Stillwell Manor 2014 Review

Ratings Legend

(1 skull) – Poor
(2 skulls) – Average
(3 skulls) – Good
(4 skulls) – Excellent
(5 skulls) – Best of the best!

Stillwell Manor: Indianapolis, IN

Stillwell Manor Haunted House

Todd
Stillwell Manor is a unique haunt in that it resides within an abandoned movie theater. The architecture of the building adds a unique element to the haunt because the sets are laid out on the still-slanted floor that was used for the theater seating. This gives navigation a bit of a funhouse effect. There were a few times where I almost tripped so tread with care.

The actors are masters of camouflage. There were a number of times that they could not be seen AT ALL. We would almost run into them, step on them (beware the flood in foggy areas), etc.

The rooms have been built up well and most of the time you cannot see what remains of the theaters. However, there are numerous parts where the 1980s neon spotted theater carpet is still present. Perhaps as the haunt grows, more fitting flooring will be installed.

One of the most noticeable vacancies in this haunt was the sound. This was the quietest haunt I’ve ever been to. I’m not sure if this is intentional or not. The owner explained to us that each room has a custom soundtrack, however I only recollect hearing a soundtrack in 2 or 3 areas. Otherwise you could hear a pin drop. It didn’t necessarily make anything eerie, just a tad awkward.

Andy
I enjoyed this haunt. The dark and quiet was different. Made it pretty spooky actually. The room with the fog and laser lights where really neat and different. We got lost a ton! Good time.

Tammy
Favorite part was what appeared to be a swamp area – the use of lasers and fog was awesome and like nothing I’ve ever seen – an actor as “moss man” was great!. This haunt seemed more quiet than most which almost made it more spooky and creepy.

Frightmaster
This haunt was a really fun experience, both scary and exciting. It was a truely old fashioned haunted house with each room decorated in period furnishings. You felt like you were trapped in “House on the Haunted Hill” movie. Very creative use of lazers, bridges, hidden creatures, background music and just all around surprises throughout the haunt. There is one surprise even I didn’t see coming. I won’t ruin it for you but you’ll want to run back to the line and go through this haunt again and again after you go through the first time. MUST SEE in Indianapolis!!!!

Tantibus

Todd
To get to Tantibus, you walk through a storeroom for the theater, passing cleaning products, vacuum cleaners etc. No it’s not part of the haunt. Hopefully in the future there is a more formal entry way. Tantibus also starts upstairs and I get that the stairways are where they are, but in my opinion, backstage should not be exposed.

This haunt is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It has clowns, zombies..a little bit of everything, which is fine as long as it’s effective. The upstairs portion of this haunt felt very bare bones. Much of the area was hallways of the former theater, with very little haunt transformation.

Once you’re back downstairs, it gets a little better. You’re back into more decorated sets that feel like a haunt, not the back office.

Tantibus has one major redeeming item – the slide! I mentioned you start upstairs and wind up downstairs. Steps? Psh. There’s a 40 foot slide…and it’s FAST. At the foot, there’s a mattress on the floor and another on the facing wall. Good thing too because the sheer velocity actually threw me into it.

The slide was fun as hell. I really wanted to do that again. Otherwise Tantibus was a little underwhelming and felt lacking in environment, especially compared it its predecessor.

Andy
The zombies were awesome!! The opening scene with the girl zombie eating the person was great. The slide was super cool. I really enjoyed Tantibus.

Tammy
The slide!! What an awesome and creative feature!! Loved it! I liked the zombies – one that stands out was a zombie girl eating a body and throws what you think is blood on you.

Frightmaster
Tantibus was a bit darker than the Stillwell Manor Haunt. It was scary and full of surprises around every turn. Nice change of pace from the haunted house. Great actors.

Overall

Todd
Overall – it’s worth a stop. The theater makes for an interesting location for a haunt. It’s supposedly haunted too (for real). Oddly enough, as we were filming the interview, my camera light that has never once even moved on my flash mount somehow came loose and crashed to the floor – all while the supposed haunting was being discussed. Very curious…

Tantibus feels like it’s not quite ready. It needs more added to the environment. I found I couldn’t get out of the mindset that I was simply in the upstairs hall of the theater.

That slide though….now that was fun.

Andy
Overall great haunt. Lots of good props, the actors stayed in character, and the slide was a blast. Would definitely go back.

Tammy
Great haunt! All the staff very friendly and the actors did a great job! Lot of originality and just an overall different feel than most haunts. The entrance to the building has room for improvement and in the entrance where you wait – one positive is that most of your waiting time is indoors so it makes it nice when it’s cold outside!

Kelly
I feel this was the best haunt of the night. Great details in each of the rooms, just the right amount of lighting so you could see all the props. The actors really played their part. My favorite part was the slide you had to go down – I would want to go back thru just for that. The exits to each room was a little hard to find but I feel that made it even better because if you were scared you just couldn’t run out the door. I have never been in a haunted house that was so quiet. Moss Man and laser lights were great. Definitely would recommend this one.

Frightmaster
For just being a fairly new haunt, Stillwell Manor really impressed us with their attention to detail and knowledge of what it takes to really set up a good haunt. Very well run from beginning to end, great background music, creative scenes (best “surprise” we’ve seen in any haunt!), good actors, great haunt! My only suggestion to make this haunt a Frightmaster award competitor would be to invest in some exterior facade to eliminate the cinema duplex look of the building and make it appear to be more of a haunted house. I still felt like I was entering a movie theater when I walked inside even though there was scary animatronics and coffins in the entry hall. A few strobe lights outside, some speakers with scary music (or thunder and screams?) would do wonders for this haunt. Maybe some boarded up windows and ghouls walking around in the parking lot? This is a really good haunt that, with a little more curb appeal, could be one of the best in the tri-state!

Overall score: 4.13 Skulls (Excellent)

Visit their web site at stillwellmanor.com