Reign of Terror: 2019 Review

Reign of Terror, Thousand Oaks, CA

We’re getting into the middle of October, which means that we are deep into haunt season. This is about the time when we’re transitioning from the major haunts into some of the more independent but still professional haunts, and ultimately to the home haunts that dominate our coverage at the end of the month and past Halloween. But today, we’re going to look at one of the last big Southern California commercial haunted attractions that we haven’t covered yet this season—and arguably the best: Reign of Terror.

Located all the way out in Thousand Oaks, Reign of Terror is a massive, sprawling, 115 room indoor haunted house attraction that is actually multiple haunted mazes rolled into one. This year, they’ve expanded and added a ninth theme—Containment—to go with their existing eight of Miner’s Revenge, The Haunted House, Casa Blood, The Asylum, Quarantine, Infected, Inbred, and Fun House. Each theme flows right into the next without any additional wait, and the result is a haunted walk-through experience that legitimately lasts 25-30 minutes! Even under the terms of mazes at Knott’s Scary Farm and Universal Studios, whose mazes are typically in the five to six minute range to explore, this is a solid five or six full theme park length mazes, all under one umbrella and ticket.

Photos are not allowed in the attraction itself, so the quality you see in this update is just from the queue only!

The thing about Reign of Terror that holds impressive advantage over such big names as Knott’s and Universal is that when it comes to theming and ambiance, Reign of Terror arguably has the big boys beat. This incredible maze is packed with layers upon layers of detail in each and every one of its over one hundred rooms. The dramatic lighting, the architecture, the furnishings, the props, and the special effects are all top notch and the best in the business.

Once upon a time, we said that Reign of Terror rivaled the quality of a Halloween Horror Nights, which has the full might of a functioning movie studio behind its craftsmanship and quality. But since HHN has expanded its maze quantity and thus reduced its overall maze quality (we’re talking about those infamous black hallways between scenes and repetitive scare tactics), many would say that Reign of Terror exceeds even the fancy schmancy Hollywood caliber in its maze. The resulting horror environment is incredibly immersive—a feature that is benefitted by Reign of Terror’s ability to stay up during the rest of the year in the Janss Marketplace. The operators lease the space year round, and as a result, can tweak and enhance the layout to their hearts’ content.

This is just a glimpse at the detail and quality in the maze within.

The actual haunted house atmosphere and theming is even better!

We’ve reviewed Reign of Terror before and have been attending this haunt regularly for the past half-decade. Each time, we lavish praise and proclaim that the haunt has somehow gotten better and better. This seems unsustainable, but for 2019, we have to be a broken record and stress that founder, Bruce Stanton, and his team have once again outdone themselves, bringing a fresher, more magnificently beautiful, more terrifying Reign of Terror than ever before. In our recent experiences of haunts’ major anniversary years turning out to be somewhat underwhelming (looking at L.A. Haunted Hayride’s 10th anniversary last year, Dark Harbor’s 10th anniversary this year, and even Knott’s Scary Farm’s 40th back in 2012), Reign of Terror has knocked it out of the park in its 20th year.

Containment—a prison-gone-wrong theme coming on the heels of the Infected and Quarantine areas—might be the advertised new addition to Reign of Terror (along with an arachno-centric interlude called Widows’ Den), but a significant portion of the haunt’s existing eight areas have been reconfigured as well. Veteran guests will notice adjustments in layout, theming, and scares in areas like the Haunted House and Casa Blood, and some expanded scenes in Fun House, just to name a few. It means that even those who went last year can expect a fresh and frightening experience.

Don’t get trapped in Reign of Terror. It is a nearly half hour experience, after all!

Another huge plus this year are the scares themselves, which are more intense and overwhelming this year than in any year we have visited in the past. Perhaps it was good timing (that always plays a part in going through mazes), but our visit last night brought perfectly timed scares from a variety of angles and sources, keeping us on edge for the good majority of our terrifying tour.

A surprising number of effective scares came from non-live actors. Animatronic and mechanical startles were impeccably timed off of motion sensors, and the results were incredible. A collapsing bridge (a returning favorite) was just the start. We encountered a zombie horde flashing into view from both sides, a ravenous nun lunging out of a drop portrait (the first time any of us have seen a drop portrait used with not a live actor), twitching corpses, growling beasts, and flying zombies coming perilously close to us as we passed.

The actual talent was great too. With most rooms having at least one monster, the action was constant throughout the maze. In some cases, the monsters even worked tag team scares with the triggered animatronic frights, working off the distractions to jump scare us from different angles. The creativity of some of the monster positioning was also great. Most haunted houses have scares at eye level, which is effective but relatively expected. Reign of Terror includes scares that come from above as well as at feet and ankles, and that diversity in scares keep people literally on their toes as they walk through.

Reign of Terror is second to none among SoCal haunts when it comes to the total package of sets and screams.

The bottom line is that while we’ve said that Reign of Terror is one of the best haunted houses in Southern California year after year, in terms of the total package of atmosphere, theming, scares, and energy, this year’s Reign of Terror is comfortably the best among all the comprehensive professional haunts. It has the movie-level quality of Horror Nights at its best, the scare diversity of Knott’s with the consistency that is hard for most haunts to maintain, a sophistication level that rivals any local haunt, and an unending length that no other nearby haunt can top.

What are you hanging around for? Go to Reign of Terror!

Thousand Oaks might seem like a far drive for a haunted house, but it is worth it for an immaculate haunted house attraction like Reign of Terror. As we reach the back half of October, a trip to RoT can also be paired with other nearby and excellent haunts, such as Murder House Productions, House at Haunted Hill, Nights of the Jack in Calabasas (a pumpkin display more than a scary attraction), and any number of other home haunts that you can check out in our 2019 Southern California Haunted Attractions Guide and on the SoCal Haunt List. If you’re any sort of haunt fan, you will not want to miss it. Just make sure you come early and be prepared for a long wait in general admission, or splurge for the VIP. The regular queue often stretches well beyond a hour—which is still not bad considering the length of experience.

Roaming talent helps break up the monotony of the lengthy lines guests typically do encounter.

Reign of Terror is open select weekend nights from now through Saturday, November 2. The attraction itself is located in the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks, next to the Golds Gym. Parking is free, and tickets can be purchased online (convenience fees apply) or in person at the ticket booth located in the center of the outdoor shopping mall. Keep in mind that buying tickets on site requires cash only. ATM’s are located nearby, but credit cards are not accepted in person. And one other plus? Reign of Terror donates some of their proceeds to the local Teen Center Young Artists Ensemble programs and the Conejo Theatre for Everyone. The haunt has a history of charitable causes and also conducts a fundraiser in the spring!

If it hasn’t been clear enough already, go visit Reign of Terror this season! This attraction is that just that good, and deserves all the popularity that it sees!

Reign of Terror is an essential part of any spook seeker’s haunting experience!