I push through two red doors, both marked with crosses, and enter a hazy, fog-filled cathedral. Large stained-glass windows glow at the opposite end of the room illuminating an empty pulpit. Numerous dark hooded figures fill in the pews, their heads bowed in prayer. I slowly inch down the aisle trying to determine which, if any, are real. But suddenly all light is extinguished, and I’m left standing in total darkness. I freeze and wait, hoping the light returns quickly. The candles flicker back to life and I find myself surrounded by eight hooded figures. The monks tower over me, open their mouths and scream in unison. All I can do is run. I am in the county line fright fest’s asylum.

County Line Fright Fest’s Asylum is a 4,000 square foot professional haunted house that takes up residency in Yucaipa, every year excelling in grand scenes and sets. While there is no contact or physicality, the twenty-minute experience does expand on classic haunted houses by subverting normal haunt tropes through innovative audience participation and interaction. Further, they cleverly use water, fog, and darkness to elevate multiple scenes.

As the name implies, this year’s theme was an insane asylum. Participants were admitted to the Asylum and experienced all the amenities it has to offer as they navigate over sixteen themed rooms. Most rooms matched this theme perfectly, ensuring that all participants feel immersed into the experience. For example, the first room offers the rules via an orientation; and astute audiences can see security monitors displaying other rooms, but with pre-recorded actors showcasing their best insane personas. Other rooms feature cohesively themed asylum rooms: a rickety old elevator, a crematorium, a morgue, a dentist’s office, multiple padded cells, an electroshock therapy room, and of course, a chapel. While there were a few rooms that felt random or misplaced, like a swamp-themed room, the majority felt cohesive, strong, and fit the theme.

The main strength of County Line Fright Fest’s Asylum is its ability to subvert expectation and innovate on classic haunt tropes, much in the same way Sinister Pointe’s haunts did in the past. A lot of the scenes that unfold are ones that you may have seen in other haunts, but Asylum just does them to perfection. For example, in the dentist’s office, a doctor is sitting over a patient, drilling into their mouth. As participants make their way through this room, water squirts from the patient’s mouth at the audience. I’ve seen that scene done at other haunts (like Sinister Pointe’s Scary Place’s Phobia maze), but County Line adds in more water, a strong jet that shoots across the room, and the haunting sound of a dentist’s drill. But that’s not all—they also pumped the sickeningly sweet scent of candy into the room, as the dentist yells after you: “don’t you want some of my candy; it will give you more cavities!” In another scene, patients were undergoing electroshock therapy in electrified chairs; the combination of the flashing lights, the sounds of electricity going off, and the smell of burnt flesh and hair make this another memorable scene. And one of our favorites was a child crying out from her padded cell, afraid that a monster was going to get her; but before we could help, she’s sucked under the bed by an air compressor effect that was really impressive. It’s these combinations of effects, scents, and acting that all helped further the immersive nature of the haunt.

In terms of actors, the asylum felt alive with patients and staff alike. With over thirty actors inside on the night we went through, each room have numerous actors, ensuring that you were scared from all directions. One specialty that County Line Fright Fest’s Asylum loved to play with was hiding real actors among animatronics and dummies. For example, in the morgue, numerous sheeted bodies hid real people; in the chapel, there were more cult members than mannequins; in the padded cells, it was always unclear if a real person or an animatronic hid on the other side.  It seemed like there were always actors surrounding you, watching you as you passed and waiting just around every bend to scare you.

The actors we encountered in County Line Fright Fest’s Asylum were all passionate about their roles. Many haunted houses we’ve experienced had actors playing more generic roles; but in this haunt, actors were all playing characters that fit within the asylum universe. Everyone had a purpose and well-defined role: a crazy dentist, the insane patients, a mortician. This ensure that the maze was telling a story instead of other haunts, which can sometimes feel like people who are dressed for a specific theme but are just there to scare you. The actors also did a great job at not just scaring the first person in the group, but ensuring that the whole group got a good scare no matter where you were in your group.

The general admission line was long but they offered a 51/50 VIP upgrade option, which allowed audiences to skip the line. Attempts at social distancing were made: Everyone had to wear masks inside the haunt, groups were made up of only those from your household and groups were only allowed in every 2-3 minutes. However, the large crowds waiting to get into the haunt, made staying distant very difficult. This is a similar issue we saw at Fright Ride in Vegas, where there just wasn’t enough crowd oversight in line to ensure people actually wear masks and maintain proper social distancing protocols before entering. The 51/50 VIP upgrade was well worth the price to skip the long waits and ensure a quick entry into the maze.

County Line Fright Fest’s Asylum surprised us with its quality, scares, and attention to detail. We could see this haunt growing in popularity if they expand their narrative, much like 17^th Door did with the Paula storyline. So much of this experience feels ripe for a story, and it often feels like you are the main character. With a level of immersion like that, County Line Fright Fest can become better from here; this is definitely a haunt worth checking out when they return next year.

Find out more about County Line Fright Fest and their upcoming experiences on their website, Instagram, and Facebook page. Be sure to bookmark our Event Guide to keep up to date on immersive and horror events throughout the year.

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county line fright fest was a professional home haunt. we went and really enjoyed county line fright fest asylum.