The Realm of Darkness

It was good but not that scary. For $ 23 + $ 5 parking, I was expecting much more than what I experienced. They have more animated actors than real ones. Next year I guess I will try Erebus.

I LOVE Halloween, and everything scary, which is why me and a group of my friends decided to go to «The Realm of Darkness» yesterday evening. In the previous years we’ve always been to Erebus, and loved it, but we wanted to see whether there is something «better» and «scarier» out there. After reading tons of reviews I thought that an interactive Haunted House that is less expensive (but not much) than Erebus, sounds like a great idea.
Yea — so we decided to do the 3D Haunted House, as well as the regular Haunted House. I’ll start with the 3D one:
Spoilers:
You’ll get some 3D glasses and walk through some hallways, painted in 3D. There are actors in there as well that try to scare you, but since it is incredibly bright in there, it really does not do the trick. It’s also fairly short (considering that you pay $ 20ish for it) — we were done with that within 10 minutes.
Now to the main attraction: The Realm of Darkness Haunted House
The employees up front start off by telling you that the actors touch you and grab you, but don’t hurt you (and that you are not supposed to touch them). I’m fine with that — So, we went in in Groups of 4 and you walk through (I think) 40 different rooms that are all dedicated to a specific theme (Graveyard, Dollhouse, Butcher, Backyard, etc.). The props were nice, but since it is also super bright in there, you can see it immediately that is is just props, and not an actor — which means, you don’t get scared that much. The mood was also killed for me, because you can see that they just put up walls that don’t even go up to the ceiling — so you KNOW you are «just» in a maze (if that makes sense at all).
Back to our experience:
The actors were great — they interacted with you, talked to you, grabbed you, one of them threw my hat away (and told me I smelled funny — thanks again for that ;)). However, since they didn’t wait long enough after they let new people in, we always saw the group in front of us, as well as the actors, which is why the scares weren’t as effective. Also (again) due to the bright light, you could always see the actors before they jumped at you. Some rooms in there didn’t even have actors, just props (that didn’t stop screaming– kind of annoying).
So we were done with that attraction within about 20 minutes, if not shorter, and I did not get the adrenaline rush I usually get from Haunted Houses.
Bottom line: If you want to take your kids to a Haunted House, go there! If you want to be REALLY scared — go to Erebus!

Not as scary as I expected

Last night we attended the haunted house we did both the new 3d and the bigger haunted house, we waited in line for a hour in half which isn’t a big deal it was a Saturday night but while we were in line people came out with a 2 and 3 year old kids kicking and screaming they didn’t wanna go back in these parents took these young children from the 3d which wasn’t all that bad to the big one which is scary for me and I’m an adult. I think this establishment should have a age limit. If the parents aren’t gonna be good parents then maybe the owner should make some rules !!!
Other then that was amazing it was put together very well and Denise the owner was a very wonderful women that has a lot of passion for what she has put together, best haunted house I’ve been too in a long time. Besides the poor babies coming out kicking and screaming they didn’t wanna go back in and got taken right back in. I give it 3 stars for there work but would love to see a age limit next time !

Ran out of the building screaming.

This was one of the best haunted house experiences I’ve been too. The actors looked amazing & really owned the character they were playing. Also, we had an opportunity to talk to the owner (Denise) and you can tell she was ver passionate about her work. It’s great to meet proud business owners who care about the work they do. The 3D experience was fun for us as well, very artistic.
I definitely enjoyed this experience much more than Erebus, which I had been too two weeks prior. At Erebus, I felt they rushed you through with a large group like you were a cattle of herd but with with the Realm of Darkness, the wait wasn’t bad and we went in with our group only instead of a large mass of people. Didn’t feel rushed at all.

We went there last night and as far as the décor was concerned, they have done a really really brilliant job. It was truly innovative and it definitely was super spooky.
However, we did not have a very good time because of the live actors. They were dressed to perfection and they did their job well, maybe a tad too well. They tell us that we are not supposed to touch the actors but they should also tell the actors not to get too physical with us. At one part of the house, one of the actors nearly pushed me on to the bed and kept growling and stuff in spite of me telling her to cut it out at one point. then she went on grabbing my brother and then didn’t stop when asked to stop. He kind of pushed her away and she started swearing loudly and yelling at him and asked him to leave. We were in the last part of the house anyway, so we all left.
It was an unpleasant experience.
However, we really have to give them credits for doing a great job with the making of the house as such.

