Light/vague Haunt Spoilers for those who may care

It’s funny how seeing a few photos of Metal Massacre has completely changed my mindset from “this is probably a bunch of random garbage they had lying around that they scrabbled together to call it a new maze” into “this is the greatest house KI has ever produced.”

I quite enjoyed tonight's first night of Haunt despite a few hiccups! We went through four of the six mazes included with the Haunted Attractions Pass, with those being Slaughterhouse, Jason: Blood Reign, Metal Massacre, Order of the Dragon, and then once again through J:BR. It was a little hard to find an open HAP location beyond the front gate, but I believe they opened more as the night went on. We used our Haunted Attraction Express Passes for two of them and then stood in the standby queue for the other three run-throughs. I can use my Express pass during the other nights of the year when I don't have friends with me, so it was fine.

General thoughts below with spoilers in the spoiler boxes.

Slaughterhouse — Pretty much the same house as years past, but the experience was good with a nice amount of actors in it. This queue wasn't really an issue for me since it's so small.

Jason: Blood Reign — A really good house that improved from the already-good Hotel St. Michelle. I was curious about how they would manage to bring the outdoor environment indoors, and was pleasantly surprised to see each scene play out how it did. There is one part where I think the park needs to add something to physically block guests from trying to go through. It is around the 1/3 point in the maze where you make a right turn around a post, and I managed to run into that same post twice. I can't remember enough of Urgent Scare to know exactly how it stacks up to that, but the back hallway is better now than it was before. The biggest thing that I would generally change about this attraction is the queue line. It would probably be hard to accomplish but I'd take one big set of cattlepens instead of the dual zig-zagging standby queues. Anything that makes the standby queue less agonizing to wait in would be better than what is there now.

Spoilers for Jason: Blood Reign

Now for the fun parts! The various lighting effects help each scene they're in a ton. My first time through the maze had me at the front of the pack, but it was also still bright outside so I couldn't see all of the sets as well as I did during my second time through. There are a ton of little props and pieces throughout that make the environment feel more lived-in than it did with Hotel St. Michelle. The rain scene at the very end is one of my favorites that I've ever seen at Haunt! I'm so happy that they made it work with the area it's in and appreciate the fact that it adds a dynamic element. I do think they should add some kind of hot air curtain at the very end for colder days since you will get wet in that scene.

I'd love to see what the park could do with this space if the seating tiers in the middle of the theater were removed. That would provide either a space for the scare actors during their breaks or more room for the maze itself. Perhaps it could even be used as a large show scene somewhere toward the end of the maze. I'd love to see what the space looks like from an overhead plan view.

Metal Massacre — This is the other new house for this year. I'll say now that part of my experience was dampened by the daylight environment, but it only made me more excited to go through during the nighttime! The references to all 26 years of FearFest/Haunt are really fun to see. I appreciated the fact that the greeter (the guy who sends you into the maze) had a themed speech whereas all of the other greeters just went through the rules.

Spoilers for Metal Massacre

This maze was hyped up for me, and I think the hype was worth it despite the daylight! It felt like it can only be better during the night. The black walls will look even better when they're not being contrasted by blue skies. I'll save further review for later in the season after I've gone through it in the dark.

Order of the Dragon — One of last year's new houses. Just as good tonight as it was last year. The extensive theming continued to be a major highlight, and the mix between scare actors and animatronics is one of the best in the park. My biggest complaint about this maze is the queue line. It either needs something that feels a little more permanent than the yellow ropes or it needs a second rope installed halfway between the top rope and the ground. The little section between the merge point and the actual maze entrance also needs something to make it feel less barren. I'd build a new fence near it that looks like a stone wall and put that around the exit too.

