By Madison Roberts & Caroline Schneider
Staff Writers
The drive to Snow Camp from Pittsboro is around 50 minutes, on long curvy roads, not all of which the GPS recognizes. Although the drive is under an hour, your wait to enter the house will be much longer, depending on the day you go. We waited in line for almost an hour, on a Sunday night, with only two groups entering in front of us. Groups consist of 8-12 people, a rule based on how small some rooms are and the fact that they want everyone to be able to see all props at all times. The tour of the house takes 25-30 minutes and there is only one set of tour guides, so depending on how many sets of 8-12 people are in front of you, you’re going to be waiting a while.
While waiting in line, a screen dubs the house as the scariest thing in the Carolinas, and although we haven’t seen any other haunted houses this year, if that is the scariest thing in the Carolinas, the Carolinas disappoint.
On the upside, the house itself is very well put together. We have to give props to the props, which are elaborate and extensive. The character make up is very well done, and the variety of spooky creatures and serial killers kept us on our toes for most of the tour. Although none of the characters are allowed to touch you, they do a good job being as creepy as possible, stalking you as you walk by and jumping out at all of the right times. With the Grudge, Chucky and a scene from Sleepy Hollow, the house lives up to its name and is a fair representation of Hollywood horror movies.
There are three or four places along the way where the tour stops moving and the characters put on small skits. The acting isn’t exactly up to par, considering the entire thing is put together by filmmakers and based on scary movies. A few times the acting seems random and out of place, and some of the characters are a little strange. Other times it is better, both interactive and entertaining, as some characters are comical and knew how to interact with the diversity of the crowd.
About 20 minutes in, right around the time the tour heads outside, the energy of the house dies down. There are places where you walk and nothing jumps out at you; the tour gets boring and allows time to talk or get side tracked. Around that time it also becomes more predictable; you see the characters before they jump out and they don’t bring as many screams. Although the props at the end are still intricate, the tour should be cut by 10-15 minutes so that by the time we leave, we’re still scared out of our minds instead of being bored and somewhat inattentive.
The cost of the tour is $20, which should be reduced along with the length of the tour. A 20-minute tour for $10 would be way more worth it.
For Pittsboro residents, however, it’s a waste of money and time, as the long drive and the cost of the ticket are higher than what they are worth.