This place was fantastic. There wasn’t a wait at all, everyone was so friendly and helpful, and the house itself was one of the best I have ever been to. The actors looked amazing, the animatronics were perfect, and the details were just incredible. Thanks for the good show! I absolutely recommend this place to anyone looking for some kick ass Halloween fun!

This was our First Time here & 3^rd Haunted House if the Season! I will come back again before the season is over & every year after that! This place scored a Perfect 10! Check Out the 3-​D Carnival to, they did an Amazing Job with the Black Light Art!

Bad experience. We arrived at 7:00. No workers were ready, no one to sell tickets. Around 7:15 a few came out and said we needed to by tickets over at the r.v. No one was there. We waited and walked to line, then went back to r.v. while someone finally came out to the r.v. Next people started threatening that cars would be towed if they didn’t pay 5. oo parking. Mind you, no worker was even there on time to tell anyone they needed to pay and no signs! They didn’t open until around 7:30. They had half of the actors as usual. We also think they didn’t take us through the whole haunted house as we were let out of a side door exit without any climax and without ever getting to meet the wizard that you are supposed to meet at the end. We left feeling very very duped. We paid full price and didn’t get what we paid for. They shouldn’t have this event open after halloween if they can’t staff it and give you the whole experience! I’ll never go back.

I made the trip this year to visit several haunted houses near Pontiac and The Realm of Darkness was one i visited. I was truly impressed and had a blast! Very high quality sets and props and hands down the most dedicated actors i have ever seen at a haunted attraction! The people really seemed to enjoy their characters and causing a scare. The interactive nature of this house was really awesome as well! i had never been to a haunted attraction that was truly interactive. I was also glad when i saw a small group causing trouble be promptly escoted away by security to preserve everyone else experience. I will definitely be returning to The Realm next year!

i’ve been to this haunted house twice. once many years ago before it burnt down (probably 2002) and again last year.
they must have gotten a lot of insurance money because this place looked completely different. major upgrades.
yes, i got scared. and yes, there were parts that i thought were cheesy. but for the most part it was great. i love the attention to detail especially the library, dining room. lab, etc… there was a lot going on in here.
this was different from other haunted house because you get to talk to and play games with the characters in order to gain jewels and get a chance to challenge the wizard at the end. i’ve never made it to the wizard.
the line has never been too long when i have been there and i agree, if you don’t know where you’re going and don’t know what you’re looking for it’s easy to get lost.

I am a major haunted house connoisseur. I go to at least three every year. I’ve moved around a lot so I’ve seen them in PA, MI, and CA. This one had some truly impressive features and I love the choose-​your-​own-​adventure feel.
Tonight was my first visit at Realm of Darkness. It was so hard to find, we circled past it three times before we called and got detailed directions (from a human!). There is a huge and free parking lot right in front of it. If you’re going down Glenwood Rd and you hit the cemeteries at M-​59, you’ve gone too far. There is a huge skull that decorates the entrance but you can barely see it from Glenwood Rd. (Owner: you’ve got to put a bright sign and arrow on Glenwood!)
What I really loved about this haunted house was:
1) Choose your own adventure. Basically there is a wizard you need to reach at the end. You can make choices in your path along the way (such as door number 1 or 2) and you gather clues along the way. If you answer questions correctly throughout the path, you’ll be led to the wizard. Then you have a chance to win prizes. It’s fun to be able to interact with the actors, beyond them just screaming at you. (P.S. I was skeptical about the wizard too but then I looked at their website with photos of the wizard and ppl that did get through to the wizard.)
2) The scenes were wonderfully set up. There is an amazing cave setup, there is a great mirrored maze, there is a great dining room with dead kings, there is a pirate ship with giant octopus tentacles wrapped around it. Some very cool stuff, I don’t want to spoil it for you.
This place also gets bonus points for free parking, the availability of the VIP pass (no waiting in line), having a human answering the phone line, and great actors. Definitely worth the visit.