Monday, October 16, 2023

ScareScape Review: Something's Scary Up & Out There

By Jonathan Bilski

We went to ScareScape over the weekend and if you're in the area or local it's a must for Halloween to
get your scares on.

ScareScape is a brand new haunt experience out in Murrieta. A little bit different as you take wine country shuttles; Temecula is nearby and it's known for the wine tours. You take the shuttles to the top of Heritage Hill which can be spooky in its own right. ScareScape awaits you up top. Though with country music playing us up, it was setting the mood of a more easy going haunt. Hearing Chicken Fried, by the Zac Brown Band was not how I thought the night would start. But, people on the shuttle were singing-a-long.

Up the hill is a great view and four mazes for you to get lost in with a few dining and drinking options at your disposal. To get the best of the experience you got to pay extra for access to the clown maze and a VIP bar. And, it gives you front-of-line privileges.

Let's breakdown the mazes shall we? 
 
Eternal Echoes was our favorite and the first one you'll encounter. This one is based on spooky spirits and maybe some spiders. We heard of lot of banging from that one. What was banging surprised us. You'll have to find out on your own, if you dare. This one had the most scare actors in my opinion and they worked their butts off in every turn. There's a great misty field you'll wander through and other surprises from some angry ghosts.

Wayward Souls' theme has you looking at beings trapped between life and death. I thought it looked more like an insane asylum. This one has some fun elements of people not-doing-so-well. Including a section of let's say bad restroom time. Do I hear a chainsaw? Spooky set pieces are inside to scare you. This one ranked third.

We have a fourth ranking with The Void. The concept here might need some more scary people, but it's a real dark maze. You can't see anything at the start and for a while. It was a lot of anticipation with little pay-off. If you have people trapped in the dark, you best do more to scare them. They also could have put in some strange walls to touch or one of those inflatable halls to squeeze through. 

No let's go VIP. This is where you pay about $20 extra for a bar you can sit at and relax at and another
maze.

Just a shout out, everyone working at ScareScape was friendly and nice, except for the clowns. The scary, scary clowns.

Just kidding, they were a delight and they have their own maze, Delirium. This one has you getting lost at the big top. It doesn't have any sets or set pieces, but it's a maze filled with clowns that can pop-up anywhere. You'll get lost and confused and of course the clowns will come and get you. It was our second favorite.
 
To even get to Delirium you've got to go through the VIP Sideshow Spirit Lounge with it's many different  “Drinks for Freaks” menu. No, food here, but plenty of drinks to wet your whistle. This a great bar that has the only seating at ScareScape. Couches and comfy chairs with a lovely view of the area. Highly recommend paying more for a place to chill in-between scares.

Drinks & Eats

There is a standing bar outside of the VIP area and each maze has a small table to grab a alcoholic mixes sharing the name of the maze. There's of course water and soda available for the kids to purchase too. Snapshot Coffee Bar was highlight with different caffeine concoctions in easy to carry resealable blood blags. You can grab tacos or popcorn and lemonade too. Maybe, not dinner, but stuff you'd get at any theme park/carnival.

ScareScape has a lot of potential. For right now, it's the best bet for the area when it comes to haunts. I'd love to see some simple improvements of mazes and a little more walking scare actors in the main area. The clowns ventured out and stalked the bar area, but we didn't see any wondering ghouls outside their haunting grounds.

You only have a few weekends left to try it out, before it passes into the great beyond of October. I think we had people singing-a-long to Taylor Swift on the way down.

September 29 – October 29 Select Nights
28701 LOS ALAMOS HEIGHTS RD
MURRIETA, CA 92563
$tarts at $30
 
Reminders
-You got to pay for parking, it was $10 last time I checked on the site
-It's dusty where you park and bumpy, so no sandals or opened toed shoes
-You can't bring backpacks or outside food or drink

*photos from Love Lily Photography