Entering its 34th season, St. Rita’s continues to deliver a solid traditional and largely goreless haunt. Of course, that doesn’t include the new “branding” scene in the torture chamber, where you can almost hear the flesh sizzle … brrrrrr! Every inch of the three-story house is used, with a torturous path that winds through some rooms twice from different sides and leaves the house at one point only to re-enter.
Several of the areas have been changed from last year. New scenes include a funeral parlor, an executioner and his tools of pain, a clown area and a fenced-in tunnel with a multitude of webbed up victims — and we don’t think it’s Spiderman in here. The dank, dripping cavern in the basement takes up the entire floor with stalagmites and stalactites, giving it a maze-like quality.
The event is loaded with young but energetic actors. These numbers make the final scene memorable — a swaying bridge leading to an outdoor graveyard and mausoleum where as many as eight zombies attack in sequence. St. Rita’s is a great haunt for young children who aren’t ready for an extreme experience. You can request a flashlight tour, and the monsters inside will tone things down. (Reviewed by Randy Schadel)
THE WAIT: Lines average 10-15 minutes.
DETAILS: Tour through the house lasts 15-20 minutes. Open 7-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 7-10 p.m. Thursday and Sunday through Oct. 31. 1720 Glendale-Milford Road, Evendale, 513-771- 1060, www.srsdeaf.org/events/hhouse/hhouse.html
THE DAMAGE: $10 with group rates available; $2 for children’s matinees 3-5 p.m. Oct. 24-25.
CITYBEAT RATING: PG-13
