The 7th Street Haunt - 2017 Review

Overall Score - 7.6

Fort Harmony's Revenge
Overall Score - 7.6
Scare Factor - 6.7
Actors - 7.3
Visuals - 8
Value - 8

Teresa - Fort Harmony's Revenge is the more established of the two haunts. I really enjoyed the changes they made to this one for this year. Now, you wait in what looks like a street in front of an old theater. On going inside, before going into the haunt, you can get group photos in front of your choice of backdrop. Then you are seated in a theater. While we were waiting for the movie to start, a character entertained us with jokes and songs. The movie was a 1950s-style movie, giving us background information about the town of Fort Harmony. It was well-done and there were some disturbing images of eyeballs. Then there was another short wait next to old movie posters, Godzilla, and a giant man-eating spider (or maybe it was a tick?) and we were inside the town of Fort Harmony. They did a really good job creating this town that seemed to take us back to the 1950s. The actors were a mix of creepy and entertaining (and unpredictable!). There were lots of jump scares. The sets were detailed with lot of interesting props that helped take you way back to mid-last century. I feel like there was so much to take in that I really need to go through a second time to see what I missed the first time around. Each character and room or shop is giving you a little piece of the story. And there's a lot going on here. Definitely some witchcraft and lots of insanity! I won't spoil the end, you'll just have to check it out! Aside from the other haunt in the building, which I'll talk about separately, they have some refreshments and Halloween items for sale. There's also a coffin-ride, and an upgrade where you get strapped to a wheelchair and pushed through the haunt alone. Someone please do this and tell us what you think! And there are lots of special events throughout the year. There are family events (like lights-on trick-or-treating), and extreme upgrades where the actors will touch you and scare the living daylights out of you. I so want to do this! While we were there, there was a Haunters Against Hate event going on, complete with drag show with tips going to benefit the Louisville Youth Group. Which brings me to the outside portion, which has grown a ton and turned into a circus. There are booths with food, games, fortune telling, and a stage for karaoke (or in our case, a drag show). There was a decent turnout, considering it was pouring rain that night. And never to be forgotten, Chaos the clown was back this year. Do go see him!

Paul - In Fort Harmony's revenge, you go through a town that Witches cursed and made the town eternally night. This caused everyone to go crazy and you have to get out. The intro movie was very good, the lead-in actors were great, and the progression through the town was well-executed. It was fairly long, themed well, had pretty good makeup and costumes, but the actors kind of let me down in this one. They weren't bad, but they seemed to just hang out in dark corners and jump out while making loud noises when you went into rooms. It got to be a little repetitive. I had a couple of occasions where they surprised me but I like seeing actors in a creepy starting position too, not having them jump out from a hiding place all of the time.

Todd - The 7th Street Haunt has gone through some revisions and expansions since last year. An outdoor circus/carnival tent with games and entertainment has been added out front. Once inside, visitors are first directed to the original haunt, Fort Harmony's Revenge and then are immediately queued into Unit 732, a new haunt added to the roster this year. 

Fort Harmony's Revenge has gone though some changes since last year. Aside from alterations within the haunt, the entire flow of the experience has changed into a very Disney-esque experience. Visitors will first have their picture taken with a variety of backgrounds to choose from. Next up is a small movie theater complete with actual theater seats in which a short intro movie is played introducing both haunts. The film is quite well done. The introduction for Fort Harmony's revenge sets up the lore in an early 60's B-horror movie fashion, while Unit 732 is introduced in more of a late 70s grindhouse style (The haunt itself even takes place in the 80s). After the movie, you're fed right into the queue for Fort Harmony's Revenge.

The haunt itself has been changed somewhat, but mostly resembles the same "town" we visited last year. The town staples are still there - the butcher shop, the florist, the caves, etc. One of the most memorable scenes last year for me was the Reba McEntire room which was a true "WTF" moment for me. Sadly, it looks to have been converted to the Marilyn Monroe room....I think. There's a lot crammed into the space allocated for the haunt, which while it leaves many varying scenes to experience, makes me wonder if less, but bigger and even more detailed scenes would be better. Some of the rooms are so small that you're already through them before you can really take everything in.

