Chronicles of the Cursed Haunted House

Why does everyone comment on the rank smell inside the maze? Can these people not figure out that it was done on purpose?
The rank smell was ingeious, perhaps the «Most Clever Phenomenon» at the Chronicles… the ONLY thing that has people stumped… the only thing that has haunted their minds for days and days after they’ve left that place.
Coming in second place of the «Most Clever Phenomenons» were the port-​a-​pottys. I won’t spoil it.
When waiting in line, there are TV’s set up that offer Scary Movie Trivia and commercials for Le Femme Nikita. I found the TV’s an excellent idea, offering entertainment during the long wait UNTIL I realized the TV’s run on a 3 minute loop. After 5 – 6 runs, I was ready to take a chain saw to those things.
The Chronicles:
…is funny, NOT scary
…is set up in a parking lot on the pavement, NOT a sinkhole.
I am convinced that there are no teenagers that have come up missing.
I highly recommend that you do not waste your time and/​or money at the Chronicles.

OK… Let me start by saying… it’s a haunted house… we all know that right???
Negative reviews on this place are most likely from the type of people that would give a negative review on any haunted house or scary movie for that matter… you are expecting too much. It’s not real. If you are expecting to legitimately get scared. you are a idiot. *end rant*
On to the review. Now by no means is this the best haunted house I’ve been to, but it’s definitely not the worst. PEOPLE: THERE IS A BAR. Right past the entrance to the haunted house there is the «Howling Hole Saloon» (No, its not a strip club.) My group went here to grab a drink or two while we waited for some more friends. While you wait you can watch people being chased out of the exit by chainsaw dude and properly point and laugh as they run and scream. There is also a «scare cam» above the bar to watch people pass through.
The actual maze is decently in length… there are a good amount of actors and animated machines… I jumped a few times, not gonna lie… Don’t expect a sink hole though… there isn’t one. More like stink hole. One part of the maze smells like rotten eggs. Nice touch. It tells a story at least. I liked the fact there was no part where you had to crawl on the ground to get through a tunnel. You know, the ones where your face is 2 inches from the stranger in front of you’s ass whilst they are kicking you in the face.
So although we didn’t witness a murder, get stabbed, or see any real ghosts, I guuuuesssss we had a good time.

I agree with Justin L. This thing sucks. The experience was a total disappointment and waste of time/​money.
The inside was not dark enough, and we ended up running into the group ahead of us, which resulted in a very large group (probably like 20) all moving through together.
The actors never really attempted, or perhaps had the chance, to scare anyone around us.

I wanted to update and say I am glad they changed production company. They did a much better job this year. However, inside there was a reallllly funky spell not very pleasant even for a haunted house… but it was only in a small section.
Besides that I think this year it was way better.

You can’t beat the convenience of being able to pee your pants right before you hit the town!
The house itself takes quite awhile to get through (about 20 minutes) – very impressed over last year’s yawn of a house.
The actors really get into their characters and know what they are doing. There is a creepy girl that crawls on the floor and somehow bends in ways that is not supposed to be possible – very creepy.
I would highly recommend running through the house. Definitely don’t use last year’s reviews – completely different type of house than last year.

I really enjoyed this haunted house, and am confused by the negative reviews. I think people seem to expect to be truly terrified at a haunted house… whereas I’m really just hoping to have a fun time and a few good scares.
This is a lengthy haunted house! This is a relatively big house, and it took some time to get through. It actually is a maze, and I saw quite a few people get lost and disoriented. The group in front of us actually got separated from each other, and they were quite frightened!
I also liked the excellent actors, some of the best I’ve seen in any haunted house. They did a very good job of chasing you, blocking your path, and acting like they were going to hurt you (even though, of course, they never really touch you). Some of the actors even chase you out of the house at the end, and this really seemed to frighten some people! It was very well done.
The sets and decorations of this haunted house are somewhat limited. There is supposedly a theme of a bottomless pit, but I didn’t really see it. But quite honestly, the really great actors and the disorienting nature of this huge house more than made up for the sparse decorations.
Overall, I really enjoyed this haunted house!

