FENTON

THE HOWLING HAUNTED TRAIL / ADOPT-A-PET

13575 North Fenton Road, Fenton, MI

www.thehowlinghauntedtrail.com

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - VOLUNTEER HAUNT HITS A HOME RUN!

What an incredible vibe here! When we arrived the place was totally jamming with tunes cranking, a beer tent, bonfires, photo ops, and food area. The menu has items such as Crimson Chili, Wicked Wiener, Clamp Based Puppy Dog, Demon Chips, Batty Bottled Water, and Cadaver Cupcakes.  Happy tummies make for happy haunters!

They operate for only 2 weekends, so every night is big. The amount of effort is staggering, but obviously a labor of love for haunting and the animals up for adoption at ADOPT-A-PET who benefits from this.

“What are your greatest fears?” is the question posed, then answered in ghoulish scenarios galore...

The haunt journey starts with a BANG, with a disappearing clown and a choice of 3 doors to enter marked VERY SCARY, SCARY, and NOT SCARY AT ALL. But only one door will open, so you have no choice!

Happy dogs will thank you for supporting this haunt, and as fellow dog lovers we applaud them.

HOLLY

ROTTEN MANOR

13245 Dixie Highway, Holly Michigan 48442

(248) 515-9041 or www.RottenManor.com

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

This is a DOUBLE MEGA HAUNT that just keeps going and going with two full 35-45 minute attractions, ROTTEN MANOR and ROTTEN ASYLUM / FOREST. Various side attractions up-the-anty further including a new take on the classic BLACK HOLE, and special live performances from fire wielding and LED clad actors entertain the masses near the queue line.

The scale of all this is hard to overstate, and it’s all custom created to theatrical standards with amazing attention to detail. The result is an immersion into every fear you can imagine, and others even more intense devised by wacky haunted house designers toiling like MAD SCIENTISTS AT MIDNIGHT!

The mood is set immediately, when you see the amazing custom made facade of ROTTEN MANOR. It’s a monstrous masterpiece that reminds us of THE ADDAMS FAMILY mansion, but on some serious steroids. Motion lights make it appear to breathe, and the rock music cranking creates a party zone feeling for the queue line.

Upon entering you are told a strange story as your journey begins, leading you through an amazing array of scenarios. The monsters, ghouls and such run the gamut from tiny to enormous and they all have their own hideous problems and circumstances.

The attention to detail is striking, and every scene is in a bubble completely isolated from the others. They can take you from sensory overload to pitch black silence in a matter of seconds!

One unique feature at this haunt is a series of giant “tunnels,” the likes of which you won’t find at any other haunt to our knowledge. They’re actually designed to be giant drainage pipes for industrial use! They lend themselves to many different setups, ranging from dark to spectacular with a LIQUID SKY DISPLAY. (green lasers with fog)

ROTTEN ASYLUM / FOREST is a separate journey from the MANOR, and is also a top notch effort.

One of our favorites in the forest is the GINGERBREAD HOUSE, which was added last year. It’s been revamped to great effect, and is a delightful departure from haunted house staples.

The actors were all spot on with excellent delivery, costumes, and makeup. Combined with the meticulous attention to detail in every scene, it adds up to a MASTERPIECE OF MADNESS!

This is the haunt many are saying is the new KING OF THE HILL of the DETROIT HAUNT SCENE, where the only constant is change.

LESLIE

AWAKEN

4760 Churchill Road, Leslie, MI 49251

(517) 878-3030 or www.AwakenHaunt.com

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - STRONG ENTRY FROM HIGHLY DYNAMIC YOUNG HAUNT

The layout has evolved to ensure safety from the Covid-19 virus, but the high intensity experience remains at AWAKEN. Your first stop is the medical tent where we met a hideous nurse.

NURSE RATCHET TO THE RESCUE

Okay, it’s not actually Nurse Ratchet. She’s actually way creepier, with zombie eyes and blood coming out of her mouth. She wants you to wash your hands, sanitizer provided. From there, you’re led to the indoor queue line area where elevated TV’s show you ghoulish stuff to help set the mood.

Your journey starts indoors, but continues with an extensive outdoor experience.

MASON

SHAWHAVEN HAUNTED FARM

1826 Rolfe Road, Mason, MI 48854

(517) 676-1649 or www.ShawhavenHauntedFarm.com

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - FREAKY FUN AT FAMILY FARM

This haunt may fly largely under the radar from DETROIT HAUNTERS, yet has found its’ way onto our MUST SEE LIST.

It’s a multi-attraction haunt and they’ve upped their game again, keeping repeat customers happy and WOWING first-timers.

The walk through haunt has been revamped with a new name, SAMARA’S RETIREMENT HOME FOR THE DEAD.

