Paranoia Haunted House 2021 Haunt Review

On Friday, October 1st, Paranoia Haunted House opened their doors to their first unsuspecting victims for the 2021 Haunt Season with their two ALL NEW Houses for the 2021 Haunt Season, “The Void” & “Suffering”

This haunted attraction has been a major haunted attraction in Canton, GA since 2010. This was a haunted house that we found while just hunting down other attractions to visit, and we were VERY GLAD we found this one!!

After attending not only last year’s 2020 Haunt Event, but also their Midsummer Night’s Scream Event in July 2021, we knew we had to return to see what Paranoia had in store for us this year!! Our team was privileged enough to get the chance to attend the Opening Night for the 2021 Season, and what a night it was for us!!

Would the things that amazed us last year reappear this year? Would we be left in shock at the detail work of the team? Or would we leave feeling underwhelmed and feel like we were back at square one? There’s only one way to find out…. Time To Break Down….

Paranoia Haunted House!!

For this year’s haunt review, we have broken down each haunt that we are visiting into

6 Categories: Sets, Costumes/Makeup/SFX, Technical Effects, Scares, Pacing, and Actors.

Each category is rated on a scale of 1-5 Screams and then averaged out to give an Overall Rating. This new system is to ensure that we are not in any way biased and are giving each attraction that we visit the same fair and equal treatment that they each deserve.

Because this particular haunt has 2 attractions, we are going to be breaking down both attractions, and then we will average score for each category to get our Overall Rating.

With this new system in mind, let’s break down each of our 6 Categories for Paranoia Haunted House’s 2021 Haunt!!

Initial Thoughts – When you first arrive at Paranoia Haunted House, you know that you are going to be in for something… you’re just unsure of what that something is, but you can instantly tell that it HAS to be something big. There’s a giant trailer with the words “Paranoia” on the side of it. There’s a small bus with artwork and “Paranoia Haunted House” on the side of it. Behind all of this is a large building that slightly resembles a store of sorts with a giant banner that bears that incredible “Paranoia” Logo. In front of this building, however, is a fence. It’s not quite tall enough to conceal anything, but it conceals enough to leave you anxious about what awaits you inside. All you can do is sit there until it is time for the rope to drop at 8:00pm and when it does…. It is an experience. A loud voice comes over the speaker announcing that it’s time to start and they launch fireworks to initiate the beginning of the evening, then that’s when the fun begins. The fence slides open, the monsters come running out to scare, and the crowd runs for either the ticket booth or the lines for the haunt. It really is A LOT of fun to get there at the start of the night. The music is blaring, the crowd is excited, they have the big search light pointing to the sky. It’s any haunt goers dream. In addition to all the fun stuff before you get in the house, there is also some fun stuff AFTER you exit the house. Paranoia has a phenomenal gift shop that you are dumped out into after exiting both attractions. They have all sorts of merch varying from t-shirts to coffee mugs. Then, when you leave there you get to experience the fun Midway that is set up with dance lights, party music, monsters running around, and games!! It truly is a fun experience for all at Paranoia! If I have to give ONE Negative on the midway, it is that in order to go from one house to the other, you have to exit the first house, enter the midway, and then go outside the gate and back around to the front to get in line, which is a bit of a let down considering the midway is already behind the gate, so it seems like there would be an easy way to have people stay inside the gates to get to the other attractions. Other than that though, everything outside is great. There’s lot of characters running around, photo ops, and fun times.

Sets – THE VOID (4/5) & SUFFERING (4/5) - 4/5 Screams – The set work at Paranoia is nothing short of amazing. You can go into either house here and you will find some truly remarkable sets. There is just so much detail that is clearly going into the haunt and it is all very apparent. When you enter into “THE VOID” you actually feel like you are in some sort of military base or underground lab. There’s test tubes, there’s cells, there’s pipes. Everything feels very industrial and impressive. When you enter “SUFFERING”, you actually feel like you’ve entered some backwoods bayou of sorts. There’s full scale cabins with functioning doors. There’s the feel of a swamp. The entire setting feels like you are walking through someone’s home and they go as far to make sure things like the floor are even themed out. It is very impressing. That being said, there are some things that I’m going to have to dock a point for. In both haunts, while the general storyline of each theme was different, I didn’t really feel like anything set-wise changed much to me. I understand there is the grand phrase, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, but at the same time, when we revisit haunts from years past, we don’t want to go through the exact same thing we went through before. We want some variety in the houses. We want some of the scenes to look and feel different. If a team has a full year to work on it, then they should be utilizing that whole year to create even better experiences. Of course, the work is immaculate, and I will not dispute that, but I want to see that same level of detail put into some new stuff. I want to see what new locations the team at Paranoia can bring us to. Other than that, I can safely say that the sets at Paranoia earned their 4/5 Screams.

