Dimensions of Darkness, located at Parkway Plaza in Maumee, opened its doors for the first time last Halloween season. While last year’s walkthrough was well-produced and loads of fun, this year’s updates have made it one of the most hardcore haunts in our area.

Co-owner Mike Stiles said the walkthrough is 50 percent longer this year.

“We were able to almost double the walkthrough time,” he said, “while using the same space.” Thanks to one season of experience and a new walkthrough design, the 15-20 minute tour is intense.

“How long it takes you to walk through depends on the person,” Stiles said. “It all depends on whether you run through or take your time and soak it in.”

While many walkthroughs still rely on black-walled, dimly lit rooms to build tension, Dimensions of Darkness has paid remarkable attention to detail. Each room, hallway and prop is so well-crafted that if you’re not being stalked by one of the resident ghouls, your focus is on how real everything feels.

“We shrunk the hallways down by 12 inches this year,” said co-owner and walkthrough designer Matt Thierry. “That gave us a lot more space for more hallways and extra rooms.”

“With the extra hallways we’re able to rebuild tension after each scare,” Stiles said. “A lot of places leave too much space between rooms, but that’s not the case here.”

With narrow hallways and cleverly designed shortcuts for the actors to use, the intensity of the walkthrough never subsides. Pitch-black corridors and unexpected “attacks” keep visitors on their toes and ultimately misdirected.

“The hallways amp people up and they get scared,” Stiles said. “Then ‘boom,’ it happens and it’s over. We designed the hallways to be a reset button to build the tension for the next scare.”

“Last year was about invading personal space,” Thierry said. “The energy is the same as last year and your comfort zone is still challenged but the production value and attention to detail is higher this year.”

Thierry and Stiles said operating a haunted attraction isn’t so much a sound business decision as a labor of love.

“You leave here with money in your pocket,” Thierry said. “This isn’t something we do to make money. We have fun with this.”

Stiles added, “It’s a fun show at a low price. It’s old-school, haunt-style screams and scares. The real payment is when people come out laughing or screaming in terror, that’s what makes this worthwhile.”

“This year we have a sponsorship deal with Signature and Toledo Harley Davidson,” Stiles said. “Anyone wearing any Harley shirt will get $1 off their admission. Anyone wearing a Signature or Toledo Harley Davidson shirt will get $1 off their ticket and they’ll get to use the VIP line to cut to the front of the line.”

Dimensions of Darkness is open Fridays and Saturdays from 7 p.m. to midnight and from 7-11 p.m. on Sundays.

“We don’t actually close until everyone has gone through the line,” Stiles said.

Dimensions of Darkness will also be open from 7 to 10 p.m. on Halloween night.

“If you’re aren’t looking for candy on Halloween night, we have the scares,” Stiles said.

Tickets for Dimensions of Darkness are $10 but discount tickets can be purchased at 1217 S. Reynolds Road, at The Loonar Station at Cricket West and Mr. E’s Smokin’ Gift Shop for $8.

Tags: Dimensions of Darkness, Halloween, haunted houses, Maumee

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 at 9:44 am and is filed under Halloween, Star.
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