Since Bloodview was sort of a disappointment this year, we were hoping that our planned trip to the 7 Floors of Hell would turn out a little better.

It did.

Before resigning to paying $22 a person (we knew about the price in advance) we were surprised to find that this year they were charging $2 to park! (Last year it was free). While we thought the price of admission was steep but not prohibitive, the new charge to park in the back lot (where it’s convenient) seemed like just plain greed.

Seven differently themed haunted houses dot the back field of the Berea Fairgrounds. With plenty of creepy looking actors running around with props like swords and chainsaws (sans chains, of course) the wait to get in the each house (15-20 mins each) just flew by.

The advertisements say that they have spent over a million dollars to put this show together and I’ll admit that the special effects, lights and mechanized props in each house were pretty effective. Lots of loud noises, music, shrieks, strobe lights and decorations made it easier on the relatively few actors that kept the crowd entertained.

One particular house was nothing more than really thick, thick fog, strobe lights and loud music and sound effects. The maze was just chain link fence that allowed the lights and sound to diffuse through the entire house and made sure we were almost constantly disoriented. In that house, I think we saw two actors, but didn’t really require a lot more because trying to find our way out was nerve-wracking enough.

We left the fairgrounds about two and a half hours later and spent the trip home comparing the relative merits of each house with Bloodview and decided that if we had only gone through one house at the 7 Floors, it still would have been better than Bloodview.