Realm of Terror Haunted House — Attraction in Round Lake Beach

Essentially everyone gets a VIP fast pass at Realm of Terror as there are no long waits in the freezing cold (as explained later**). In short, the haunt looked as if it had been created by a Hollywood crew. (A warning should be mentiomed, however, as it seemed that most, if not then many, of the human forms were shirtless [and usually headless] woman. Also near the very end, there was a room that seemed to be revolving. It made me feel a bit motion sick but I solved that problem by closing my eyes until I passed through the doorway.)

Our small group of four was allowed to enter alone and our admittance was timed so that we didn't run into any other groups. The jump scares were suspenseful and not predictable. The actors looked professionally made up. The props were fantastically detailed and utterly gory.  And the maze-like, meandering layout of the haunt was so interesting that I wanted walk at a snail's pace just to take everything in.

** When we arrived at Realm of Terror and found the parking lot full, were asked to park across the street at Big Lots, where we caught a free bus which drove us back to the haunt. Then after we bought the tickets, which only took a few minutes, we went into an open-roofed area, where artistically made up actors were available for photo ops. One of the costumed ghouls handed out candy and all of them stayed in character which increased the suspense. When we went to stand in line and begrudgingly expected to wait for hours, we were given a given a pager and were told that we could pass the time next door inside the warm bowling alley/mini golf/arcade, which I think is owned by the same group that puts on Realm of Terror. While we waited for our pager to go off, we ordered food that came with a bonus $10 game card. We then played video games while our pizza and wings were cooking. The sause on the pizza could have been better as could the buffalo sauce but at least the ambiance was nice, especially because some woman singing karaoke in the next room had massive talent.

Our pager went off before we had finished eating but the bartender informed us that we didn't have to rush. Our window for admittance wouldn't close or anything.

We chose to go to a haunted house after a driving hours only to find Six Flags to be at full capacity and we needed something to do instead. I'm glad we chose Reign of Terror because it satisfied the thrill we were seeking and changed our disappointing day to a...

Updated for 2024 season!

PROS: Seems that every year this place gets more intense and really expanded upon. The waiting area is heavily expanded from what they had last year. The house itself had lots of additions that made for an experience that was nonstop horror and screams. I don’t think I’ve freaked out at a haunt as much as I have at Realm. The sets are very impressive and the way the layout is makes it very fun to walk through. However, the highlight of this place is the actors! Some of the best in the business! Every actor in the house really gives their all and adds to the experience. Been to too many haunts where actors just stand there and growl or whatever, not here! I was screaming and jumping all throughout the haunt with my friend. Major props for letting groups that came together to in as their group! I came with my friend as a group of two and was able to enter as a group of two, this made the experience truly fantastic as randoms couldn’t drag down our experience. The crowd control is some of the best I’ve experienced at a haunt as well. I really can’t recommend this haunt anymore than just go every year! Also shoutout to the amazing staff and actors!

CONS: The only real issue I had still remains the dark maze towards the end of the haunt. The actors inside are amazing and scare ya good, but the darkness really slows down the haunt and makes groups catch up to each other and this kills the pacing as you don’t/can’t go faster as to not shove those infront of you but you’re also experiencing the group behind you breathing down your neck. Up till this point in the haunt the crowd control is PERFECT as you don’t see anyone ahead of you or behind and your group gets to experience alone, so for it to stumble towards the end it’s not the worse thing but is still disappointing it’s the same spot year after year the experience is at its worse. In my past visits I was unlucky to have a rowdy group behind mine that pushed/shoved and turned on their flashlight in this spot. This year I was more lucky to just have some high school kids catch up and be a little immature so I can’t hold this against Realm for how others may act. I’d like to see the dark maze eventually dropped for the amazing work the rest of the haunt is.

I am definitely returning next year as overall I enjoyed myself and will be making this a staple in my yearly haunt experiences. Such...

In all honesty, the only thing I liked about this haunted house was the food truck outside of it. First of all, we arrived at Realm of Terror about an hour before close. There were tons of people, which wasn’t a surprise as it was their closing night, but it was extremely out of order. From the start, the instructions were extremely confusing and the actors were also rude every time I overheard a guest asking questions about the queue for the line. When my boyfriend and I arrived, we read the sign next to the ticket stand before we went in. No where does the sign include the fact that we couldn’t record/use our phones inside the attraction. But you know what it DID say?! NO ALCOHOL. Why was the majority of your staff under the influence then? Once inside, we started taking pictures/videos just as everyone else was doing. We got about halfway through it without anyone saying anything to us. Again, I was NOT informed that it wasn’t okay to be using our cellphones. Also, I’m also an adult with free will at an overpriced haunted house. Why wouldn’t I be able to use MY device? (There was no flash) Anyways, I think the actor was drunk because he smelled STRONGLY of alcohol and ALSO got directly in both mine and my boyfriends face absolutely screaming that we could and would be kicked out if we kept recording. (Which we have proof of IN the video, and the only reason I knew he smelled of alcohol was because his breath reaked of it, as did a couple other actors.) He started pushing me and my boyfriend as he was swearing and screaming, I managed to swoop underneath his legs and bring my boyfriend with me because Dude was climbing all over everything. I tried to say I didn’t know we couldn’t record as I was complying, but because he decided to push me I removed myself from the situation. (On the walls are signs that read, “touch our actors and go to jail” or something of that nature.) So in its entirety, in my experience, this is one of the unhappiest haunted house experiences ever. For some reason it’s not okay for me to use my device in order to remember/cherish the experience, but it’s okay for actors to drink alcohol and physically assault the guests for recording. Im just thinking they didn’t want us recording them under the influence. I hope this review finds you well. I’ll be calling to complain...