Hollywood Gothique
Funhouses & Mazes

All Saints Lunatic Asylum Halloween 2018 Review

Some new tricks make this Halloween treat worth revisiting.
All Saints Lunatic Asylum Halloween 2018 Review mad doctor
Inmate or doctor? Hard to tell inside All Saints Lunatic Asylum

All Saints Lunatic Asylum is doing booming business this Halloween, despite being located in the small high desert town of Apple Valley, a good 90 minutes away from Los Angeles. As readers know from our previous visits, Hollywood Gothique is extraordinarily impressed by the variety and quantity of scares this indie haunt squeezes inside an unassuming strip mall: tight maze-like passages, blackout rooms, a disgusting lavatory, a creepy nursery, an ominous chapel, a mad scientist laboratory, and even a nicely rendered cemetery with a well-hidden pop-scare. As one terrified patron, eager to escape, screamed in desperation, “Why does this go on so long?!” To which we answer: “You can’t get too much of a good thing!”

All Saints Lunatic Asylum Halloween 2018 Review: New This Season
All Saints Lunatic Asylum 2018 Review bride
Lost in a world of sadness, she may ask you to stay…forever.

For Halloween 2018, several elements have been added. There is  a creepy mini-trapeze scene with a black-clad acrobat suspended from the ceiling. In another room, a row of haunted brides into the lyrics of a song – are they mannequins, humans, or a combination of both? You won’t know for sure until it’s too late! And after you have survived the interior, on your way out you will be informed that a mad doctor’s experiments have been contained, but just to be safe, you should move quickly and quietly around the building, avoiding the chain-link fence parallel to your pathway. What’s lurking on the other side of the fence is hard to see, but you really want to avoid coming within arm’s length of its reach.

Additionally, the familiar scenes are freshened up by swapping actors in and out. The performers tend to embrace their roles enthusiastically, seldom settling for a single scare, instead engaging visitors with bizarre bits of dialogue. Depending on when you go, the dentist scene may be crazy funny (too much laughing gas!) or suddenly scary (thanks to that high-pitched whining drill).

All Saints Lunatic Asylum Halloween 2018 Review: Conclusion

The demented inmates of All Saints Lunatic Asylum truly are dedicated to delivering scares, even if it hurts their profits. On Saturday night, we saw Pickles the Clown frighten off half a dozen customers in the reception area – who fled the scene without going inside the asylum! Clearly, this is one haunted house that does not cater to wimps. For the rest of us, All Saints Lunatic Asylum is a hidden gold mine of high desert horror that squeezes even more tricks and treats into its already densely packed passageways this Halloween, making it worth the long ride to Apple Valley.

 

All Saints Lunatic Asylum Halloween 2018 Ratings
100

Bottom Line

For Halloween 2018, this hidden gold mine of high desert horror squeezes even more tricks and treats into its already densely packed passageways.

All Saints Lunatic Asylum Haunted Attraction continues on October19-20, 26-31. Hours are 7-10pm. There will also be a Christmas-themed show on  December 21-22. The address is 22521 Shawnee Road, Apple Valley, CA 92308 – off the 15 Freeway on the way to Calico Ghost Town. Not far away is the High Desert Haunted House, which runs on many of the same nights.

Get more info at allsaintsasylum.com.

Steve Biodrowski, Administrator

A graduate of USC film school, Steve Biodrowski has worked as a film critic, journalist, and editor at Movieline, Premiere, Le Cinephage, The Dark Side., Cinefantastique magazine, Fandom.com, and Cinescape Online. He is currently Managing Editor of Cinefantastique Online and owner-operator of Hollywood Gothique.