Overall this was a good opening night with only a few hiccups. The "new" phone scanners up at the front gate were odd to see, there need to be more Haunted Attractions Pass stands open when the park opens, and some of the maze queues need to be rebuilt/rethought. All of the Jason queue needs to be rebuilt from scratch for the aforementioned reasons. The 2026 Opening Ceremony either started before 6 or didn't happen how we expected it to. This also happened at Mid-America Adventure when their 2026 Fright Fest opened, so it isn't unheard of. We saw most of Ghouls Gone Wild and I enjoyed it a little more than I did last year. It looked like some of the set changed this year (likely following the Hollywood Hits redesign), but it's still basically a family show. We didn't watch Nytewalkers or Dr. Nightmare. The 8PM fountain show (Sweet Dreams) was really good. The 11PM fountain show was interrupted by a No Smoking message, but all of the lights and fountains kept going. I'd love to know if those are automated or if someone has to press a button to play that message. Hopefully it won't happen again during a fountain show. Nytewalkers did not have a full audience at 11 when I passed it. Part of that is probably because the set blocks the view from the two outermost sections. I really hope this show moves to a different venue in the future if Kings Island will be sticking with All Wheel Sports. The park needs more entertainment during Haunt in general, but they especially need either a new show like Hot Blooded or a show like Dead Man's Party that's proven itself at other parks. If the park doesn't want families to see the skin on display then either put up curtains around the venue or beef up the costumes to be less scant. I'd absolutely LOVE to see a new show like Fangs After Dusk come to KI in a newly-built venue.

Went last night and if mazes like Jason are what's to be expected by new mazes every year then take my money!!! This is what I was hoping for when they put on the upcharge last year. The maze is well done, there are plenty of scareactors, I thought it was nice that not all of them were Jason. Very creative and visually impressive. I'm hoping they add non-slip's to a particular section just in case (maybe they did, I didn't look down because looking up was so entertaining. I believe Plauge has the rights to Evil Dead. Hopefully next year we can get that house to replace Alien Abyss.
Metal Massacre was ok, the nod to the past haunt attractions, as stated before, was a very nice touch.

All in all great night, love that the fountain shows are back. Good start to haunt, looking forward to next weekend (I will NOT be going today, Toyota day is just way to hectic in the evening).

I split the reviews into its own thread.

I visited the park again tonight to get another run through of each maze and see if anything might've changed since Friday night. After a brief issue where I was initially handed a regular HAP instead of an Express wristband and didn't notice until it was already on my wrist, I made my way around the park to start going through the mazes. (BTW the associate and the supervisor were very understanding of what happened.)

Overall the mazes seemed to have less actors than they did on Friday, but this is to be expected for a Sunday night Haunt. There are a lot of actors who probably need to be home early because they have school or work in the morning.

Jason: Blood Reign still had a good amount of actors, though I did notice a few missing. I think there needs to be some more fog in the marsh scene, but other than that it was great. I managed to not hit the pole like I did the previous two times I went through it. There was a family in front of me with a little girl (age 10 at most) who was really scared to go through it and ended up hiding in her mother's shirt for about half of it, but I think the parents handled the situation well and made sure she was okay after we all got out. I still have an issue with children being at Haunt, but this family seemed like one of the good ones.

KillMart was still how KillMart always is. I'd have liked to see something new in this maze to spice things up a bit. The actors did a really good job of scaring myself and everyone around me.

Alien Abyss was kind of the same as ever. This maze would be my next pick to get rethemed. The hallway that used to have the spinning tunnel (years ago) is now just a bunch of "alien growths" on the walls with not much movement or intrigue. The very middle part of the maze is what needs the most help IMO. It is just a winding path down the darkest hallway you've ever seen. I think there's a story reason for it being dark (especially since the fictional facility is called D.A.R.C.), but it would help guests if the park put some glow tape on the floor along one wall. The science theme can stay, I just wish it was a better maze.

Order of the Dragon threw me for a little spin tonight because I think the Express entrance was moved between Friday night and tonight. It is now right up with the entrance to the standby queue.

Now for my journey through Metal Massacre: it was a-MAZE-ing! I went through by myself because there were no other groups ready at the entrance and basically got a zen ride through the maze. I have to knock it a little bit because there were no actors in the first half. The record sales room is a personal favorite of mine so far because of the different maze logos used for each record. It's super cool to see these simple references to the history of the event. The second half of the maze is where I really had fun. As soon as I left the first half I walked right into a dense wall of fog and emerged into the concert scene(s). All of the actors went crazy when they saw that I was alone and I even got a "private tour" of the backstage and recording studio sections.

One new thing that I would like to see come to the event is an area (preferably Tower Gardens) dedicated to the history of FearFest/Haunt at Kings Island. It could feature signage about each year of the event and old props that could be turned into lantern activation points. Keep the ride tombstones in a separate area — and please put a fence up around them — but this would be another nice thing to have.

