{"The trial run had one incident while we were there, but it was taken care of by staff that were amazing. The customer service was exceptional, which is rare and appreciated." (from our 2011 review of Thirteen Stories Haunted House) Read on to see how much can change in just one year.}
On
Friday, September 7, 2012 we chose to visit Thirteen Stories Haunted House
located at 2975 Ring Road in Kennesaw, Georgia.
The location is just outside of Town Center Mall in a partially
permanent and partially temporary set of structures. The benefit to going on this evening was that
they were offering admission at a discounted rate of $10 per person while they
previewed the attraction in order to prepare for the impending haunt
season. Since this was an unfair
situation to review a haunt in we decided to be very open with them when we
arrived. We presented them with our card
representing us as Haunt Review and told them to amp it up for us. Providing them with this information as we
purchased our tickets left us with mixed feelings at the end. We knew that they were aware of our presence,
however we felt as though they had not truly taken advantage of this
knowledge.
First,
let us explain about what went on involving the world of technology and the
customer service connected with Thirteen Stories. The events listed online for these preview
nights stated that the hours were from 7 - 10 PM on select Friday and Saturday
nights in September. We arrived just
after 7:00 to find that the gate to the cue area and ticket office was still
closed. Deciding to use our time wisely
we took a trip over to the mall and walked around for a bit. When we returned to the parking area for the
haunt we found that nothing had changed.
After 8 PM they finally opened the gate and let us in to purchase
tickets, though they were not ready for admission into the attractions at that
time. While waiting in line we posted on
one of our personal Facebook accounts about how their idea of 7:00 PM for
opening was just a suggestion. Someone
logged in as Thirteen Stories and commented on the post. They stated that nowhere did it list their
opening time as 7 PM, and that it never had.
They continued on to state that their opening time was clearly listed as
DARK. Unfortunately for them we were
there in line with our phones, and since we were bored, surfing Facebook. We saw their statement and immediately took
the phone, with the events pulled up to show that in fact their times did state
7 PM, to the ticket office. It was our
duty as customers to point out that they were presenting a negative attitude
towards us and we were there to review them and hopefully provide them with
some free positive advertising if we enjoyed their attractions. They didn't seem too concerned with this, and
that is the saddest part of all. Their
customer service created a slight bias against them from the start, and that is
something that is difficult to recover from.
This incident created mixed feelings for us, especially since we gave
them the advantage by telling them who we were.
We feel that having told them of our attendance in advance may actually
have been the only reason that their second haunt seemed as good as it did.
Now,
let's move on from that and delve into the haunted attraction itself. Where else would you start other than the
line, of course? There are several
fantastic line actors who do everything within their power to stay in
character, regardless of what sneaky little visitors such as us might try to
throw at them to get them off track. The
actors were in fine form. They did an
amazing job of scaring the younger crowd that were prepared to be petrified
from the moment they stepped out of their car.
Our only minor complaint about the line actors and entertainment was
that one of the silicon masks had a tear located near the mouth. There are repair kits available to take care
of situations such as this, or a little blood gel could camouflage the flaw. On
a high note, it is always nice to see a smaller haunt demonstrate their skill
with monster scares for those waiting to get in.
When we
were finally allowed into the first attraction we were met by a new round of
disappointment . The haunt incorporated
a great deal of blacklight 3D paint, though the glasses that you are handed are
given to you in a way that doesn't fit with the setting/event that initiates
you into the attraction. Also, one of
the sets of 3D glasses was mutilated.
One layer of the cardboard/paper was peeled off and it was making the
glasses hang in a bizarre way. Of course
we exchanged those for better ones, but really we should never have been handed
those in the first place.
There
were many dead spaces, which were missed opportunities if you ask us (which you
sort of did if you are reading this).
The actors stayed in character well through both haunts, with only one
minor exception that took us out of the moment.
The delivery of their lines had many missed opportunities for humor or
scare, though it didn't detract from the haunt.
When the group became split into two, with a slight gap, the actors made
sure to provide the scares to both parts of the group. The sets were more detailed in the second
haunt than in the first, but there are a few areas within the first attraction
that had a great deal of potential to explode into something more with a little
more work. The girl ahead of us in line
who had been completely terrified before walking into the first haunt actually
came out of it and said, "That was lame."
If they
would sell an individual ticket for their second haunt, or perhaps put all of
their effort into the second haunt and do away with the first one, they would
do better. They have ideas, but it feels
to us that the temporary structure haunt that starts the experience is a waste
of the available skills and funds. Perhaps
if they did this then their finale would exist in the second attraction. The ending of the second haunt was so
non-existent that we ended up going the wrong direction (back stage). We kept waiting for the big ending and
eventually realized that it wasn't coming.
At the exit to the parking lot we met a doll character who interacted
with us, but didn't exactly encourage us to move forward. While she wasn't scaring us forward she was
running out of things to say. We were
all just standing there waiting for the "finale" that never happened.
We rate
the haunted attractions that we visit on a scale of 0 - 5 severed heads. Five severed heads is our highest rating, and
we really try not to rate a haunt at lower than one severed head. After much discussion we were in agreement on
this haunt's rating. Thirteen Stories
received two out of five severed heads, though we believe their customer
service should drop them down to less than one severed head. If we take the haunt and rate it without
factoring in the service then we can see it as a good experience for people who
want a scare, though they don't frequent a lot of haunts each year. If you are someone who is a huge fan of
haunted houses and you visit a lot of them each year, then this one might not
provide you with the feeling you are seeking.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this haunt and any other haunt
that you visit. Please feel free to
contact us through our blog or our Facebook page. Happy haunting.
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