem with that myself. You walk through the dungeons of the castle and that was plenty. I don’t recall much of this because I had my eyes closed and I my hand tightly gripped on my friends shoulders as we walked through for what seemed like hours. Oh, and in case your wondering, here is a peek at one of the many vampires inside the castle.
I couldn’t be happier to have exited that castle but my friend wasn’t as we now found ourselves in a graveyard filled with Zombies and Werewolves; two of her biggest fears. SIDE NOTE: Isn’t it funny how a place like this seems to find everyone’s fear and exploit it?
After some careful maneuvering around those “deadly” zombies, I safely made it to a massive outdoor queue for Tombstone Haunted Hayride.
I was rather disappointed in the hayride because its only ¼ mile long. A handful of things frightened me. The first being the building we started past, began to fall forward on us which made me jump clear across the wagon. The second was a massive fireball that engulfed a whole building.
It’s hard for me to find something to brag about with this hayride because I felt like I was cheated by it. There were 5 or 6 actors and all but one of them hopped on the wagon with us. The one who didn’t had a shovel and was hitting the trailer so hard, he was throwing sparks. (Good thing they told us to keep our hands inside the trailer.)
Oh and before I forget Tombstone is also where the first chainsaw came into play. Now, I know from previous experience working in haunted attractions, that you have to remove the chain for obvious safety reasons. But, at Creepyworld they also removed the (for lack of a better word) blade that the chain wrapped around. I am usually frightened by chainsaws particularly because you can’t see if the chain is gone or not. But, with the blade gone my fear was as well. I really don’t understand why they would remove the blade in addition to the chain. This is something that seems elementary to the whole haunted attractions thing, there should always be the blade and not the chain. Alas, after you finish the short (maybe 5 minutes including loading time) ride. You are dropped at the entrance to Silo X.
I have to start by letting you know, that Silo X started out as a haunted attraction chain with locations all over the U.S. in cities including Chicago, Dallas, and Boston. Silo X was not a original creation of Halloween Production Inc. (HPI) but after years of competition in St. Louis and the death of the Chain. HPI bought out the remaining location and merged it with the existing company and began the process of bringing it up to the same standards we have come to expect in Saint Louis at Darkness Haunted House. This is evident in the expansion into a Screampark and in the updates made to the attraction itself.
I previously attempted a visit 4 years ago with my sis her then boyfriend and my cousin. At that time both my cousin and my sisters’ boyfriend booked right back out the entrance after an actor with a chainsaw scared them at the beginning. And we never got in. This time, it was different; I was determined to go through this haunted attraction.
Silo X is the largest and most elaborate outdoor haunted attraction in the Saint Louis area. I was impressed with the concept. Basically the back story is that there has been a toxic material spill that has affected all the soldiers on this base. Your job is to get off the base before the mutated soldiers, toxic spill, and impending nuclear meltdown affect you. Your journey sends you through plenty of military buildings that contain everything from abandoned offices to a hospital and even a morgue.
You are also sent across vast areas of the base where you can clearly see that the walking dead have wreaked enough havoc to cause crashes of many military vehicles including several helicopters (still burning).
As part of your path to escape the base you are sent through some of the many queues that were used to load survivors into vehicles to escape the base.
I loved the concept here and I am sure that with another summer to focus on this attraction it will be very impressive. The only complaint that I had was that the fog was so thick in some of the enclosed spaces, that it often was hard to breathe. If you have asthma or other breathing problems, I would not recommend this attraction.
We emerged from Silo X about 1 hour and 45 minutes after we entered Ravens Mansion. I imagine on a busier night both queues being full will double or nearly triple your length of time spent at this Screampark.
I give this attraction 4 out of 5 stars mainly because the hayride was incredibly lacking and the fog was a huge problem for us.
Tickets to Creepyworld are $20 and if you buy combo tickets for this and Darkness its $35. For more information or to purchase tickets visit the Scare Fest website. There is also an option for skipping the line if you choose to spend a little more.
I know these aren't theme parks like we are all fans of. But, I do think that as themed attractions, they merit some sort of review. After all if no one reviews them, how will we know which ones are worth visiting.
THANKS for the compliment.
Ben
