Lake Hickory Haunts — Attraction in Rhodhiss

We've gone to LHH for a few years now and have always really loved it! This year...not so much.

First, paying for parking is weird. I've been to many haunts and we've never paid for parking. Five bucks...but still. It's weird, especially if you don't know in advanced and don't carry cash!

Costs have increased. I was okay with paying $20/25 bucks to get in...but $40?!?! Two people was over $80! After paying for parking, too?!

They switched the call system up. Used to get a stamp & assigned a fun group name...now they send a text saying you're in queue and they'll text you when it's your turn. Not as fun, a little more confusing if you're with a group of people who paid separately.

The midway is really neat. Amazing scenery & lots of photo ops! Actors interact with you. Music &all kinds of fun activities to fill wait times...while emptying the wallet further. Concessions available -- IF you want to wait 45 minutes for overpriced concession stuff. Midway is WAAAAYYYY too small for the crowd this place pulls. There's not enough room & it's impossible to know what's going on or even to enjoy the scenery because it's jam packed. No rhyme or reason, just people standing EVERYWHERE.

Wait times are RIDICULOUS. We waited TWO HOURS until we were texted to enter. This place is SO PACKED that it's not even enjoyable! There's a serious lack of seating. It's like a shark frenzy when someone actually leaves their seat. Two hours waiting &they take any drinks you have at bag check/security (I always carry a water) and they only have ONE concession stand with a ginormous line?! It's pretty frustrating. Making you wait so long with not enough seating & you can't even get a drink unless you want to spend 40 minutes in another line...geez.

Once you finally get the text to go through the haunt, you find yourself in another smaller midway &yet another line to wait in. Once you make it to the actual haunt?

Set design is AMAZING. You can tell they spent a lot of time creating the haunt. Some of the sets were so detailed! But...it fell short. Not enough actors, lots of animatronics. The groups they push through are so big so it's easy to just be ignored by the actors (which is understandable). The actors rush you through & tell you to hurry and go if you take two seconds to appreciate the scenery. There were a lot of missed opportunities where actors SHOULD have been. The further you get through the haunt, the less actors there are.

The order of the haunt scenes didn't feel as organic as previous years. I got jump scared maybe three times. Some actors seemed to have no interest in being there (particularly the two girls in the cotton candy room who just sat there talking). Some were really in character and gave you a show and interacted with everyone...others just grunt & stare.

I will say my biggest complaint is that LHH felt off this year. It felt more like a money grab than anything. The increase in cost, the parking fees, the insane wait times due to outrageous crowds? Ugh. It felt like they are trying to maximize profit over providing an authentic haunt this year. I've been here multiple times & this is the first time I've left feeling underwhelmed and a little annoyed because I don't feel the costs justify the experience. There should really be a ticket limit because no one wants to wait 2+ hours with limited seating only to be rushed through the haunt. A lot of the actors were over it & you could tell. Owners seem to jack up costs and get as many people in as possible and it really minimizes the experience. I couldn't imagine being an actor & having to keep up with the constant barrage of people. No wonder so many were lackluster!

I don't know. I hope this company goes back to focusing on authentic haunted house principles -- it's not always how much money you spend on fancy animatronics. Hopefully next year will be better, although I don't know if we will even want to go back after this visit.

*EDITED TO ADD that LHH never replied to the email they requested. Appearance matters more than...

