Posted 5:06 pm Saturday, October 17, 2009
Mineola's Warehouse of Terror More Than A Little Unsettling
By STEWART SMITH
Entertainment Writer
There isn't much that genuinely frightens me these days.
Entertainment Writer
There isn't much that genuinely frightens me these days.
All too often I can see the seams in any given horror movie, and most haunted houses usually amount to little more than strobe lights, some guy hiding behind a curtain wearing a hockey mask and an overabundance of Karo syrup with red dye in it. So when I say that, at certain points, the "Warehouse of Terror" in downtown Mineola became genuinely unnerving, I want everyone reading this to be aware of just what I mean.
|
The tour begins on a somewhat light note as visitors coming through the main entrance are greeted by a sign offering for purchase items including bottles of water and adult diapers. After snaking your way through the line, you are given a pair of 3D glasses. There's no movie ahead, only 3D blacklight paint that makes the walls (visually, at least) jump right out at you. The effect is disorienting. You're never quite sure where the paint ends and the floor begins. But that's only the beginning.
The designers of this tour do a fantastic job of easing you into the scares, lending a false sense of security until you're too immersed to really try and look for the seams. "Haha, nice zombie makeup, kid, could that tombstone look anymore like Styrofoam? Hey, wait, where's that screaming coming from? And why is it suddenly impossible to see more than a foot in front of me? I can't tell where I'm going and I think I just saw a homicidal clown gleefully honking a bicycle horn."
It's once you hit what I can only call the "sheet room" that things really get good. I won't spoil exactly why it's so effective, but simply know that you completely lose the ability to see anything and there's almost certainly something moving around in there other than you and your friends.
The unnerving scenery only escalates from there. You'll see Sweeney Todd (or maybe just a fan of Todd's taking the "imitation is flattery" thing a bit too far) doing what he does best, a little girl that clearly didn't listen to her parents when they told her not to play with sharp objects and, oh yeah, watch out for that 18-wheeler.
However, the warehouse's true coup de grace comes toward the end: the mirror room.
It doesn't matter how smart you think you are, you absolutely will not find your way out of this maddening maze of mirrors easily.
It's impossible. You're constantly taunted by a rather sadistic-looking clown who, just when you think you've cornered him, disappears almost instantly only to pop up right behind you. You try to double back, anxious to at least maybe get your bearings from the start of the room, but the opening you just walked through is suddenly gone. In fact, every exit is gone, until, that is, the clown decides you've had enough.
It's exasperating, it's frustrating, it's more than a little unsettling. It's almost perfect, to be honest as the whole experience is probably more fun than it should be.
The Warehouse of Terror is directly behind Robinson's Furniture at 316 E. Broad St. in downtown Mineola. Operation hours are 7 p.m.-11 p.m. every Friday and Saturday this month.
Admission is $12 per person. A $2 discount is offered for every visitor who brings 2 cans of non-perishable food. The Warehouse of Terror is recommended for ages 12 and older,.
All proceeds from the event benefit the Lake Country Playhouse and the Kindness Cottage food pantry in Mineola.
