Prepare for a Scare at Realm of Terror

Last night I finally found "my people" and they were even nice enough to induct me into their dark and twisted cult! This soul crushing, bone chilling event took place at Realm of Terror in Round Lake Beach, IL.

Images Courtesy of Realm of Terror

This was the most gruesome Haunted House I have ever stepped foot in. Including everything from a nice cleansing exorcism with holy water as soon as you step foot into the Realm of Terror, to getting frightened by Satanic figures. Cannibalism and various mutilations occurred here. I would love to go more into detail, but it is so gruesome and obscene, it's definitely NSFW.

Crazy cult followers kept popping out of nowhere! Scaring me at every twist and turn, I have no idea where they could have came from.

One key feature that sets Realm of Terror apart from other Haunted Attractions is that they have a bar so you can sip on their signature boozy juice to help calm your nerves as you wait in terror.

There is even have a fun little photo booth so guest can commemorate their time at Realm of Terror!

After surviving my cult initiation, I had the chance to speak with the mastermind behind Realm of Terror, Stephen Kristof.

Halfstack: How Scary is too Scary?
Realm of Terror: There is no line I don't cross. There is a big sign up front saying we don't recommend this show for anybody.  We have always prided ourselves on finding the line and jumping way over that line. We don't have boundaries. We just try to be over the top; in your face being as gory, nasty and offensive as we can be. That has worked well for us over the past 15 years.

H: What is Realm of Terror's innovative scare tacit? 
RoT: One of the biggest things we do is we build a lot of ways for the actors to be up over you, so there's always actors running over or climbing over you. We build the sets to be interactive for the actors so they can attack from all different angels.

H: What are some of Realm of Terror's biggest challenges? 
Rot: The biggest challenge for any haunted house is staffing. Especially for us as we have to live up to a name as being the most extreme, most in your face, most crazy, messed up, nasty haunted house there is and in order to live up to that you need to find the right people. Our biggest challenge is working with our actors so they live up to our brand. All of our managers and anybody who has a lead role here also acts so they are a part of the show. Allowing our newer actors to feed off of our energy, so it's not just us directing them to do this and do that. We get just as much in your face and nasty, maybe even more than our actors. It's all lead by example to share our vision to our actors to take it as crazy as they want to be.

H: What inspires Realm of Terrors story line?
RoT: Our lead prop designer and special effects makeup artist, Stevie Calabrese (FACEOFF, Season 9 Star) who is super talented; designs all of our props, sculpting, makeup all year round keeping everything as original as possible. We don't emulate real events, we want to create our own world. This year, you're being inducted into this cult and if you survive the night you get to be a part of the cult family!

Realm of Terrors is now open until November 4th. General Admission tickets start at $25 with the option to skip the line or go VIP for an additional charge. This haunting experience is not recommended for the faint of heart.