I’m a true Halloween enthusiast and make it a point to only visit the top-tier haunted attractions. Being from the Charlotte area, you have to make the drive to get scared because the ones around here just don’t do it for me. Lake Hickory Haunts never fails to impress me, each and every year they always go above & beyond the competition, offering something new & fresh every Fall season that keep me coming back for more!🎃These guys who started in 2012 go head to head with those other haunts that have been at it for 30+ years, and are hands down 10/10🔥. They claim they are the best in the Carolina’s and believe you me, they are and then some! I love the fact that I don’t have to make the long drive to Netherworld in Atlanta anymore because the same quality is provided by LHH, just an hour and a half away from home. The advantage you have over others is of course the lake which gives off such an eerie vibe and takes you back to those “Friday the 13th” type movie scenes. From the moment you step into the parking lot, you began to see the fog rise up from the lake and lights shining through the woods as you hear the screams off in the distance… you know you’re in for a night of hella fun. We immediately got in the gate with ease, and it all was such a smooth operation for such a massive haunt. As always the gift shop was loaded with souvenirs and awesome props.The car from the “Supernatural” show was cool and I enjoyed the photo ops. The pirate ship dj booth inside the “Midway of Mayhem” was a hit just like 2022. This is a truly professional production with everything a haunted attraction should have in order to make it the very best in the nation!!! Make no mistake, the creators of LHH are the “crème de le creme” in the haunt industry and their hard work never goes unnoticed.The VIP Pass grants you immediate access, is highly recommended due to the crowds, and is totally worth the $$$. The Midway of Mayhem looks better than ever and the addition of the “Ghost Town” is incredible. I can only imagine this is what the Wild West was actually like. This year I have to say that the “Big Top Circus” blew my mind the most with the huge expansion, but most importantly the lovely aroma of cotton candy! The characters do such an excellent job of interacting with and scaring the guests. Wherever you are, you never know what’s lurking around the corner! You guys offer so much “bang for your buck”, a total immersive world of spooky entertainment for sure. The full-on haunt experience lasts about 45 min-1 hour depending on quick you move through the mazes, and the 11 areas are interconnected, with themes flowing flawlessly from one to the next. From the perfectly timed jump scares from highly trained actors + original characters with amazing costumes + make-up, to the ultra realistic animatronics, special fx, unbelievable sets & props, this place has it all, it’s ALL about the DETAILS!!! Even as we were leaving an employee asked for our feedback so I wanna commend you on your tremendous dedication to customer service. I’ve been telling my friends about LHH for years and they finally got to see it in person, they loved it. It was all pure SMILES and LAUGHS😊. 2023 is the year for Lake Hickory Haunts and the best one yet. A big kudos to the owner Ryan and his amazing team @ Lake Hickory Haunts! Thank you for the thrills and scares.

👻Happy Halloween and can’t wait...

We went with a group of 9. I’m going to give a little benefit of doubt and say it WAS the day after Halloween and we did get there about 20 minutes before they stopped selling tickets. But I also called ahead and verified that the “closing at 10 pm” was only in reference to ticket sales closing. So maybe the actors were over it. But apparently not enough to take our money and that’s the reason for my overall negative review. This place has some AMAZING actors and props. I’ve patronized more haunted attractions than my bank account would like for me to admit! In fact, several hundreds of dollars spent over several trips HERE since the first year they opened. and it was a great time! Always worth a return in the past! Present day, I’d venture to say these are the best props and costumes I’ve ever seen. It is extremely obvious they have spared no expense in that department. I get absolutely NOTHING from a haunted house in terms of fear. I enjoy seeing and appreciating the effort put into the place AND most of all watching my friends be scared! 😂 This is where I was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED. We were rushed through to the point that I, the line leader did not get to see anyone in my group be scared or even appreciate my surroundings. I literally heard keep moving more than I heard anything scary all night. We were basically going through with the group in front of us. But the biggest let down of all was when I stopped for MAYBE 10 seconds to adjust my shoe (the ground is uneven and there is soft sand through MOST of the attraction) and watch a friend be haunted, and one of the actors told me to keep moving pulled out a water bottle and splashed me in the face! I’m sorry, but that ruined my entire experience. That is EXTREMELY disrespectful and if I’m asked not to touch you or your actors, my physical person should be respected as well. But honestly, I could probably have even been okay with such an irritating experience. After all, to each their own, maybe some people enjoy being splashed in the face with some strangers water bottle unexpectedly! Maybe the actor is one of them and wanted to pass on his joy to the next willing water boarding enthusiast! I could have been okay, IF I HADN’T been being rushed through an attraction I paid money to enjoy at a pace to finish in half the time described while not being able to appreciate my surroundings. I left VERY disappointed that I chose to spend my hard earned money at an attraction that would disrespect my enthusiasm for the sport of it, as well as my physical space. I will not...