I'll withhold further comments disparaging the maze queue lines until next week in case anything else changes. We still need more/better shows overall. Despite my complaints I had a good night.

A look at NyteWalkers!

On 9/28/2026 at 2:10 AM, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I visited the park again tonight to get another run through of each maze and see if anything might've changed since Friday night. After a brief issue where I was initially handed a regular HAP instead of an Express wristband and didn't notice until it was already on my wrist, I made my way around the park to start going through the mazes. (BTW the associate and the supervisor were very understanding of what happened.)

Overall the mazes seemed to have less actors than they did on Friday, but this is to be expected for a Sunday night Haunt. There are a lot of actors who probably need to be home early because they have school or work in the morning.

Jason: Blood Reign still had a good amount of actors, though I did notice a few missing. I think there needs to be some more fog in the marsh scene, but other than that it was great. I managed to not hit the pole like I did the previous two times I went through it. There was a family in front of me with a little girl (age 10 at most) who was really scared to go through it and ended up hiding in her mother's shirt for about half of it, but I think the parents handled the situation well and made sure she was okay after we all got out. I still have an issue with children being at Haunt, but this family seemed like one of the good ones.

KillMart was still how KillMart always is. I'd have liked to see something new in this maze to spice things up a bit. The actors did a really good job of scaring myself and everyone around me.

Alien Abyss was kind of the same as ever. This maze would be my next pick to get rethemed. The hallway that used to have the spinning tunnel (years ago) is now just a bunch of "alien growths" on the walls with not much movement or intrigue. The very middle part of the maze is what needs the most help IMO. It is just a winding path down the darkest hallway you've ever seen. I think there's a story reason for it being dark (especially since the fictional facility is called D.A.R.C.), but it would help guests if the park put some glow tape on the floor along one wall. The science theme can stay, I just wish it was a better maze.

Order of the Dragon threw me for a little spin tonight because I think the Express entrance was moved between Friday night and tonight. It is now right up with the entrance to the standby queue.

Now for my journey through Metal Massacre: it was a-MAZE-ing! I went through by myself because there were no other groups ready at the entrance and basically got a zen ride through the maze. I have to knock it a little bit because there were no actors in the first half. The record sales room is a personal favorite of mine so far because of the different maze logos used for each record. It's super cool to see these simple references to the history of the event. The second half of the maze is where I really had fun. As soon as I left the first half I walked right into a dense wall of fog and emerged into the concert scene(s). All of the actors went crazy when they saw that I was alone and I even got a "private tour" of the backstage and recording studio sections.

One new thing that I would like to see come to the event is an area (preferably Tower Gardens) dedicated to the history of FearFest/Haunt at Kings Island. It could feature signage about each year of the event and old props that could be turned into lantern activation points. Keep the ride tombstones in a separate area — and please put a fence up around them — but this would be another nice thing to have.

I'll withhold further comments disparaging the maze queue lines until next week in case anything else changes. We still need more/better shows overall. Despite my complaints I had a good night.

Man, I'm so excited for Haunt. I'm going with my annual Dude Haunt crew on the 11th. This is legit our 15th year doing it. It feels like this is going to be the best year in a long time, and last year was already a step up from many years. If paying money gets these improved houses, I'll pay double!

And yeah, the show selection stinks real bad. I want to watch a midget BLEEEEEEEEED again.

Careful, based on the arguments people keep making, they'd improve the show selection but you'd have to buy a Haunted Shows Pass to watch them, because they apparently can't invest in the park anymore without it being tied to a cash grab.

I am gladly happy to pay extra money if things get significantly better, like the houses have.

Hot off the export/upload button. Haunt on opening night!

13 hours ago, rexpostal said:

I am gladly happy to pay extra money if things get significantly better, like the houses have.

They could offset some of the cost of better shows if they offered upcharge dining packages like a buffet that included, say preferred seating for a quality show. Imagine all of you can eat food in the International Restaurant then afterwards getting guaranteed ringside seating for the half-pint brawlers? But that would be too easy for SF. Well, maybe not as easy as just falling into bankruptcy. Which is pretty convenient because that’s where they’re heading.

Within the next three years (2030), I can see the parks in the remaining Six Flags chain having one Halloween event targeting guests of all ages. At Kings Island, they’ll come anyway. 😆