If I could give negatives, I would. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not waste your money on this crappy terrible haunted house. This thing sucks. In fact, I startled one of the actors who was supposed to scare me. HUH???
Go to… Aurora, Basement of the DEAD. I’ve been going with my girlfriend now for about 5 years and every year I get the poop scared out of me. I’ve literally run out of there with my pants falling down. This year I just didn’t have the time to go out there… but I’m trying to find a way.
Stay away from the Cursed. The only curse here is that it SUCKS! The bar is decent… that’s about the only good thing i can say

I thought Chronicles was great, definitely better than last year. I went to a few other haunted houses recently (including DreamReapers) and this one is right on par with the others. Loved the maze and the smells were horrible. They really added to the feeling of being underground. There is a cool bar at the end, too.
I’ll probably go back with some friends before Halloween. Good times.

Only because I paid 10 bucks instead of 20 by using Groupon! It was not scary… just funny and quick fun! Would never go out of my way for it… and def. not pay 10 bucks for parking… if you have a coupon deal and are in the area it’s worth it… but only for that reason. And drive around for parking — 10 bucks is a rip off! But good fun!

Leaps and bounds better than last year. Bought the Groupon after hearing that the DreamReapers production team had taken over this year, and I had just had great time at their house the night before. These guys definitely know what they are doing, and it’s awesome to have a great house right here in the city. I like the whole Sinkhole Tour story line, and then how they take it from there. Huge animatronic monsters, convincing actors, and some nasty smells that apparently DR is known for. Another cool part is that they have a bar at the end with TVs to watch other people going through. There are a few things they could improve on, but since last night was their opening night, Im sure they’ll adapt. I’ll probably take a few friends back since it’s so easy to get to, and since I’m pretty convinced they’ll be scared too.

The best part of this whole experience was the half off Groupon we used and the animatronic monsters. Everything else was below or slightly above average except for the rank smell at the beginning and end – that may have been purposeful.
Haunted houses are always fun, even if they’re bad. This one just happened to be close. No comparison to others, including their effort in Melrose Park. This is better suited to the expectations of having drinks afterward and not trivializing over the efforts within the attraction.

I don’t know if I went through the same attraction as everyone else. There was no good signage showing the location from the street. Minus one star. Plus a star for letting us in with expired early bird tickets.
There was entertainment in the line (which was not long). We got to pet the cutest little rat named Igor. They also allowed a group of two to go in by themselves. We never had any issues with the pacing as well.
The place had a «creepy vibe.» Characters would interact with you and would follow you relentlessly. I got some major screams in the dark areas especially when one of the «statues» jumped out at me. There was an interesting amount of detail in the sets as well.
I am curious to go back next year to see what they come up with.

Silly me read these reviews and decided to go anyway.
When we arrived, people shouted out to us as they left the haunted house, telling us to save our money. And yet, we decided to go anyway.
The only thing scary about this place is the fact that we paid $ 20 a head to go in.
I was amused by some of the characters, and walking through the dark hallway was mildly creepy, but all in all, this was a haunted house fail. I kept waiting for something cool or scary to happen, and sadly, it did not.
We went to the Haunted Sanitarium last year, and it was much better executed, as well as more reasonably priced. Go there, or anywhere else.
I think little kids are the only people who would be spooked by this place.

In my mind I am thinking that I’m not going to compare this place with Universal Studios or anything like that. I’ll compare Cursed with Dream Reapers (which is a decent scare). So I have a good reference point of what it takes to get me scared.
First off, I want my money back! Wow, it was really not good. The guy with the rat working the crowds was OK but only because he had a furry animal.
Inside, was just plain lame. I’m a total scardy cat and I wasn’t fazed by any of it. I feel bad for the actors since they really didn’t have much to work with. It was bad. I just can’t even explain it.
I really should give it 1 star but I feel sorry for the actors who could be waiting tables and get more respect than what they’ll get by working such a lame event.
FYI — It’s a huge circus tent. Don’t let let 20,000 sq ft gibberish fool you. No toys come alive, no killing factory, just loud music and dark mazes and some actors that can’t keep up with all those that enter. It’s too bad, especially for $ 20 or $ 35 for front of the line. Are you kidding me?

