Fairbrook Manor: 2021 Review

Fairbrook Manor, Long Beach, CA

Happy Halloween, folks! It’s been a long and busy Halloween season—the longest yet for the Southern California haunt scene, since Halloween Horror Nights and Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest began their runs one week earlier than in past years. We have visited and covered a LOT of haunted attractions, and as usual, we’ll continue to post after Halloween to finish out our coverage (albeit at a slower pace). But we hope you have been enjoying all the spooky goodness that we’ve had the privilege of being able to visit over the past eight weekends.

Today, we’re heading out to Long Beach and visiting a second year haunt that was an exquisite haunted yard display last year. But in its sophomore effort, Fairbrook Manor has already made the leap from yard haunt to walkthrough maze. Though this might be more than many haunters can chew in a short amount of time, Fairbrook Manor proved that it could exceed expectations for home haunts in their nth year of operation with its fantastic production during a pandemic year. So it should not be a complete surprise to see that Fairbrook Manor has once again blown through any anticipation this year by providing an excellently crafted, intimately creepy, richly storytelling haunted attraction!

The background story of Fairbrook Manor is both spoken to guests in queue and shown on a sign to set the context.

When I saw Fairbrook Manor last year on the SoCal Haunt List, I didn’t make any concrete plans to visit, since there weren’t many other prominent haunts in the east Long Beach area that I knew about. But owner Robert Duck then extended an invitation for me to see his yard display, and a perusal through the haunt’s Instagram account revealed an intriguing attraction that I caught my fancy, especially since I did have a free Thursday evening to spare. As fate would have it on the ensuing visit, I learned that Robert was a longtime reader of Westcoaster, well before I took over the site. I also learned that he was a damn good haunter, as evidenced by his exquisite yard display full of beautiful lighting and lovely details and a creepy figure named Victoria. As a first year haunt, Fairbrook Manor was already nicer than many other haunts I've seen in their nth years.

When we chatted last year, Robert told me of his intention to do a full walkthrough maze in the near future. Little did I know know that near future meant this year!

Creepy dolls are just part of the uneasy atmosphere at Fairbrook Manor.

Fairbrook Manor in 2021 has drastically reconfigured the layout of the haunt and takes up the garage and entire front yard of Robert's residence. As a consequence, the Manor loses most of its yard display qualities from last year, concealing most of its contents from the street by virtue of the screening elements that flank the sidewalk. To offset the loss of curb appeal, Robert has built up a little photo op area and a scare zone at the sidewalk and street curb of his house and used it up encourage people to contribute to his canned food drive and fundraiser for the Long Beach Rescue Mission. There is also street talent roaming the sidewalk, eerily staring at and startling guests.

It looks like a meal for one, but the appearance of an apparition beyond reveals that there are more manifestations than the eye can see!

On the Friday night before Halloween, there was already a lengthy line stretching down the street, full of neighbors and friends and curious haunted house fans waiting to enter. Those closer to the entrance of the maze may hear the line attendant relay the dark tale of Victoria Fairbrook to those about to enter. There’s also a large framed writing of the story for those who prefer to just read it.

In short, Victoria Fairbrook was the wife of a newly rich couple who gained their wealth in the local oil boom of the early 1900s and built a stately home in Long Beach. However, financial success couldn’t prevent tragedy from striking, when her two children drowned in the lake behind the house a few years later, sending Victoria into a spiral of lonely grief and madness. She began kidnapping local children to fill the void of the loss of her own children, keeping them in fear, but her depression eventually took the best of her, and she died by her own hand. The children, left to fend for themselves, eventually succumbed to the crippling environment of the Great Depression, and to top it off, the manor itself burned down afterward.

But as anyone who has studied haunted attraction backstories will guess, every Halloween, the spirits of Victoria Fairbrook and her kidnapped children return to stalk the grounds where Fairbrook Manor once resided. Naturally, guests have wandered into this spectral, macabre mansion now!

A glimpse through the window reveals Victoria Fairbrook herself in a spirited sight!

The maze itself transports guests to the 1930s, with Victoria Fairbrook in her heyday. The props and furnishings and musical soundtrack reinforce this bygone era, and the multitude of creepy dolls also serves to unhinge guests passing by. They represent the dolls that Victoria provided for the children she kidnapped, but with such negative energy surrounding the very taking of the local kids in the first place, the dolls obviously have plenty of somber and chilling aura.

If the guests think they can escape the attention of the spirit of Victoria Fairbrook, they are sorely mistaken. Once she is aware of the presence of more potential victims to collect, her spirit seems to follow guests, and the rest of the maze shifts outside and flows through a twisting, finding outdoor area draped with camo netting and foliage and spiderwebs—and swarming with the spirits of the children that Victoria has taken over the years.

Though there are minimal actual framed walls in this maze compared to many other high quality home haunts, Fairbrook Manor contains an amazing amount of theming, detail, furnishings, and decor. The camo netting hung on pole frames is very effective at crafting space, especially as it drapes overhead and seems to weight down of guests passing through. It also allows for multiple scares through the meshy dividers, which obscure direct line of sight but still all for startles through the barriers.

Victoria Fairbrook kept many souls at her Manor, and they still lurk to this day.

The cast is composed of drama class volunteers from local schools, including Wilson, Millikan, St Anthony's, and McBride High Schools and Patrick Henry and Stanbridge Middle Schools. They perform a fantastic job portraying their characters and really immersing guests into this tragic world. There are some who have adverse feelings against using minors in haunted mazes (unless they’re family), but I don’t take any issue with this practice, so long as the young scareactors are willing and happy to be a part of the attraction. In the case of Fairbrook Manor, they certainly are, always maintaining character and providing enthusiasm and energy equivalent of a seasoned haunt monster.

A highlight is the girl in the lake who cries out for help as she slowly faces the threat of drowning. Her sorrowful howls and beseechings not to leave her are surprisingly emotional, and one almost feels bad for leaving her to her doom. The line attendant in front also delivers her spiel and story narration with great charisma and gusto. The cursed souls wandering the outdoor sections are apt to utilize the openings and passages to scare guests with great timing and sometimes more than once. Though the maze is not long in terms of footprint, it feels like a thrilling and complete walkthrough by virtue of how it efficiently winds through its available space.

A creepy maid groundskeeper keeps watch outside Fairbrook Manor.

Fairbrook Manor builds up a great foundation of lore that it can and will use for years to come, with a maze that is intricately detailed, lavishly furnished, and beautifully lit. I'm definitely making sure that this amazing home haunt is on my itinerary for as long as it will run.

Similar to last year, Fairbrook Manor has been holding a canned food drive to help local charities—in this case, the Long Beach Rescue Mission.

In addition, Fairbrook Manor’s partnership with the Long Beach Rescue Mission also engages a fantastic charitable component that supporters of the haunt can contribute to by way of bringing a canned good or making a donation. We’ve said so many times before, the “scaring equals caring” component of many home haunts is admirable and incredible, and we’re so happy to see Fairbrook Manor take on this aspect of social care even as it is churning out a fantastic home haunt product erected almost solely by Robert.

Creator Robert Duck poses with one of the street talent at Fairbrook Manor.

Fairbrook Manor is located at 5426 E Fairbrook St, Long Beach, CA 90815 and operated last weekend, Friday through Sunday October 22-24 and this weekend the same days, from 7:00 - 10:00pm. The home haunt concludes its run tonight, Halloween night. Visitors driving past should exercise caution and drive very slowly to accommodate pedestrian traffic. Please park on an adjacent street or the next block over if parking on Fairbrook Street.