Haunted house attractions count as real estate, right?
Looking to get a scare in before Halloween season draws to a close? Depending on how much time you’ve got on your hands, you might want to work Cutting Edge Haunted House into what’s left of your October calendar.
Cutting Edge has been in business since the early 1990s, and it’s been regularly recognized as one of the best haunted houses in the country. It also has the distinction of being the longest walk-through haunted house in the world, so the bang-for-buck isn’t all that bad.
Credit: Cutting Edge
I was lucky enough to check it out last weekend. Now, I’m not a haunted house aficionado by any means, so take this with a grain of salt, but I thought the production was creepy enough to make for a pretty solid outing.
Based in a 100-year-old abandoned meat packing plant at 1701 E Lancaster Ave. in a part of historic Fort Worth that used to be called “Hell’s Half Acre,” the multi-story facility has been decked out for scares inside and outside, though the inside is where the action’s at.
There won’t be any real spoilers here, but I do want to paint some broad strokes. First of all, while I saw some younger folks around, I would not recommend Cutting Edge for little kids who spook easily. You should also take the warning disclaimer seriously:
“You will experience intense audio, lighting, extreme low visibility, strobe lights, fog, damp or wet conditions, special effects, sudden actions, and an overall physically demanding environment. You should NOT ENTER a haunted house if you suffer from asthma, heart conditions, are prone to seizures, physical ailments, respiratory ailments, or any type of medical problem, or are pregnant or suffer any form of mental disease, including claustrophobia.”
Now, this actually reads pretty boilerplate for attractions of this type (or roller coasters, for that matter), but I can’t stress this enough: There are some pretty extreme elements to this haunted house, and they’re not exactly what you’d expect.
I’ll say this, the optical illusions deployed in parts of the haunted house are top-notch. Maybe I have one of those medical conditions alluded to in the warning, but some of the “special effects” had me wondering if someone had put psychedelics in my beverage, so much so that I couldn’t tell if I was still walking or not.
Speaking of beverages, it’s a dry attraction — no alcohol allowed. And that’s just as well once you’re inside the haunted house, because there are dozens of actors doing their best to engage with you in the scariest ways possible. It’s probably best for everyone that Joe Schmo isn’t wasted in a dimly-lit room when a performer wielding a prop chainsaw (sound effects and all) jumps out of a hallway and starts menacing.
As for the haunted house itself, it spans 235,000 square feet and takes about 40 minutes to walk through, including welcome queue breaks. Given the size and scope of the attraction, there are moments where the design can feel a little repetitive, but that may have more to do with the lighting than the actual sets and decor. I’ll have to go again to decide. Still, there are some impressive set pieces that work really well, like when Cutting Edge leans into the building’s meatpacking plant history…
There is a drumline out in force to keep your spirits up while you’re waiting outside.
There are a couple more things that bear mentioning. First, Cutting Edge advertises timed ticketing (base prices). If you do not buy a speedpass, expect to wait at least an hour AFTER ARRIVING to enter the haunted house. Don’t worry, though. If you’re tired of waiting, you can pay the extra $20 at the venue to upgrade your ticket and pretty much enter on the spot. Clever, right?
Finally, re-read the warning above, so when you’re on the very last leg of the haunted house and the usher gives you the option of going through the bubble exit, YOU CAN GO THE OTHER WAY. Unless you can really keep your cool, your body may experience the bubble exit in a way that I can only describe as waterboarding. No joke. It was pretty terrifying.
Anyway, I’ve been a D-FW resident for more than a decade and somehow only just recently heard about Cutting Edge. If you think you can handle it, it’s a hell of an experience. You’ll definitely get your industrial metal fix.