MY Trip to the Asylum

being that its only one week till all hollows eve, some friends and I decided it was time to hit up Brighton Asylum (a haunted attraction in New Jersey). It was terrifyingly awesome!
According to the Brighton Asylum website, the facility was used to house mentally ill patients in the 1940s. After enduring abuse and poor living conditions, the patients over-ran the asylum and supposedly killed a number of its staff members. I have no idea if any of this is true, but who cares? It makes the experience even creepier.

The asylum consists of a series of abandoned warehouses located on a desolate New Jersey road. Upon first arriving there in the middle of the night, we were all convinced that the whole thing was a hoax, masterminded by homicidal psychopaths that were planning to brutally murder us and stream live videos of our deaths on the internet. Fortunately for us, none of that happened.
The self-guided tour lasted about 15 minutes and took place in the dark (no flashlights allowed). It was so much fun and even being the hardcore horror fan that I am, I had more scares and screams than I care to admit.

Pros:
The creepy location and back story certainly suspend disbelief and make the experience terrifyingly realistic.
The scare actors are truly amazing! The details of their make-up/costumes and commitment to character take scary to a whole new level.
The special effects, sound effects, ambiance and props are so convincing and truly incredible. It truly felt like we were in a horror movie!
No matter how desensitized you may think you are, you will not leave BA without at least a few good scares (oh yes, there will be screaming!).

Cons:
The haunt only lasts approximately fifteen minutes (but it is an amazing and memorable fifteen minutes!).
There are two short segments that involve walking (more like squeezing) through a narrow space between two air-filled sacks in the dark. I am not claustrophobic but one of my buddies was, so these parts were not fun for him, but everyone is different.

The lines are long, which means the wait can be long, too. We solved this problem some what with online tickets that i highly recommend. it was still an hour to get in and with a line twice as long for tickets don't expect to get in anytime soon if you show up unprepared. If there was one thing i would of done differently it was get fast-pass: for an extra $10/ticket, you can bypass the lines. needed if you plan to show up late.

Bottom Line:
The few cons do not even come close to outweighing the pros. It was a truly awe-inspiring experience and we had SO much fun! Unfortunately, the Halloween exhibit is almsot over for the year, but BA offers a series of themed attractions throughout the year, including Dark Valentine, Killer Klowns, Friday the 13th and Zombie Prom Night (among several others). Tickets are now on sale for the Christmas haunt: Santa’s Slay and yes, I will be dragging my family back there next month for some yuletide horror! BA also offers a 13 Haunted Events Pass for all of its attractions at a discounted price. hopefully ill be going back next week with our dear fearless leader to try their second major attraction 'the tunnel' as well as the escape room, locked in with a zombie count me in. here are some pics i took while in line sorry they wouldn't let me film inside but i got a shot or two anyway.