Sinister Pointe Brings Your Scary Place to Life with Three Stories of Frights

Sinister Pointe’s Scary Place returns in a massive new location: the Laguna Hills Mall. Known for the innovative and interactive approach to haunted houses, Scary Place is no exception! Taking over the three-story building that used to hold Macy’s, Scary Place is a haunt destination this year, containing multiple floors of horror and fun, three exhilarating mazes, several scare zones, entertainment, vendors, and priceless photo ops.

Photo By: Taylor Winters

The Mazes

Evil on 2

Evil on 2 is Sinister Pointe’s horror-inspired haunted house filled with copious jump-scares and a tense atmosphere overlaid with satanic theming. After a fantastic introduction of being welcomed to our stay in the Sinister Pointe Hotel, a vintage freight elevator creaks as it lurches toward our floor and we are left to our fate.

Turns out, the Sinister Pointe Hotel has been possessed, leaving its guests and staff to fend off the legions of Hell. Cordial and accommodating at the beginning, the scare-actors lose their playful interactivity and become more demonic and animalistic as we continue deeper into the bowels of the hotel. It’s these actors that provide the best moments of the haunt. With enthusiasm and dedication, they hide in corners, twitch creepily, or contort into an Exorcist-style backbend.

Photo By: Taylor Winters

As much of a character as the actors, the hotel itself is impressive, sprawling, and gorgeous. Whether it is lit by candles in an altar scene, or it’s a blood-splattered hotel room, detail and care is taken in each room. Spanning several hotel suites, the lobby, a security station, and locker rooms, the labyrinthine haunt contains plenty of locations for actors to hide and nuances to appreciate.

With the combination of Satanic set dressing, frightening actors, and some seriously chilling scenes of possession, the expansive Evil on 2 creates a creepy and frightening experience with delightfully sinister jump-scares.

Boogeyman Express

Taking up the entire third floor of the now-defunct Macy’s building, the Boogeyman Express stands out as Sinister Pointe’s most ambitious maze. Four at a time, guests are welcomed to Portlock, pose for a pre-haunt photo op, and sent into town in a cart with a tour guide – ours was delightfully charming and funny, fantastically balancing out the scares within. The Boogeyman Express shines as Sinister Pointe’s take on the dark ride, transforming the massive space into gorgeous sets: a town, church, graveyard, mine shaft, and more.

The town feels barren and abandoned, with only a few residents left to chase you out, but the real frights lie deeper within. The cart picks up speed (which no other dark ride can do) to careen around the town in an attempt to escape the monsters that might (lightly) touch you. Some large-scale animatronics provide the most jaw-dropping moments of the night.

Photo By: Taylor Winters

The Boogeyman Express is a prime example of the innovative spirit that Sinister Pointe brings to their haunted attractions. Taking the idea of a dark ride and elevating it beyond the traditional ride, this haunt will be remembered as a highlight of the season due to its ambition, scares, and technological feats. Don’t miss this one.

TIP: The Boogeyman Express will have the longest line! So get to Sinister Pointe early and get in the line on the second floor first; you won’t be disappointed.

Phobias

Phobias, my favorite haunt in Sinister Pointe, is a nice contrast to Evil on 2; it provides a silly and playful approach to the horrors found within. Providing a ton of interactivity between guests and its scare actors, this haunt pits audiences against their phobias – and there are a lot of them!

Photo By: Lacey Rae

In addition to the classics like clowns or claustrophobia, Phobias spotlights some more “realistic” fears like getting married (by a hilarious undead Elvis), electrocution, the current enigma of Trypophobia (fear of holes), and even visiting the dentist. Each scare differs in style, cleverness and scale as well. Some fears are easy to spot the minute you walk into the space; but others are surprising and smart. While almost all are tongue-in-cheek and silly, every single one delivered on getting a reaction – whether it’s a chuckle, a scream, or just a smile.

Photo By: Taylor Winters

It’s this maze that offers the most interactivity out of the lot. The actors are friendly and fun, willing to strike up a conversation and play with you – if you’re willing to join in their gags. They are also the ones responsible for most of the fun in this maze. While the gags are great, the actors are necessary for them to work – and they deliver.

This maze is great for teens looking for a scare and immersive fans looking to interact.

Photo By: Taylor Winters

Scream Zones

Guests will find the most activity on the ground floor of Sinister Pointe. Along with housing the Phobias maze, various entertainment and vendors, the ground floor is also home to two Scream Zones. Not full mazes, these Scream Zones are smaller walk-throughs in which monsters lurk.

One takes on a circus theme and is the home base for Trixter the Clown (among others), who delights and frightens guests armed with only a broom. The other is a more military-type installation – chain-link fences keep monsters at bay, or do they?

On the ground floor, Sinister Pointe mainstay Chris Fogelsong can be found donning an impressive undead shaman outfit. He expertly and deliberately interacts with audiences providing scares and adding the aesthetic; he is an excellent contrast to Trixter’s vibrant energy.

Trixter the Clown | Photo By: Taylor Winters

Entertainment

The main stage of Scary Place offers guests the opportunity to take a break from the scares and watch some entertainment. On a rotating schedule, magician Mudd the Magnificent and perfectly cheesy lounge-singer Monte Revolta take turns performing for the crowd. A psychic on the second floor provides readings of guests’ past, present and future. A completely dark escape room, apparently belonging to Trickster, has guests struggling to find their way out with only a monster’s laughter to guide them.

Monte Revolta | Photo By: Taylor Winters

Vendors

From candles to baked goods to artwork to attire, many vendors are spread throughout Sinister Pointe’s three levels. Infernal Imagery carries playful shirts, Halloween Psycho sells wooden coffins and signs, and Hellflower Soap Company displays Halloween-themed soaps, including a pumpkin pie body scrub. While food trucks reside just outside Sinister Pointe, Mystery Pix on the second floor has a green screen set up for fantastically macabre photo ops depicting murder between friends.

Photo By: Taylor Winters

Conclusions for Scary Place

Sinister Pointe’s Scary Place excels in providing three distinct yet wildly effective mazes. Instead of just rehashing three different themes, Sinister Pointe offers a silly and playful maze (Phobias), a dark and frightening maze (Evil on 2), and an ambitious, large-scale dark ride (Boogeyman Express). Despite having a huge location, the haunts still manage to feel intimate and personal due to the strength of their actors.

Sinister Pointe needs to be on your Halloween list this year because there is nothing else out there quite like it. It’s scary, it’s fun, and it’s a one-stop-shop for all things strange and unusual

What’s YOUR Scary Place?