I step into a circus tent, and a dozen clowns already convene inside. The lighting is dim, but their bright, neon-colored clothes help them stand out among the darkness. Some hold mallets, others hold balloons—but I notice one, on the other end of the tent, holding scissors. He slowly spreads the blades apart, and then closes them with a metallic clang that echoes above the soundtrack of “Hoist the Colours,” a pirate shanty echoing across the haunt. I take another step forward, and the clown raises his scissors, bring them to a close, letting the sound linger in the darkness as I continue. Haunted Dome Haunt is a home haunt in Whittier, CA.

In its fourth year, Haunted Dome Haunt is a walkthrough home haunt that started in Panorama City, but has moved to Whittier in 2022. Relying on easy-ups and tents, this haunted house sends guests through a series of linear scenes and outdoor locations, filled with masked creatures and plenty of décor and dummies to fill out the space. Despite not having flats or walls, they encorporate netting and fake plants to simulate a jungle scene, and fill tents with numerous props hanging from the ceiling as well as placed around the space. This creates a level of immersion that works great for a home haunt, but won’t be as strong as a professional home haunt with a dedicated build-out. Haunted Dome should take you five or so minutes to traverse this home haunt, depending on your speed.

Similar to Terror on Laura Street, Haunted Dome Haunt does not rely on a single theme to tell its tale. Instead, each tent focuses on a different Halloween element, ranging from undersea terrors, jungle monsters, clowns, and a Halloween-centric room. We loved the shark-man under the sea and the tiger from the jungle. It’s rare to see these creatures personified in haunts, and the costuming and masks were exceptionally well done. They use numerous Immortal Masks (silicone masks) throughout the experience, and if you know your masks, these are the best of the best. Another highlight is their clown tent, which is full of over a dozen professionally designed and life-size clowns that line the path down the tent. The number of items hung from the ceiling ensure that you feel sensory disorientation from all angles.

Further, Haunted Dome Haunt is filled with numerous actors: two to three per tent. Some are seated, some are standing, and some hide in the dark, ready to scare. Yet, all actors seemed passionate and excited to be there, scaring people for the Halloween weekend. We loved the clown with the scissors, the tiger with the machete, and the shark. While some of the others were hidden from our eyes, they were able to startle us, as we wondered if they were real, or just another dummy.

Our main note for improvement is to improve the lighting in some of the tents. We were slightly underwhelmed after attending, but after leaving, Haunted Dome Haunt shared many pictures of us–and in the light, we were able to see just how detailed and incredible their costumes were. A lot of the hard work and detail Haunted Dome added to their haunt is lost in the dark–and while it did create some scares, it’s far scarier seeing something in the distance and knowing the scare is coming–rather than being scared unexpectedly by something unseeable. They told us that they would work on this in future years, and we are very excited to attend next year to see their great designs.

Haunted Dome Haunt is a great home haunt with some novel themes, great costumes, and passionate actors inside. We’d love to see them continue to grow year after year because this a group that love Halloween—and have some genuinely great scares hidden inside. Just make sure you don’t go swimming near sharks with hooks for hands.

For more information about Haunted Dome Haunt, check out their Instagram. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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