ATLRetro

LABOR OF LOVE: ATLANTA ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (through Oct. 31. Rock n Roll Monster Bash party onsite on Nov. 1)

Anya: When most folks, even in the horror biz, think of haunts, they peg them as attractions you walk or ride through with scares that jump out at you. Forget all that passive voyeurism with ATLANTA ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (AZA), which this year is consolidated into one mega- attraction and the zombie shoot. It’s also the last year for AZA since the building is being sold so you better get out there or regret missing it forever. Since its founding five years ago, this bizarre brainchild of Shane Morton, aka Professor Morte of the The Silver Scream Spookshow, and Johnny Rej, former owner of the Plaza Theatre, distinguished itself as a fully immersive experience where visitors literally become part of a realistic plot line of a zombie incursion. Some may consider it off the beaten track just south of I-285 at the Moreland Avenue exit, but the abandoned aura of this industrial area only adds to the apocalyptic feel, and there’s no discounting that having the full run of Safety Wolf, a derelict motel/truck stop turned paintball course, opens up a toxic host of possibilities. This year the setting is a FEMA camp where the infected from a variety of diseases are being contained. The zombie shoot also is much more that shooters standing and aim at zombie targets. Moved to the woods, survivors are fitted with a safety helmet and weapon just like they would in a real zombie apocalypse. In sum, it’s more than a haunt, it’s a labor of love not just by Shane Morton and the creative crew and embodies the heart and soul of what makes Atlanta’s monster movie community truly unique and –hell, we’ll dare to say it– the best in the nation.

Melanie: The undead have definitely risen at Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse this year! Prepare for the run of your lives in and out of abandoned buildings, down darkened, rotting body-filled halls, as the grizzly undead have a hankerin’ for your flesh! AZA is a no-holds-barred zombie infestation, guided by rogue, armed civilians and crazed doctors!  Put on your running shoes, because this attraction isn’t for the faint of heart or the delicate ‘n’ dainty. To survive this grotesque, flesh-crazed and brain eating disaster, you must think fast, you must prepare for the worst and you must not be afraid! From one AZA virgin to another, a trip to this terrifying, extremely immersive attraction of suspense is a monstrous MUST!

UNDERGROUND ABYSS: CHAMBER OF HORRORS (through Nov. 1)

Anya: As I said last year, Chambers of Horror, Atlanta’s adults-only haunt behind The Masquerade, has come a long way from a torture porn extravaganza to a creepy crawl through a septic, gritty underworld. This year’s storyline involves super soldiers being developed out of the same technology as Dr. Splatter’s lurid experiments. It’s a must-see, as long as you have a stomach for  extreme violence and the phantasmagorically pornographic. Let’s be clear–you won’t be seeing parasexual activity, but nakedness and deformed organs are in view. The journey begins in an elevator that shakes and shudders to evoke a realistic ride down five stories into the depths that once were TortureCo and are now a US military facility.  Once below, again what makes Chambers stand out is its atmosphere and acting. You really feel like you are deep underground, passing through cave-like passages with disturbing dioramas, from a monstrous birthing to the swampy lair of a certain Louisiana reptile. Sure, there were some jumpy scares and victims predictably cried out mournfully for help, but the torturers threaten and tantalize visitors with a promise of pain, both excruciating but yet beautiful.

Rachel: I want to get scared, I want to feel immersed! From the introductory video, Chambers of Horrors immediately set the tone for going being different.  Different it was. I’m immediately get dropped into an immersive and well-thought out story. This year, military testing! At once one hears that all kind of horrors can be imagined. They do not spare you!  So you better start running along the dark twists and turns. Whether it is ex-test subjects or the military, they will be on your heals or in your face! Never once does the story wane. Visuals, acting and frights that are spot on, oh my! If you like your horror dark with an edge than this is the place for you.

GOTHICALLY GORGEOUS: NETHERWORLD (through Nov. 2)

Anya: Consistently ranked as the nation’s best Halloween attraction,Netherworld is also completely homegrown rather than corporately conceived. Founders Billy Messina and Ben Armstrong and a dedicated team of designers, painters, sculptors and other artists deserve ever kudo imaginable for crafting a Gothic wonderland in a Norcross commercial space. Every year it gets bigger and more creative and under this year’s theme of SEASON OF THE WITCH is no exception. I don’t scare easily, so I just walked slowly in awe of the bizarre beauty from graveyards of gargoyles to mirrored mazes, decadent dioramas inhabited by witches and other classic monsters to sinister steampunk laboratories, weird werewolf lairs to abysses inhabited by gigantic swamp creatures and  Lovecraftian elder Gods. NETHERWORLD also always features a second haunt, SPLICED that is more slasher/contemporary horror in its bent–read toxic waste and chainsaws.

Melanie: This year’s Netherworld delivers two horrifying haunts. The first and largest, SEASON OF THE WITCH is a fangtastic, gory and grotesque experience, reeking of death, monstrous creatures and deep, cavernous creeping creatures! As someone who doesn’t scare easily, this attraction not only did a great job in the startle and scream department, but also planted a small seed of fear, my heart racing even when I realized I did actually make it out alive. What an experience! Netherworld’s scenery reeks of voodoo and eerie old-time witchcraft, gorgeously displayed. The atmosphere pulls you in with its historical feel of evil, the horrifying and an intense, deep-rooted fear of the ancient and unknown! Their second attraction, SPLICED is a modern haunt, with mad scientists, ghastly creatures and gore for all of you lovers of torture and the weird! Netherworld is definitely a must this Halloween season!