Twin Cities Fear Fest — Local services in Bloomington

Late review but I still feel it’s necessary. Beware, it’s long. The ONLY reason why I’m not giving one star is because of Josh (I honestly don’t remember his name but I know it started with a J and he was in charge) The whole set up itself was pretty cool. It was very intricate and thought out. The first girl who scanned our tickets were GREAT. ticket price? Not great. Definitely not worth the price you pay. while waiting in line we watched the 30 second aerial performance. Honestly, would have been totally fine if that just wasn’t a thing. Seemed unnecessary, performer was visibly over it, walked out just head down moving almost like they were dreading it but besides the point I get why you’d have something to entertain guests when there are long lines (there wasn’t a line at all) Second worker was not so great. As she was reading us the rules she started asking why we weren’t visibly excited and what was wrong with us. (Not everyone wants to talk it up with teenagers I’m sorry. My anxiety is already high being in public at the MALL OF AMERICA, closest mall to me and I still avoid it, and at a “haunted attraction” I shouldn’t feel shamed or talked down to for not caring to communicate with someone I don’t need to communicate with just read the rules and move on.) Next you go into a room where a video plays. Couldn’t hear the video over the employees talking so whatever backstory is given prior, not a clue. Two employees stood in the back of the room and watched us during the whole video as well. (These same two people end up being the reason not only for the review but also why we left.) Like I said everything was very intricate and cool. The actors… yikes. I’m sorry but terrible. How am I supposed to take someone serious when they are literally SCREAMING in my face with terrible makeup on, it’s not scary, it’s annoying and laughable. There is no actual path to go through so you just wonder around into different rooms and it doesn’t really make any sense. There’s supposed to be a story line but it isn’t relaid throughout the attraction. You’re not allowed to touch anyone there and according to the rules they are not allowed to touch you either. But they will, block your path, scream in your face, continue to block your path as you try to walk around them. Physically try and stop you from walking by using their body or props. Example, using their arm across your chest to try and physically restrain you from walking without actually holding you. (Happened to my boyfriend) Another example, using a prop such as a wand or cane to physically restrain by blocking doorways. (This is what one of the guys I referenced earlier did to me) But be careful because even if an actor is physically touching you which is against the rules, YOU still cannot physically touch them to stop the contact that THEY initiated. Anyways, after my boyfriend had to physically push off an actors arm from his chest, another employee (the second one from earlier) found us and instead of speaking about what happened, he scolded us like we were children. Another employee then showed up. After explaining to a second employee (happened to be mister wand / cane guy that tried to block me. These are also both the Same guys that were standing in the back of the room watching us when we first arrived) what actually happened they so generously said “well ifyou want we will let you finish” we said no we want a refund and that is where Josh came into play. The first employee that came up to us to scold and yell at us remained within ear shot at all times and honestly made the whole thing way more hostile and uncomfortable than it needed to be. Josh did listen to us and apologized multiple times as well as gave us a refund and validated our poor experience. I doubt we will ever give this attraction another chance but if Josh ends up running another haunted attraction with a better plot, actors and employees, I’d definitely pull up to support that one. Thank you Josh for treating us...

This haunt has gone through quite the transformation since its previous incarnation as Onionhead, and while we were genuinely excited to see the rebrand, the experience this season left us feeling disappointed and confused. Having attended when it first opened, we were hopeful the new iteration would improve upon the old. Unfortunately, it feels like the haunt is still finding its footing.

We attended on October 18 at opening. Right from the start, the presale felt misleading. We purchased early, only to see better prices and package deals pop up later, including the Fast Pass deal at Costco,, which was easily the best value. Once inside, the merch shop was a bit of a letdown. It featured only Elvira merchandise with nothing representing the actual haunt. The bar, once a beautifully immersive part of the experience, was reduced to a flat, two-dimensional black setting with no specialty cocktails or mocktails, a huge downgrade from years past.

We had to wait in line twice, once for each haunt, which was rough given the hot, loud environment filled with dark EDM music. Both attractions, Deadwater Hollow and Sanctum of Shadows, claimed strong themes online, but neither delivered. Deadwater Hollow, supposedly pirate-themed, only had about a minute of pirate elements in its ten-minute runtime. Sanctum of Shadows was llonger but equally incoherent, with random scenes strung together and no cohesive storytelling.

The queue system confused guests, and the advertised secret bar inside Sanctum wasn’t even accessible. Deadshot Alley felt tacked on and lifeless, and marketing for the mini escape games was nonexistent. Most guests didn’t even know they existed. The restroom area was unfinished, and the path there revealed a lot of unused space that could have been better integrated into the layout. The map layout clearly shows that Sanctum took most of the footprint, forcing Deadwater Hollow into cramped straightaways instead of the winding backtracking that made Onionhead feel longer and more immersive. Even the photo ops were downgraded from interactive sets to simple backdrops, stripping away personality.

To make matters worse, many animatronics were malfunctioning, and none of the monsters featured in promotions were actually present. That said, the actors deserve full credit. They gave it their all despite the heat and confusing design.

Overall, Twin Cities Fear Fest feels like a haunt in transition; trying to move on from its past but not yet sure what it wants to be. Our group visited four different Minnesota haunts this season and we agreed this one was the least strong. Hopefully, with more direction and polish, they’ll find their footing and return...

So apparently Onionhead's Revenge from last year was bought out and turned into Fear Fest this year. I thought it would be somewhat different as they no advertised TWO haunted houses rather than one. That was not the case - they just split the one haunted house in half, essentially and you had to get back into the main line to do the other half.

This year felt MUCH more disorganized and poorly staffed than last year. First off, there is one line no matter what the ticket type just to get in the line that matches your ticket type. People with Fast Pass tickets seemed very confused why they had to get in this same big line and the line was starting to meander and branch in different directions and none of the staff did anything to keep it orderly.

The mazes were really empty with very long stretches with no actors present or very little scene design and no noticeable additions from last year. There were some really good rooms and sets but it was pretty hit and miss, feeling very front-loaded.

There were SO MANY times where it was extremely unclear where you were supposed to go. Some arrows or staff members in these areas would have really helped. Last year they purposely had dead ends where an actor would stand in front of the correct path, wait for you to figure out it was a dead end and then stand and block the way you came allowing you to go the correct way. These areas were just empty now, leaving you to figure it out yourself and causing you to run into other groups.

As for the cast, it was pretty sparse. I have to give props to the female actors. They were really carrying a lot of weight with this production and they got really theatrical and into it. The men mostly did the bare minimum and in several cases literally just stood there pretending to be one of the many mannequins and literally NEVER DID ANYTHING but watch us walk by. Also the adverts are kind of misleading as none of the costumes were nearly as cool as what they show in them.

The "secret" bar which was free last year is now a paid add-on along with all of the other attractions that didn't seem worth the cost. We checked out the Elvira bar and were disappointed to find it was just cans and no cocktails of any kind. The Elvira merch shop was literally just a small selection of black graphic shirts.

I was really hoping that this year would be an improvement as it seemed like there was much more this year. It ended up being a huge downgrade to me.

If you wasnt a better haunt, check out Dead End Hayride, ValleyScare, ScreamTown, Nowhere Haunted House...basically...