For the most part, the actors were decent. Some really nailed their character while others seem to go with more generic material that didn't pertain to their scene one way or another. A few missed the mark, especially one in particular who was a bit of a soft talker and pretty hard to understand. Her dialogue was very relevant to the story and experience so that casting felt like a big miss. 

Overall FHR feels more like an old school haunt. It doesn't have a lot of flashy tech and is heavily reliant on atmosphere to carry the mood. It has a very strong story which is carried fairly well throughout but I think there's opportunity to play more into that story in the scenes that feel more ambiguous. I feel this haunt could be improved with more interactivity as well since the story is so strong. 


Unit 732
Overall Score - 7.7
Scare Factor - 7.3
Actors - 7.3
Visuals - 8
Value - 8

Teresa - This one was entirely new for 2017. They chose the name Unit 732 from a contest to name the haunt. After doing some research, it evidently comes from a super-secret unit doing biological and chemical warfare experiments back in World War II. I love this idea! When you first go in, you are in a waiting room, which looks like it may be from the 1980s. The receptionist asked us about our favorite music and sang us a song from that era. From there we visited various doctors, some of whom were performing some pretty disturbing experiments, some patients in need of rescue, and others that were completely crazed lunatics. They warn you not to touch anything or you will become infected. We would so be members of the maniac club ourselves, as the first character who came along and asked us to touch something gross-looking, we all did it. What can I say? We like to participate! Unit 732 was more sparsely decorated than Fort Harmony, but it worked with the theme. I really enjoyed the tilted floor leading into the rotating tunnel. All-in-all the theme of this one reminds me a lot of Zombie City in Asylum Haunted Scream Park. I look forward to seeing if it develops over the years in the same way. I really like that theatrical, interactive style of haunt with a story to follow, so I hope this one does that. You get admission to both of these haunts for a very reasonable $28 dollars. I definitely give it a recommend. There are coupons available on the website too. The carnival and live entertainment outside make it a great place to hang out for the evening. And don't forget to check out the special events!

Paul -In unit 732, people were infected by a virus that made them nuts. Most of them seemed very hungry and not happy to see us, and definitely made that known! The actors were a lot more fun in this one and did a much better job of not just jumping out from shadows as you walked in. They were much more interactive and did an excellent job of upping the scare factor with their characters. Again the sets, costumes, and lighting were very professional, and you really felt like you were in some pretty crazy places while going through. This was definitely my favorite at 7th street!

Todd - As a child of the 80s (yeah, I'm old.......or perhaps young, to you), I got a real kick out of the dated nostalgia in Unit 732. Right from the get-go we were greeted by the facility's secretary sporting big poofy hair, complete with a big pink ribbon. She also informed us that Quiet Riot's "Mental Health" has just been released. That was a great way to set the era, although I wonder if today's teens would even get that.

Those who have also visited Asylum Haunted Screampark will notice a fun tie-in between Unit 732 and Asylum's Zombie City - both are themed around Paragon, a fictitious research group responsible for turning the town (and this ward) into a hoard of zombies. 

Unit 732 is a more modern-styled haunt (presentation wise) than Fort Harmony's Revenge. The lighting was a little more dynamic and more mainstream effects of "today" were used.That's not to say that the actors aren't contributing. Along with the expected infected doctors / researchers, you'll also come across other 80s-styled characters. I personally enjoyed the street punks wearing leather jackets complete with metal rivets who look like they're straight out of "The Warriors." 

The style of the haunt compared to Zombie City was more traditional; there was no interactivity of the story line. Most of the haunt was driven by gory scenes, scare jumps (mostly loud bangs produced by the actors) and actors getting up close and personal. While it was fun to go through, there wasn't anything that really stood out greatly to me. It's not a bad haunt but the theme and execution felt status quo to others haunts storied around zombies or outbreaks. The 80s era added a bit of uniqueness to it, however, I found that more memorable than the haunt itself.