The Scream Asylum

I can't say that I am a connoisseur of spook alleys but I can say that I've been to a couple. I don't spook very easily, in fact in all of the haunted houses I've ever been in not one has really gotten me spooked. Except for that one I went to as a kid and that a guy actually hung himself and no one noticed until they were closing that evening. But that more spooked me when I read about it the next day. My favorite one was the one in Provo that was a fund raiser for the Mental Hospital, I stood in line for almost two-hours to get in and it sure was a lot of fun. It's a shame they closed that one down.

Anyway, my wife and I had the rare opportunity to have a date night, so I thought it would be fun to take her to one of these haunted houses, especially since she has never gone into one. She thought that it was going to be hokey and tawdry, but I insisted that The Scream Asylum has sounded like it could be pretty decent. She took my word for it. I really had no idea, I had heard the commercials and seen the signs, but you can't ever trust them.

When we got to the The Scream Asylum it was in an old warehouse in downtown Provo. Their address says they are 600 South University Ave. but I'd say they are more 600 South 97 West, almost beneath the overpass that goes over the train tracks. They have a part that uses 3D colors and you are provided with 3D glasses once you pay your entrance fee ($15 regularly, $13 if you bring a coupon that can be printed from their website). The price was a little on the high side for me but I wanted to give it a chance. They certainly did not disappoint. My wife was freaked out almost right from the start to the very end. All of the players seemed really into it and most if not all were very intimidating in their presentations. We went on a slow night so the actors were available to follow us around which made for some very entertaining screams from my wife, who spent most of her time screaming, hiding and cowering (afterwords she confided that she almost peed her pants, twice). At one point they scared my wife so much that she grabbed onto another client and almost scaled her to escape from some of the actors, I was forced to pull my wife away from the woman, which only worked to scare my wife even more since she thought it was one of the actors that was trying to pull her away.

Overall I would certainly give The Scream Asylum, 3 1/2 of four stars. My only problem was that it didn't really scare me but certainly made me feel uncomfortable. Which is more than the other houses I have been at.

A big thank to all of the actors there for making a very entertaining evening for my wife and I.