This haunted house was just okay, but for the bold statements in the advertisements and for the ticket price, I expected better. I at least expected it to be in a huge «house» instead of a cheap tent! It is basically a series of tents in a circle, with an open central scene that you have to pass through repeatedly every few minutes to get to the next tent. This is obviously some sort of crowd control/​emergency exit mechanism, and was not scary AT ALL. I think the central scene was supposed to be a road accident, but there were no cars or anything, just construction signs. What’s so scary about a construction site? I didn’t even see any bloody construction workers. I feel like this could have been done a better way without compromising the scare factor and forcing patrons to keep walking through the same boring scene. It really ruins the vibe.
I will give them credit in that the rest of their scenes were very detailed and well-​done, with excellent props and make-​up for the actors, who also did a good job with their lines and overall creepiness. But my favorite thing about haunted houses is the dark maze of claustrophobic tunnels you have to get through, which there wasn’t much of here. Mostly the problem was that there was too much light, and for the few minutes of pitch-​black maze we DID get, some girl in the group they put us with with kept turning her damn phone light on! WTF! The whole POINT is that it’s dark! At least she redeemed herself by being such a scaredy cat that she let us walk in front.
Usually I’m a pretty jumpy person and end up uncontrollably emitting at least a few blood-​curdling screams, but this haunted house made me feel like I might just be too old to be going to haunted houses anymore and expecting to get scared. Although I did jump when the security guard at the entrance faked me out… yeah that was probably the scariest part of the entire experience.

Did I go into the right haunted house? I’m just curious because I had a very different experience than what many of the other reviewers are saying.
I went this past Saturday around 8pm with a group of seven. When we got there we only had about a 15 — 20 minute wait before it was our turn to enter «Chronicles of the Cursed: Hades Emerges.» Mwwahh! While we were waiting in line a few actors would come out and try to scare unsuspecting people. It was very fun and entertaining to see the startled looks upon their faces.
Once we entered the haunted house itself, I thought this isn’t so bad, that is until I started making eye contact with a few of the actors and then I had some ghoulish followers trailing me throughout the haunted house, which made it much more fun and interesting.
The pitch black areas and the areas so surrounded in fog that I couldn’t see in front of me spooked me the most, especially when I had a zombie mother and her dead baby jump out right in front of me. Startling the bejeezus out of me! Also, in the pitch black places I made the mistake of touching the walls to find my way and in doing that many of the walls came to life and did spooky things that were pretty cool. However, the moment that made me scream was when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I thought it was just one of my friends touching me that was until I turned around and I was looking at a vampire-​like thing barring his teeth at me and laughing maniacally. I also enjoyed the end as well.
Was it the best haunted house I’d ever been to? No, but it wasn’t the worst either, especially since I hadn’t been to a haunted house in a while. However, I do think the original price of $ 20 was a bit steep for this house of horrors, but since we all got half price tickets on Groupon we were all in agreement, that it was an A-​OK time.

This haunted house was beyond weaksauce. It’s a massive house with nothing in it. Not a single scare to be found, seems like half of the people who should’ve been working didn’t show up.
There isn’t any traffic control, as soon as you give them your ticket, you go in, so you’re constantly in a massive group. The guys in front had someone jump out at then and then chat with one of the other ghouls. As I came around the corner he says ‘oh shit’ and then starts walking back to his hiding place. Serious amateur crap right there. Make sure you stick around for the room with the box in it, that scared the crap out of me. It’s a wooden box, RUN!
It seems to me that as soon as any of the ghouls have a script, the house sucks. Listen, woman with the table full of arms and heads, I really don’t care that bones are delicious, I seriously don’t. Don’t forget the news reporter that stops you and say «there are zombies ahead» no problem, there weren’t. Maybe the zombies got stuck in traffic, because they weren’t in the room with giant bloody tampons and the S&M chick walking up and down a runway.
We even got stuck in a traffic jam at one point. This was the most pathetic haunted house I have ever visited. Oh and it’s truly offensive when you leave and a girl goes «would you like to go through again for ten dollars?» uh, no, would you like to give me my 20 bucks back?
I’ve seen scarier things in all-​night Mexican restaurants. Save your money.