Costumes/Makeup/SFX – THE VOID (5/5) & SUFFERING (5/5) - 5/5 Screams – All people can agree that costumes and makeup are the things that MAKE UP the haunts some times. Paranoia does some great things with their costume and makeup team. I honestly can’t say a whole lot except WOW. There are truly some remarkable costumes being done throughout and they are creating some pretty awesome characters. The makeup is equally awesome. There’s so much detail that goes into a haunt of this caliber and it is very evident. All of the makeup and costumes play very well with their environments, they are STAYING ON, not being sweated off or anything like that. It is very impressive to see the neat things that are done in these haunts.

Technical Effects – THE VOID (5/5) & SUFFERING (5/5) – 5/5 Screams – Paranoia Haunted House uses their technical effects to the MAX. They have utilized so many different ways to not just illicit scares, but to also create an ambiance that could only be envisioned in a movie. When you enter “THE VOID”, you crawl through a trash-compactor-like door that is opened and closed via a button the actors presses. As you continue on through you see all these different technical effects with screens and such. Then of course, the big grab for me, is that there is RUNNING WATER. There is an actual pool of sorts that you walk by in this house, and the water sprays up in the air splashing you if you go by at the right time. It is such a cool effect. Then you have a giant animatronic monster that you come face to face with. Then of course, who can forget about the genius of the lighting, fog, and sound in this house? NOBODY!! It is very rememberable and creates a stellar environment. When you enter into “SUFFERING”, the lighting and fog creates this ambiance of being out on the bayou and going to some old house out in the country. In “THE VOID”, the fog drifting around your head makes you feel like you are in some sort of boiler room. Then there’s a killer soundtrack in each of the houses. “THE VOID” has a very military sounding soundtrack. It helps to convey a real intensity to the overall environment. Then in “SUFFERING” there is a very ominous soundtrack to create an uneasy feeling as you go through. You really feel like you are going into this cult-like horror movie out in the backwoods. It truly is impressive.

Scares – THE VOID (3/5) & SUFFERING (4/5) – 3.5/5 Screams – So the scares in any haunted house are IMPORTANT. And while Paranoia did have some GREAT Scare moments for me as I went through, it also failed to deliver in some moments. I’d say that it is very safe to say that one haunted house is scarier than the other, and perhaps it is meant to be this way. I’m not really sure. In my opinion, “SUFFERING” is much scarier than “THE VOID” and I say this for a couple reasons. In “THE VOID”, I feel like there is a lot more technological scares going on. For example, you may get some air shot at you or you may walk by a mysterious electrical box that starts popping. There may be a couple of actors who jump out and get some scares, but a lot of the scares come out in “SUFFERING”. As you walk through you’ve got things jumping out of you from the darkness because this house is naturally darker than the other. There is one room where you walk through a closet, and this is where I got my best scare. We were walking down the hallway, and I couldn’t see anything and an actor turns a flashlight on his face and scares the S**T out of me! I could’ve cried I screamed so loudly there. Then for the duration of the house I was definitely on my guard. But it is very safe to say that “THE VOID” is much more of a scenic house with some scares in it, and “SUFFERING” is meant to SCARE you more. This is the case with some of these major houses we’ve been to. Overall though, this leaves the scares at about a 3.5. Not too scary, but not for the faint of heart either.

