Akron Haunted Schoolhouse
Posted by LOTGK on November 7, 2007

The Akron, Ohio Haunted school House and Laboratory are touted as two of the scariest haunted houses not in the state, but in all the land. Of course, the Grassy Knoll Institute had to investigate to see if truth was being told.
Upon arrival, (The doors opened at 7pm sharp) we saw the big sign all lit up and the old run down school bus on the grass lawn on the way to the parking lot. We had made good time and were 20 minutes early. It had been some time (20 years) since my last visit to the haunted house and laboratory and I was expecting some top notch fright. On our first visit years ago, the place was was full of ghostly sights and shock value. Plenty of live actors roaming the haunts plus well designed sets to scare the hell out of the customers. I couldn’t wait to see what improved over the last 20 years.
The gates opened at 7pm as promised and we were second in line. This would be the first snag at the haunt. Apparently, we were told that the owner of the haunt was not present yet and we would all have to wait for him to arrive before anyone could enter. We waited 35 minutes.
The second snag was the cost of the haunt. $15.00 each per person. That is pretty steep compared to the other haunts around the area but it was the Haunted School House and Laboratory. We were sure it would be worth the money. We paid the piper and entered.
We climbed several flights of steps and then began our descent into the haunt. (Of course, no video or camera’s were permitted and we respected their stern request.) The haunt was laid out quite well, the customers spaced nicely so they could absorb all the fright first hand, and the ambiance was that of a true haunting. (Weird sounds and screams coming from everywhere)
We were all told while standing in line that if you don’t touch the ghosts, they will not touch you. We heard that 100 times while waiting in line. Apparently the actors in the haunt didn’t hear though as fellow Lead Scientist of the Grassy Knoll Institute was touched several times during the haunt.
At the end of the first leg, the Laboratory, I was disappointed for there were no upgrades, no modern automation sets that almost every haunt has today. They had the same sets and props from years past.
The exit was an empty parking lot that separated the two haunts and there were no employee’s to direct customers to the next haunt. Plenty of people were just milling about wondering what to do next.
When we reached the Haunted School House, the line was quite long. They had ropes sectioning off the line and weaved up and down several rows. This is where the next snag occurred. We noticed that only one cashier was open for the hundreds of people in line. Just one. It took over 30 minutes to get through the line.
The second leg of the haunt was the same as the first. It even had the exact same entrance, you walked down into an opened coffin to get to the next level. (Same as it ever was 20 years ago)
The walk through took approximately 20 minutes for each haunt and as the first one did, we exited into a parking lot. At that point, the owners of the haunt began to lose money with almost every customer that went through.
Somehow, the haunts should be redesigned to exit back into the main area, where it was well lit, had employee’s about, and the food concession stand as well. I would guarantee that more hot dogs, pretzels, fries, cokes, and hot chocolates would be sold if the exit was changed.
All in all, I was not that impressed. Fellow Lead scientist was however, but he is easily impressed, and he had never visited there before. My impression was that the haunt was managed poorly, or not at all. (The owner showing up 35 minutes late) The layout was not conducive to profit making opportunities, the exit was the parking lot to go home, not the vending area for the customers to buy food and drinks. And there should have been several actors dressed in costume to scare the patrons waiting in line. That always gets the action going and adds to the fun factor.
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LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL
slub said
OMG the haunted school house and Labortory are the SCARIEST haunted houses I ever been in. We used to go every halloween. It was expensive to get in but it was worth it. It was so dark in there that you couldn’t see ANYTHING and then you had to crawl through these coves on the floor- is it still like that? whop. I haven’t even read the rest of your post yet… They had a frankenstein that made me pee my pants.
What do you mean liz hurley? she was a devil for halloween? thanks for the comments, I could only do it with a wig…and some patrone.
I remember when I started blog, you were telling me all the time to go to mod blog and that was never working…what was up with that? what have you against blogger?
I’m going to check out this stuff because I want to maybe design my own blog. you know? I guess those programs are the ones that give you the interface to post like blogger does? and they organize it too?
hows things besides cold?
LOTGK said
Christine, yes, first of all, the haunted school house and laboratory are exactly like you remember. It hasn’t changed in at least 20 years which was a little disappointing.
Liz Hurley, lead role in Bedazzled, played the devil, sexy as hell red bikini.
About Blogger. I have nothing against blogger technically. It has been a rock solid and stable service for many years. I have been there since 2003. But, it has no sense of community. There are literally millions of blogs published but no real semblance of community. I like WordPress for th design, ease of use, and the information it provides.
Modblog was a great community but a lousy service. Tis a shame it went under.
I also had my own free standing website, which was a blog. It is still up and running at http://www.lotgk.com but it is a hell of a lot of work to maintain. WordPress does it all for me.
Besides the cold, which is 35 degrees right now, actually on my way to Gatlinburg, Tennessee tomorrow for a trade show for 7 fun filled days of investigating several conspiracy theories brewing down there.
Hope the weather holds.
Thanks for commenting.
Peddler said
For something that is so expensive, they would have upgraded to a modern type haunted house. I have seen those automatic vampires and creepy crawly things. Pretty good fright in the right place.