Final Scores – By Category:

Cast (20% of Final Score): 6.97

Costuming (10% of Final Score): 7.6

Customer Service (10% of Final Score): 9.9

Immersion (10% of Final Score): 7.54

Special Effects (15% of Final Score): 6.91

Scare Factor (20% of Final Score): 6.68

Entertainment & Value (15% of Final Score): 7.29

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Final Scores – By Attraction:

Attraction 1 – Hudson Haunted House: 7.36

Any discussion of Hudson Haunted House must make mention of its incredible longevity. Hudson hit its 50th season a couple years ago. A mere handful of haunts nationwide have celebrated a golden anniversary. Generations of Clevelanders have had their first helping of hauntdom here.

This is a Jaycees-run haunt. The Jaycees are a not-for-profit organization providing leadership, skills development, and training opportunities for youths. The haunt industry was jam-packed with Jaycees attractions in the 70s. Now, Hudson’s is one of the few remaining.

We invite you to read more about the Jaycees’ place within haunt history at the Haunted House Association’s ’12 Things That Shaped Our Industry’ article (https://www.hauntedhouseassociation.org/featured-article/history-of-the-haunted-house-industry-haunted-house-association) and ‘The History of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Haunts’ on the City Blood site (https://ohioshaunted.com/thehistoryofhaunts/).

Being run by the Jaycees organization, this is an all-volunteer charity haunt that does a lot of good. Opportunities to help out extend beyond just paying your entrance fee. For instance, we were able to bring in goods to donate to a hurricane relief drive they were holding that weekend. And of course, they are always looking for volunteers for everything from cast to crew.

Hudson’s collection of cast members was appealingly eager and enthusiastic to get some frightening done. As with many charity haunts, actors tended toward the younger side …with some of the most spirited scare-sprouts being under 10 years old! Yep, they start ‘em young here at the Future Haunters of America. They appeared to be having a great time and the fun was infectious. These kids are off to a great start and will surely gain more seasoning, confidence, and menace as the years roll on.

Some scenes stuffed four or five actors in a small set area. It startled us to see head after head popping up as we traveled through these scenes. But some of these folks perhaps would have been more ideally deployed as jumper-outters to break up the black maze sections or staffing a few inert sets that looked like they were meant for a character presence. The scene environment, where many of the sets are up and away from guests and often further separated by a bannister/railing/wood structure, also took away a bit of actor immediacy and interactivity.

We met some cast members who made the croaky zombie sound, some who did the snort/oink noise, several gleeful weapons bangers, a couple quiet ones that did pop up in the maze, asylum denizens screaming at ear-blasting levels that they weren’t crazy (this group included Ghostface, but we know better than to believe *that* one), and an inmate in an electric chair who kept yelling they didn’t do it. That’s what all the cellmates say, but this one sounded pretty convincing!

Hudson put forth a good overall effort on costuming. Many of the makeup jobs paired pasty faces with blood or black marks. It was heartening to see most of the younger actors had opted for makeup and thus, must be learning the eerie elements of makeup application.

A few creatures wore memorable masks, like a monster whose mask – well-fitted and with edges covered up by a dark hooded robe – came with a gaping mouth overstuffed with long, sharp, nasty teeth, and an invader with skull-like markings on their modified gas mask.

The prisoner, asylum dwellers, and butchers were all clothed appropriately …as well as Ghostface, who looked suitably Scream-ish. A tad extra accessorizing and detailing might make the characters pop more memorably.

Hudson Haunted House is located in, you guessed it, Hudson, Ohio. It’s a lovely city 45 minutes or so south of Cleveland. We had no issues finding it via GPS. A blinking sign indicated the sharp turn into the driveway.

Free parking was in sight of the ticket booth and entrance queue. The footprint of the whole attraction was very compact, which made everything easily visible and comprehensible to navigate.

Police and security personnel were highly visible. Everyone seemed to be intensely drilled in emergency responses, and we were told systems were in place to initiate a code situation. The last time we were here, we witnessed security staff taking off like Olympic sprinters when a call came in. The security people apparently can get to any spot in the house in 5 to 7 seconds! Besides the usual hazards of negotiating a black maze (aka walking blindly into walls), we did not find much else to present a safety hazard.

Hudson has an excellent, detail-filled website, and they are active on social media. You should check out their posts for charity info like the donation drive we mentioned in the Summary, plus frequent special offers.

Hudson Haunted House held court with a festive fall feeling outside. Illuminated props sat outside the parking area. The first thing we saw coming in from the parking lot was a fair food cart serving up sweets such as cotton candy and some all time favorite savory selections. We partook of a cheese steak sub, Italian sausage sandwich, and freshly made fries, all lip-smackingly tasty as heck.

