Hotel of Horror 2020 Review
It was the second weekend of our haunt review season and four of us from the HRC made our way to the Poconos Mountains to the Hotel of Horrors. It’s a few hours drive away but it was worth it. Hotel of Horror is inside of an old hotel and has a haunting history. There are two attractions within the hotel. Hotel of Horror takes over the top floors while Altered Nightmares takes over the bottom floors. Be prepared to walk up and down all those stairs. Due to COVID-19, this year they have closed the Theater of the Damned, coach coffin, and iPas. No concessions this year either. Tickets are sold in time slots this year, so you will want to go online to purchase your ticket voucher. You will still want to go to the box office to redeem your voucher for the physical tickets. You can then head over to the line for an entertaining night of haunts.
We went on opening night for Hotel of Horror. There was already a short line when we got there. Word of warning… Once you are in line, expect a slightly longer wait than the lines would indicate. This is due to groups being spaced out nicely so customers are not bumping into the groups ahead of them. While you wait in line, there are a few actors who will try to sneak up on you if you aren’t paying attention. Once in the haunt, we were able to get through both attractions within an hour, so you may not have to make a whole night of it.
The layout of the hotel is not huge, but the space is well used. Since there are two attractions in one building, expect tight corridors leading from scene to scene with rooms packed full of props which gives the well trained actors unexpected hiding spots throughout the Hotel. They did a great job utilizing the space they were in. The actors didn’t just go for the scare with the first person in the group either. It did not matter where we were in line, the actors got us plenty of times. There were not a ton of scare actors the night we went, but each of them were quality actors with a distinct trademark noise or action. It was obvious that they practiced their tag lines or their trademark sound which gave the room its own unique personality. The attention to details in the scenes is amazing. At times we were so caught up in checking out the details that we did not notice what was moving until it was too late. Sometimes it was an actor while other times it was a prop that got us. Some of the best ones were when we were not certain if we were looking at an actor or a prop in a scene.
Overall, the four of us from the HRC had a good time at Hotel of Horror. Remember to get your ticket vouchers online and pick your time slot before you go. Sunday tickets for Hotel of Horror (single attraction) or the combo ticket (to go through both) are $5 off. This is an indoor haunt, so going at a time when the sun is still up is not an issue. The lines were longer when we came out compared to what they were when we went in. There is no doubt that the lines will continue to get longer as the season goes on. If you want to skip to the front of the line, you can upgrade your ticket to the VIP line jumper pass for an additional $10.