I’ve never seen so many one star reviews. And then there are four by QMH — question mark heads with … you guessed it. just one review! I don’t believe question mark heads and I don’t take haunted houses as serious as restaurants.
I too have gone to many many haunted houses in my past. I got a couple Groupons for me and a buddy. $ 20 for two tickets; sweet. I think it’s important to go with a friend or friends that are into this kind of stuff and can find the fun in it. People that are too serious or going only to talk shit, well. you fucked up by inviting them.
Me and Oogie S, topped off a bottle of Trione pinot and walked in. The wait was almost fifty minutes and thirty of them were under a tent which kept us a little warmer. Every once in awhile a costumed ghoul would make its way through the crowd adding Unilocal and screams to the waiting experience. I’ve been to enough of these to know that there is no effing point to bring a camera to record it or snap photos and why? It’s an experience you need to just walk through to enjoy. Ahead of us were a group of ladies with a cute brunette in an Old style winter hat, maybe a Nascar inspired jacket and the finest five star booty. If this was your gal pal, please have her contact me. Please.
I nominated myself the leader of the pack and kept the pace. There are many instances where you’ll find yourself walking through tunnels of just darkness and at times the darkness is just waay too long. But fun, like I say with the right group. In the dark and through some areas of congestion and way too many curtains, there are times when you may feel a grab at your ankles and legs. You might see a shadow cowering in the corner or a hilarious cow walking upright and making the funniest moo sound. I think they did a good job of having some scary scenes and scary looking characters. There were a few hottie ghouls and while some in the crowd tried their best to flirt, the actors stayed in character. We went on opening night and just barely made it in with the final crowd, while the times are for example 7pm — 10pm, the last crowd can still enter at 10pm, it doesnot shut down at that time and you don’t have to worry about missing anything. But, to experience it all, go earlier.
Price wise I think $ 15 dollars would be perfect and you don’t have to pay full price, check out their website or the daily paper to catch a break on the price. Street parking is hard to do unless you are willing to walk a few blocks and they offer a private lot for ten dollars. See their website for more details, the show is for ages 14+

«Chronicles of the Cursed»? More like Chronicles of the Worst… Haunted House You’ll Ever Attend.
On their website, they advertise: «Victims will experience the rage of Hades, a killing factory, the dead coming alive, toys turning into demons, parking meters demanding blood, and other truly disturbing experiences.»
I saw none of those things.
In reality, you’re in a big tent, going through dark hallways where nothing happens. Eventually, you get to rooms with different scenes. But when you walk in, you see the gross/​bizarre thing right away. And it just keeps doing what it’s doing. Nothing jumps out at you or surprises you. In that way, it’s more like «haunted window shopping.»
One room has a bloody couch. We walked in and waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing happened. If I want to see a bloody couch do nothing, I’ll stab a hobo on mine, then toss his body in the garbage chute.
Another odd feature of this haunted house is that many of the scenes play out on platforms three feet off the ground. So you walk into a room and you’re looking up at the performers. That immediately makes you feel removed from danger. It’s like watching a play.
I agree with the other Unilocalers who say the crowd control is awful. You’ll quickly get bunched up and there’s no one to hold you back so the performers can reset.
And yes, there is a room with what appears to be 6′ bloody tampons. Beware the Hall of Menstruation!
Also disappointing: Before you go in, there’s a video that says you will have to crawl and climb during the experience. You don’t. The video should say, «You will stand around and be mildly annoyed by people in unconvincing makeup.»
Of the Chicago-​area haunted houses I’ve been to, my favorite was the «Haunted Sanitarium» —
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«Trails of Terror» was also fun in an outdoorsy way —
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But «Chronicles of the Cursed» was a cruel, cruel joke. Skip it.

I went here yesterday on opening night and they definitely have a lot of kinks to work out. There was really nothing too elaborate about the place. Nothing was really too scary, it’s like those PG-​13 horror movies that try to balance scary with being accessible and fails. The little scenes were really disappointing, a lot of obvious plastic and just weird. There was one that sticks out most, it was of a ‘little girl’ who was in an argument with a parental figure or something, it wasn’t scary, just really awkward, if it wasn’t for all the blood and the meat cleaver it would be a sad domestic situation.
The scariest part? I paid $ 20 dollars to see this.