Queue actors chased kids around the area between concessions, ticketing, queue, and photo ops around the exit. The chainsaw actor, especially, covered a lot of real estate, doing triple duty inside the house, at the exit, and engaging in hot pursuits outside. A welcoming, warming fire pit stood by the merch table. Halloween decorations hung on the fence. A large cemetery stood outside the queue, filled with grave markers and skeletons. Even in skeletal state, the teddy bear was totally adorbs!

Inside the house, the darkness of the black-maze-broken-up-by-scenes format, good transitional material (made all the easier because of all the darkness), and the short walkthrough length, all generally kept our mind involved. We noticed some electronic equipment in the opening corridors. A black maze can be the hardest place to conceal effects gear. As mentioned in the Cast section, the set actors (not the maze wanderers) were often behind some kind of barrier, which diminished the immersion somewhat.

Hudson has a tradition of playing some pop/rock tunes inside the house. While we enjoyed singing and dancing along to ‘Stacy’s Mom’ by Fountains of Wayne, it seemed a lot less appropriate than when they played AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ in the dark hallways the last time we were here.

The exit came out onto photo ops, not too far from the entrance queue.

Hudson takes an old-school approach, meaning generally low-tech effects, practical props, hand fashioned scenery, and no animatronics. A lot of the haunt was taken up by a solidly built black maze – very little light bleedthrough and few telltale ceiling hints for cheating your way through, as it should be – that served as both content and connective tissue, but each scene throughout also offered something.

We went through a star-bedecked vortex tunnel, admired a room lit up with dancing laser lights, and stared at glowing masks seemingly floating in mid-air. The best sets included the butcher shop with gory cuts of meat, a witch’s cauldron set up under a tree, and quite a nicely detailed study scene with stocked bookshelves. For such a small house, there was actually quite a bit going on.

Many of the sets still operated in the traditional Jaycees style, presented up on a raised platform surrounded by railing or other such barriers to make some separation from the audience. The audio mixed music, sound effects, and some ambient and just plain weird noises with little noticeable bleed-through between areas – except for a car horn that can be heard throughout.

Given the brief walkthrough, it was perhaps to be expected that we experienced fewer overall scares and a fewer variety of scares than elsewhere this season. Some sources of fright were fear of the dark, verbal threats, vehicular mayhem, and weapons vigorously thrust at us. The biggest scares came from hiders in the black maze. There were also the weirdos making croaking and other strange noises, and a character repeatedly asking why one of our team members was so jumpy.

In general, Hudson is more on the ‘let’s have some fun scary times’ side of the fence than ‘we want to make you fear for your life and cry’… and we need places like that, where one can take a youngster to start experiencing haunts without worrying about them being too affected. The number of parents with small kids who were in line that night, along with the numerous child-friendly tickets and options, testify to the more family-amenable vibe here.

They definitely had a better scare ending than our last visit, when we just kind of walked out without much happening. Props to them for designing a multi-prong attack over the final room(s) of the house. We’ve found that good finales are often a missing part of haunts over the last few years, so we appreciate an effortful attempt.

At 7 minutes, Hudson Haunted House is likely the shortest single attraction we’ve visited. The brevity can play into the family-friendly aspect, giving less of a chance for little knee-biters to get either antsy or too overwhelmed.

General admission is $15, for an MPD (entertainment minutes per dollar spent) of 0.47, which is low. We typically like to see a 1-to-1 ratio. However, $15 is also one of the most affordable ticket prices we’ve seen; anything under $20 is very much on the low end of ticket prices. It’s difficult, though not impossible, to find other places at that price point. Fast pass goes for an extra $5, which likewise is a steal these days. Plus, after the first time you can go through again as many times as you wish for only $1 each trip. Now that is a great deal!

Hudson also runs quite a few discounts and special offers. To start with, kids 12 and under get in for $10. A family 4-pack (just like it sounds, a pack of 4 general admission tickets) is $45, which works out to buy 3 get 1 free if everyone is over 12. Family 4-pack with fast pass is $62, or $18 off. Group rates start at a shockingly low 8 people, while other attractions usually require somewhere between 15 and 20 or even 25.

Sunday nights in October feature a special Monster Magic show where the actors are not as scary and a ‘monster kryptonite’ glow stick, available for an extra dollar, will make the monsters go away. Monster Magic is $8 for kids 12 and under, but the same $15 cost for adults. Two Sundays in October also have a daytime kids’ matinee with the lights on, masks off, and trick-or-treating in the maze. That’s $3 for the kids, or free if you bring in a new, unused toy, and no charge for accompanying adults.

Also keep a lookout for various special offers. For example, those donating to the hurricane relief effort on the weekend we visited would have received a substantial discount on admission.

This attraction is a valued part of their community and a historic member of the haunt industry. Generations of families have worked there, acted there, and attended the show there. Congratulations to Hudson Haunted House once again for passing that unbelievable 50-year mark!