When the spastic, gibbering Keeper bursts out of the entrance door to assault your group, it lets you know that the Dungeons take no prisoners. The event has expanded to the second floor of its building, redone half of the rooms on the first floor and raised the required age for volunteers (resulting in a bigger and more threatening cast). The Dungeons ooze with unique characters like the Keeper, Madd Mark & Matt, Gore and The Dark Lord. As many as 50 actors lurk in corners, caskets, pitch black hallways and even atop ceiling beams.
The Dungeons have an unpredictable mix of original rooms with horror movie scenes. Camp Crystal Lake, the Hewitt house (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the Doyle house (from Halloween) and Jigsaw’s Acid Bath feature detailed scenes from your favorite horror franchises with accurate portrayals of Jason, Michael Myers and Leatherface. Our favorite included the crematorium, where a burly funeral home worker stuffs a still-kicking teen into a large furnace. He likes ’em extra-crispy … and at only $6, the Dungeons are the best haunt value in town. (Reviewed by Randy Schadel)
THE WAIT: Lines run 20-30 minutes and the tour takes around 20 minutes.
DETAILS: Open 7-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 7-9 p.m. Sunday (with special Sunday children’s matinees running 5-6:30 p.m.) through Oct. 31. 362 Anderson Ferry Road in the rear of Del-Fair Shopping Center, Delhi, 513-451-7549, www.dungeonsofdelhi.com
THE DAMAGE: $6 with an additional $1 off with the donation of a canned good. Sunday children’s matinee is $3 plus a canned good
CITYBEAT RATING: R
