Review: Chamber of Horrors

For better or worse, the New Orleans haunt scene is dominated by the House of Shock. Though it is great to have an internationally-recognized haunt in the city, it brought with it the high ticket prices and conga-line style walkthrough that sours many on the haunt experience.

With no Chinchuba’s, Blaine Kern’s or Scream Factory this year, The House of Shock and The Mortuary are the only two professional haunts in the metro area with House of Shock being by far the best known. This has left a strange void of inexpensive and creative haunts that span the gap between home haunters and high-end professional establishments.

Fortunately, just outside the city in LaPlace, there is a smaller, lesser-known haunt called the Chamber of Horrors that sits in that gap nicely. Though clearly a professional haunt, it is not the big-budget movie set style you see elsewhere in the city. It is a middle of the road haunt that is half the price of its competitors.

But is the Chamber of Horrors worth the trip? It really depends on the type of haunt that you want.

What It Is

The Chamber of Horrors makes it clear on their site that they are a professional haunt and don’t rely on actors jumping out at you. Instead, the haunt features a variety of animitronics, automated scares and effects.

The haunt is a free-roam style, meaning that you are not guided through the haunt at all, and patrons go through it in small groups. Most I saw went in in groups of four or smaller. The entire time we went through the haunt, we did not see another group of patrons or have any problems bumping into other groups. However, the night we went the place was not particularly crowded.

Still, going through the haunt took roughly 10-15 minutes, making it a shorter one than many of its competitors, but that time will change depending on how scared you get and how you respond to the fear (bolt or freeze).

All in all, it is a pretty straightforward haunted attraction, sitting a niche that, right now, is not being effectively filled in the New Orleans area.

What Worked

Though the haunt itself doesn’t try to be one of the big budget affairs, there is clearly a great deal of attention to detail as you go through the attraction. Some of the rooms could have easily competed with its big-budget brothers in terms of realism. Also, the exterior of the attraction was very creepy looking and shows a great deal of craftsmanship, it did a great job setting up the expectations for what was inside.

Overall, the haunt does a very good job. It avoids nearly all of the worst cliches and has a great feel throughout. It is a very creepy attraction and it makes excellent use of dead space and timing to get some very good startles. It manages to be very atmospheric in nature and integrate a great deal of variety of scenes, using both indoor and outdoor elements and transitioning between them very elegantly.

The haunt uses a lot of animatronics, including many that are considered among the best in the industry, but does so with good restraint. Though they are front and center most of the haunt and I am not terribly fond of them in general, in this haunt are mixed well with other scares and startles. For the most part, the animatronics are not there to scare, but to entertain and fill in space between bigger startles.

Though the walkthrough is fairly short, it ends at what seems like a good time. The attraction does not wear out itself welcome. When you reach the end you feel as if you got your money’s worth, aided by the fact that ticket prices are only ten dollars (though you can donate blood and get in for free), but also that you are ready to move on. It is just about the perfect length.

However, there were a few minor problems that seemed to take away from the haunt a bit. Fortunately though, most can be resolved very easily and none are so serious as to warrant skipping the event.

What Didn’t Work

The biggest problem The Chamber of Horrors had was a strange lack of human actors. Throughout the entire haunt, I had perhaps 3 or 4 interactions with humans. Though the actors were talented and inventive, they were few and far between, making it feel as if you were roaming through an empty house. Though, on one hand, that increases the anxiety, on the other it means a few potential great scares were missed.

What is unclear is whether or not this was an issue with that night specifically or if it is by design. However, judging from their site it seems to be the latter.

The second problem is that, though the overall attention to detail was great, there were some places where the building seemed to have taken some abuse. In places it was possible, without trying, to see into the behind-the-scenes areas of the haunt. These are understandable problems that are actually very common, but here they were amplified by how well-made many of the rooms were.

Finally, I struggled to find the place when going to visit it. Not being familiar with the LaPlace area, it took two GPS units to get us close enough to see the exterior. Though the Chamber is located directly on Airline Highway, for whatever reason, all of my instructions and maps had it much closer to 310 than it was and the map on the Web site was not very helpful.

All in all though, these should not be deal-breaking problems, especially if you are already in the LaPlace area. If you’re interested in a good haunted house that runs on creativity and not extra money, the Chamber of Horrors is a great choice.

Bottom Line

Most cities the size of New Orleans have several small haunts similar to this one in spirit, though most are not nearly as well done. The Chamber of Horrors is well worth both the price and the trip, especially for those that are tired of the House of Shock-style experience (Note: I have not been to the Mortuary yet, that will be a later review).

Right now it is a very solid and enjoyable attraction though, with a few tweaks, it could be a true gem. But even with its relatively minor flaws, I highly recommend visiting it. It is a haunt that manages to be both scary enough for experienced haunt goers but not so overdone that those who are easily frightened should shy away.

This is haunt that, for the most part, manages to be the right size, right amount of fright and right price. The only people that will likely be disappointed are people that demand the movie-set experience the higher-end haunts in the area offer.

All in all, you can’t ask for a better haunting deal.

Rating

8/10

Note: I am loathe to do ratings on reviews in general because it can be impossible sum up a complex series of opinions in a number. This is especially true with haunted attractions as your enjoyment of the haunt will depend almost exclusively on what it is you seek. Your mileage will always vary.

Location

The Chamber of Horrors is located at 702 E Airline Hwy. If you are coming from the city, take 310 and exit Airline heading toward Norco. Drive across the Bonnet Carré Spillway and it will be on the left.