Eeriebyss Factory of Terror — Local services in Erie

This is my opinion and review coming as a seasoned actor / manager from Eastern PA. Price point is great for the amount of time it takes to walk through (most haunts charge a dollar a minute). The line was long and took us just over an hour to get inside which seemed to be consistently moving. There were 2 actors outside on and off, The Guy with the mohawk had so much potential but wasn't even trying in that whole hour we were waiting, I seen him do a single slide on the pavement and that was it, the other actor was doing his best and actually getting a good amount of scares..for how lacking of actors there are inside both of them should of been in there acting, the que line isn't the priority. The outside music speaker really needs tended too, you couldn't even tell what was playing and after listening to it for an extended amount of time it was getting fairly annoying. Clearly that speaker is blown. The lady that ripped our ticket was very kind and welcoming. The guy in the blue suit also a lot of potential, he could definitely be better utilized elsewhere other than manning the door, it's hard to get scares just letting people inside and his talking made it more comical than scary. I was impressed with most of the sets with seeing different props and animatronics I haven't seen before, coming from a flooded area of haunted attractions that's kinda uncommon. One thing I did noticed was the over use of strobe lights. There's so much other types of lighting that could be utilized and still get a disoriented affect. You also need to watch out for the flooring because multiple people in our group almost fell numerous times, I suggest using neon paint to mark those areas for safety reasons. There was also no areas of complete black out which is one of my favorite parts of a haunt trying to find you way out of an area with just your hands. Something I did love was the use of stilts, that's a great addition most haunts rarely utilize unless outdoors. The one man on stilts had to stop what he was doing and make us wait because we caught up with the group in front of us. It was great that he did that but also it took from our scare factor. The rooms that had 2 actors should really only have 1. Again lack of actors other rooms in the haunt could of utilized that person because honestly the two didn't make any difference. For me the top actor of the night was trick or treat, I thought they were a prop and when they stepped out I did infact jump pretty good. I thought at the end going through multiple doors was a fun idea except it became a cluster when the actor was taking on too many groups and people were going through the wrong doors or just standing there unsure where to go next. I appreciate that you also included the disabled, the gentleman in the motorized chair was really trying but he was really lacking in costume, maybe that's because his disability im unsure but appreciated him being there. There was a lot too appreciate at this haunt and the effort is showing and the will is definitely there. You can have the best sets, best props, etc but the actors are what makes it all come too life. The actors you do have are doing their best, well most of them.. With more strategic planning this haunt could be another level better. For the price this haunt is nothing short of decent, a good time, and brings more Halloween haunts to the community. I hope to visit again...

Eeriebyss is not taking ANY COVID precautions. I have filed a complaint with the PA government. Their website gave many empty promises regarding their safety protocol. They only had two touchless sanitizing stations and one of the two was out of sanitizer. They said they shut down every night at 9pm for cleaning. We got there at 8:45pm and the line moved at a steady pace the entire time. They never stopped long enough for a cleaning to be possible. The only employee wearing a mask was the doorman. I understand if the actors are already wearing a Halloween mask it is not necessary to wear another; however, actors with painted faces or only in a costume were maskless. These maskless actors got way closer to you than six feet. Speaking of six feet, there were X’s on the ground in the waiting line, yet no visitors were following the distance and no employees were enforcing the distance. A candy bowl got passed around — unsanitary. Even the woman appearing to be in charge was not wearing a mask and yelled directly in the face of one of our group members when she deemed our friend was not following the rules and laid her hands on one of their child actors. She did not. Also, why is a child working there in the first place?

The overall experience was poor. It was minor jump scares every so often. Not nearly enough actors. And the actors they did have were not nearly as talented as those at other haunted houses, such as Ghost Lake.

The floors were very uneven and carpets were rolled up in some areas. Watch your step! My group tripped many times due to the darkness and the floor type changing every ten feet.

Eeriebyss seems to be run by people looking for a quick buck. Save your money for when real haunted houses can...

This year's experience was subpar at best and potentially unsafe at worse. I was in on 10/4 and there was surprisingly no line. This was curious at first, but immediately made sense when we encroached on the group ahead of us. This was not due to the group moving too slowly, this was due, as that group told us, to then running into the group ahead of THEM, and so on and so forth. This was a pacing issue. The reason there was no line is they were not waiting for groups to make it through enough of the haunt before sending the next group.

Now why does this matter? Two reasons: Poor pacing makes for a poor experience. If the groups collide, it allows no time for the actors to reset and actually scare. Groups too close together break the immersive experience, creating safety through numbers. It creates a genuine safety issue. Many, many groups were bottlenecked through many corridors and hallways, none of which had a clear path to safety in the case of an emergency. In a typically paced haunt, only one or two groups would be on the same floor at the same time, allowing for easy access to exits, should it become relevant. In our experience in this day, there were 15+ people packed on a single floor, in a single hallway. This would be dangerous in the case of a fire.

The bottom line is this: the pacing is abysmal and really reduced the experience. This is the first year the pacing was noticeably awful. Should this be the consistent pacing practice of this haunt, I will not be...