Nightmares Revisited

Nightmares in Victoria, BC has undergone quite a transformation. They have taken over the space from a neighbouring cafe and expanded their shop and their attraction. Previously, Nightmares had two short attractions: an electric chair and a seance scene. Now, they have a walk-through haunted house. If you like haunted houses, it's certainly worth a visit, especially since it's open year-round. One of the things that surprised me about the haunt was how dark a lot of it was. I like the dark, it's scary, and often haunts are over lit, but I actually found this haunt to be a little too dark, a little too often (especially when there are steps involved). I know that the Nightmares people are capable of intricate set design, and I'm hoping that there can be a bit more atmosphere created in the haunt as it evolves. I wont give anything away, but there are some really cool things inside. It also has one of the elements I love in a haunt, which is a couple of doors you have to open, one of which made the best movie-quality squeak that made me giggle like a schoolgirl. I really hope that the haunt is a work in progress, because it has a lot of potential. Add some ambient sounds, a few more scares, and lose the 3D element/glasses which didn't really add anything to the haunt. I look forward to going again to see how and if things have changed.

UPDATE: I went back this summer, and was informed that they will be closing the haunt down, but putting something new together somewhere elsewhere for Oct.... but I just checked the website, which is newly redone (finally) and it says that they have renovated under the new name Take2 Costumes, and that the haunt is still in operation.  Check the website out, it's pretty cool and interactive.

Nightmares in Victoria

I had the opportunity to catch a helicopter into Victoria to meet up with Sean and his friends and to see (as far as I know) Western Canada's only year-round haunted attraction. The attraction is not a haunted house per se, but two 15 minute experiences: The Hot Seat, and Madame Isabella's. The Hot Seat brings you and no more than 4 of your friends (comfortably) into the execution chamber to witness ol' sparky in action. The actor we had was really good, and there were some scary anticipation involved. More laughs than screams for us, but I hope it's the other way around for normal people. The other attraction, Madame Isabella's, is a séance in a room that comes alive with spirits ( of the pnumatic and animatronic variety). Both attractions were a lot of fun, but not really scary. I'd certainly reccomend going.