Their hayride has evolved too, with lots of great surprises and monster interaction off-the-charts.

There’s lots more too, but we’ll let you discover this wonderful farm haunt on your own.

MOUNT MORRIS

EXIT 13

6069 North Saginaw, Mount Morris, MI 48458

(810) 858-9768 or www.Exit13HauntedHouse.com

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - HIGH INTENSITY PHYSICAL HAUNT THRILLS THE MASSES

Most haunts have disclaimer statements that say you will not be touched, and not to touch the actors and so forth...

But EXIT 13 writes their own rules, and all bets are off here! It’s a welcome change of pace for thrill seekers.

PINCKNEY

TERRORFIED FOREST

245 Swarthout Road, Pinckney, MI 48169

(248) 890-8878 or www.terrorfiedforest.com

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - NEW & IMPROVED FREAKY FOREST

A change of hands at this haunt brought many new things here, all of them spot on! One of our favorites is the display of many hanging jack-o’-lanterns. We won’t describe the many other changes, but we’re confident you too will be impressed with the new layout.

One of the few remnants from the past is the amazing outdoor BLACK HOLE display. To our knowledge, this is the only outdoor haunt featuring this classic mind-bending feature.

We’re lucky to still have this haunt! Before the 2008 financial crunch, this property was in danger of being swallowed up by big business.

So this has been a premiere haunted forest for many years, but it’s also a touching love story...

HOW SOUTH CAROLINA SAVED HAUNTING in MICHIGAN, SORTA

This is an unlikely story, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...and this one is a doozie!

It all started over 20 years ago when a legendary haunt was thrilling the masses, and a boy in South Carolina was growing up who knew nothing about haunted houses.

At the same time, a little girl growing up in Livingston County, Michigan was a haunted house enthusiast. Her mom’s birthday is Halloween day, and every year she made costumes for her daughter to go trick-or-treating in.

Mom’s handmade costumes were so good that as she got older, the girl would dress up in them and scare people on her parents porch on Halloween.

She had the bug. She had just put on her own “haunted house” of sorts!

She went to as many haunted houses as she possibly could every year, and found herself paying close attention to the details that went into creating this experience that she and her friends craved so much.

The die was cast. This girl had haunting in her very blood and DNA.

Then a family friend moved to South Carolina, and introduced a guy from there to the girl still in Livingston County. They only spoke on the phone for a year, yet a deep connection emerged.

They started dating in 2008, with the boy in a program to become a Paramedic and the girl going to college in Michigan to become a graphic designer.

For 4 years they maintained a long-distance romance, until the boy moved to Michigan and they were married in 2012.

In 2014 with Halloween still in her blood the girl got involved in haunted houses, working behind the scenes volunteering with building sets and such.

She got so good at it that a local haunt operator invited her to create a Frankenstein’s Laboratory for them and it became a smashing success!

CUT TO THE CHASE

This is the story of the new operators of TERRORFIED FOREST in PINCKNEY!

Original owners Dean & Cindy have passed the torch onto Byron & Marie, and the proud tradition of this TOP NOTCH HAUNT continues to this day.

WESTLAND

HUSH HAUNTED ATTRACTION

37550 Cherry Hill, Westland, MI 48185

(734) 502-6026 or www.HushDetroit.com or www.facebook.com/hushdetroit

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - HOLLYWOOD SLICK, DETROIT RAW

Wow! How do they do it? This haunt has once again outdone itself, with an incredible new show and characters.

The makeup is second to none, and attention to detail is astonishing.

They bought the site of the former SKATELAND WEST, and erected a brand new building with future expansion in mind. If you look carefully, you’ll still see the familiar SKATELAND WEST name on the sign along with HUSH. There were so many good vibes/memories associated with this location - how cool that they let the old name still be visible.

HUSH has been evolving big time, originally on Ford Road in Westland at their other business which is a car care facility. It served them well, except that it was much smaller than the new location.

It’s called HUSH, but people being chased out by monsters are anything but quiet!

YPSILANTI

NIGHT TERRORS at WIARD'S ORCHARDS

5565 Merritt Road, Ypsilanti, MI 48197

(734) 390-9206 or www.HauntedHouseMichigan.com

ZIOPTIS SEZ 2020 - ICONIC HIGH INTENSITY MULTI-ATTRACTION HAUNT DELIVERS THE GOODS

Wow, there’s just so much here it’s hard to know where to start! There are multiple walk through haunts in addition to their amazing HAYRIDE OF THE LOST which has been re-vamped yet again.

Several walk through haunts round out the package, each with spectacular special features. One amazing standout is an incredible LIQUID SKY display in the MIND SHAFT.

This haunt has been a mainstay of the industry for longer than many of you have been alive. Be sure to also visit their amazing store, which contains a mini museum that will knock your socks off!