In its fifth season on West Hill Street, The Devils Attic has become a well-oiled, non-stop scare machine!
This is my kind of Monster Bash! Vampires, werewolves, the Frankenstein monster, ghosts, cenobites, headless horsemen, executioners and, new this year, deadites summoned by passages read aloud from the Necronomicon as seen in “The Evil Dead”! Owner/operator, Jason Besemann, has spent the last five years tweaking and perfecting the scares he and his crew deliver through every twist and turn within the building at 647 W Hill Street.
When I visited The Devils Attic this weekend, the cast and crew were on fire. It was like being on an out of control rollercoaster of terror as soon as Satan opened the door to his domain, ushering us into his world of Gods and Monsters, right through Leatherface’s frantic, climactic chainsaw chase out.
Besemann and his cast and crew have turned The Devils Attic into a crackerjack adrenaline ride of jolts that hit you fast and furious, and even though it’s hardly the longest haunt in town, there’s a good chance you’ll be exhausted from sensory overload by the time you see the light of the moon again upon escaping.
I can’t really overstate the quality and craft of make-up, set design and monster making that sets The Devils Attic apart from any other haunt in the region. From the intimidating design of Satan himself to the hulking Krampus in the dark Christmas scene to the most screen accurate chainsaw-handed Ash from “The Evil Dead” series likely to have ever taken part in a haunted attraction, The Devils Attic knows that the devil is in the details and they deliver accordingly.
Right off the bat, you’ll notice all the Gothic atmosphere as you enter Satan’s throne room. An iconic character for the haunt since he was introduced in its first season, Satan sits upon his throne gazing down upon the new guests who have come to test their mental and spiritual strength against his minions. At first he might seem like just an elaborate prop or animatronic, but he springs to life in an instant to deliver the first of many jolts to come, warning you of what awaits beyond the door to his demonic netherworld.
If you survive the first giant demon attack, you’ll first be sent back in time to the Victorian Age to confront ghastly vampire brides, Dr. Frankenstein and his monstrous creation, imprisoned lycanthropes and a medieval torture chamber right out of an Edgar Allan Poe story. The Pit and the Pendulum scene is a stand out this year. As the undulating blade took a slice into the flesh of the poor soul on the rack, our group was splashed with a spray of the agonizing victim’s “blood.”
As you move forward in time, you’ll come face to face with the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow and explore the spooky Ghost Hallway before things start to get gory. The second half of the Devils Attic gets grittier and bloodier as you begin to witness evil in the modern era. You’ll navigate a twisted maze in Jigsaw’s Game Room and experience the exquisite pleasure of pain in Pinhead’s Hell Room before heading out to a familiar cabin in the woods for this year’s stand out new scene.
During the day, haunt make-up effects designer and actor, Beau Kaelin, is a mild mannered Bullitt County Science Teacher and aspiring filmmaker. On weekend nights through Halloween, he is Ash, the man with the chainsaw hand who has inadvertently unleashed an ancient evil upon the world by reciting passages from the Necronomicon. Kaelin has uncannily captured the loopy madness of Bruce Campbell’s delivery in some of the more insane scenes from “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn.” The science teacher/haunt actor has a great cabin set to work with, including a demonic entity trying to break the chains on the fruit cellar trap door and a possessed co-actor who torments him relentlessly.
The Devils Attic will be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights through Halloween as well as the Thursday night prior to Halloween weekend. Hours for Fridays and Saturdays are 8 PM until 12:30 AM and Sundays from 8 PM until 11 PM. General Admission tickets are $18 and Speed Pass tickets are $22. Discount coupons can be found all over town at Caufield’s Novelty, Halloween Express and other Halloween outlets.