Pacing – THE VOID (4/5) & SUFFERING (4/5) – 4/5 Screams – Pacing is very important in any haunted house, and whatever you say about your haunted house, you want to make sure that it is true. Paranoia has a small problem in my opinion with their pacing. This could be in part to the location that they are at so I get that space is limited. However, I felt really let down when it only took me about 8 minutes to get through each haunt. Both haunts have you constantly moving and don’t allow for a whole lot of time to stop, so that is part of the problem. But the other issue, is the length of each one. I just feel like I want the houses to be a little longer. Now, given the fact that I don’t know what the special constraints are, I understand that there might not be room to make the houses any longer, but I somehow think that they could find a way if they really thought about it and changed some things up. All in all though, the length is what put me off about the haunt and how quickly it was over for me. I will say on a positive side of things though, that the line moves pretty quickly in each haunt. The team makes sure that you get inside in a very timely manner. So good on them for that!

Actors/Team – THE VOID (4/5) & SUFFERING (5/5) 4.5/5 Screams – The actors and team work together for any haunted house to create a stellar experience for their guests, and Paranoia is NO EXCEPTION to the rule. Throughout each haunt, all of the actors stayed in character and remained true to the end. Nobody once broke character in any way. They were all 100% devoted throughout. And let me tell you, some of these actors HAVE some SERIOUS devotion. There is one room where a girl might as well had been doing gymnastics up on the set because she was doing all sorts of really cool things with the way she was moving around the bars. I was very impressed by this. Then of course all the characters seemed to be very well thought out and were consistent with the story they were trying to convey. The ONLY reason, that this does not get a solid 5/5 Screams, and I will admit that this is VERY KNITPICKY, but it has to do with something that occurred in “THE VOID”. Everyone knows that when you go through a haunt, you want to immerse your audience in the realm. This means HIDING THE BACKSTAGE AREA. As I was going through the first haunt, there was a portion where the lights were on behind part of the set and it was easily noticeable because the set walls don’t go up to the ceiling to hide something like that. That would be a big ask. But, nonetheless, those work lights need to be on or at least hidden in a better way. A suggestion I would make, if it’s at all possible, would be to put in some lights that are dark blues and reds in the backstage portions of the house, if that portion is inside of the show building, because then you could have those lights on for cast and crew to see and move about without taking away from the show. Because the lights seriously took away from the scene I was in and that’s all I could look at. I’m not sure if that is a normal occurrence or if it was an anomaly for my trip, but I would check to make sure that doesn’t occur again.

Overall Rating: 4/5 Screams

By the end of our review and trip, we were able to safely rate Paranoia Haunted House as a 4/5 Screams Attraction. This was a great way for us to kick off our evening of North Georgia Haunts. We had an amazing time on our trip there and were very privileged to have been a part of their Opening Night for the 2021 Haunt Season. It really was awesome to be able to have attended for that. I highly encourage everyone to head up there to check this haunt out for yourself because I guarantee you will have a great time! Whether you are someone who scares easily or if you are someone who can truly appreciate the details and design work, they will have something for you!!

Congratulations Paranoia for putting on another stellar show and for kicking off another great haunt season!! We can’t wait to see what 2021 Holds for you and can’t wait to see what 2022 will bring!!

Check it out while you can!! Be sure to let them know that the Terror Talks sent you!!

Paranoia Haunted House Ticket Info:

You can purchase tickets when you arrive at Paranoia Haunted House, or you can purchase tickets online. All tickets are good for any date in the haunt season.

COMBO TICKET $35

Our best value! Allows access to both of our attractions: The Void, and Suffering. Buy your tickets online and skip the ticket line! Tickets purchased online are valid any day we are open. You can also purchase tickets on-site directly from our box office during open hours.

MAIN ATTRACTION TICKET $25

Visit The Void only.

VIP - PARANOIA PASS $50

This combo pass, available all nights, allows patrons to bypass the regular queue line and gain admission directly into Paranoia Haunted House, significantly reducing your wait time. VIP PASSES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! Buy it online to skip the ticket line AND both attraction lines!

SCREAMING GROUP DISCOUNT

Special rates for groups of 20 victims or more. Get a COMBO TICKET for a sinister price of $25 each! The group rate will automatically apply when you add at least 20 combo tickets to your cart online, or you can get it at the box office by mentioning it and buying the full group's tickets in one transaction. Do you have a large group and want to talk about group rates? Email us at info@paranoiahaunt.com or message us on our Facebook page!

Paranoia Haunted House will be open on select evenings from October 1st – October 31st

Every night the attraction will open at 8:00pm and will end at a different time depending on which evening you are attending.