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Pirates of Emerson
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52 reviews for Pirates of Emerson
I came here with a group of friends for the first time this Halloween. Paid $20 for admission and $3 for parking. We wandered around 5 haunted houses and a wire fence strobe light maze in a little less than 2 hours. I'd say we spent over half the time waiting in lines.
Initially I thought that $20 was a little steep, but after seeing each attraction, I realized that it's actually a fair price for the effort they put into setting everything up. They did a pretty good job with the set-up, special effects, and scary details within each of the haunts.
The actors were also pretty good. Their makeup and costumes were great and most of them really got into character. They did everything from chasing you around a corner while giving you an evil death-stare, to popping out from nowhere and screaming in your face. And yes, they even got a few shrieks out of some of the guys in our group. That to me, was entertainment all on its own.
Costumed staff members tried to make sure people entered in pairs in order to avoid congestion inside the haunts, as well as allowing for the highest scare potential. If you're a wimp like me, you can rush up to the people ahead of you as soon as they let you in.
The wire fence maze was a little disappointing. Maybe it was because you could see through the walls. Another thing I noticed was that the second half of the maze didn't seem to be much of a maze considering there were really no wrong turns to take. Strobe lights were pretty trippy though... one of my friends slammed straight into a fence and bounced backwards in shock. Not sure if that was their intent when planning the maze, but it was pretty funny nonetheless.
Overall, I can't say I had the the most thrilling time here, but it was good entertainment for Halloween.
OK, I admit... I'm a HUGE wuss when it comes to dealing with horror.
I will NOT watch a horror flick!
I will NOT open an unknown email!
I will NOT play with a Ouija board ever again!
I will certainly NOT go back to PoE!
Why did I give PoE 3 startling stars? You see, I literally wanted to poo in my Seven skinny jeans! The actors do get in full character swing to the point that they will stalk you. Please stop it, I already have my fair share of real crazies following me as it is. They stalked my friend and I since we are both easy targets.
There are 6 "haunted houses" all were too freaky. "Sick Asylum" was my all time favorite. It was just nasty filled horror to freak me out. Ghost and gobblings coming down from the ceiling, the ground, and the one bugger that got me good was the "raggedy carpet monster" from the floor. I wanted to kick him so bad! That mofo scared the holy bejewels out of me.
The maze was crazy, chain-linked fence with strobe lighting... I felt as if the fence were caving in on me and I felt a bit dizzy. Hmmm, is that how it feels to be drunk? I wouldn't know.
For 32 bones, I got myself the "speed" pass which is an extra 10 bucks than general admission. It was worth it, no falling in line, just zip right in and be spooked!
-2 stars for the only "one" time pass. Even though I was scared poopless, I wanted to go in again, only to find out that you can only go in once. We finished all 6 haunted houses in less than 30 minutes :(. Oh well, that was my exciting Halloween night.
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The Mister and I had a great time at Pirates of Emerson, despite our matching colds. The Pirates of Emerson are actually a pirate guild that put on the "Haunting Fields" once a year near Halloween night. I was surprised how packed this place was on Halloween.
Parking is $3 and in a big lot right next to the attraction. The whole place looks like it's an abandoned field when it's not a haunted house. I highly suggest you buy your tickets online before going as we were able to cut the whole line to pick up our tickets. If you want to save even more time, they have the "fast pass", which is $30 but allows for no waiting in line at all at any of the six attractions. There's also a concession stand if you want a smoothie or some other treat.
Each attraction was done quite well and was scary. Our favorite was the "Sick Asylum". Definitely worth $20. I'll be back next year.
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I've gone for the last three years and though I've enjoyed myself it has been less so each year.
The haunts used to have a 3-D one, a fortune teller and actors who seemed a bit more into it.
This year was of course crowded on Halloween around 10pm. The line went fairly quick and after a fair amount of time we were in. There were 6 spots to stand in line either to go into a haunted house or the strobelight maze. I liked the Asylum, one person comes out of the fog randomly, that got me! Another haunted house had a guy with a chainsaw who chased us! Of course I was screaming like a girl!
By the end of the night though it seemed as if many of the haunts had lost their actors, seemed quite sparse and lost it's feel of being scared.
Overall it's fun because you can make it what it is, silly, cheap thrilling and I certaintly love my haunted/horror stuff. So no it isn't amazing but it's fun especially with a honey of friends to stand in line with chat, cuddle or point at other people's costumes.
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I was very excited to find this attraction a few years ago. It's not such a far drive from SF and it's worth it to hang out with your friends, drink some cheap hot cocoa while sitting on the haystacks on a chilly night, and see some fun scares.
I love the fast pass and if your goal is to hit a few different haunts the same night or if it's freezing cold outside, I would get it. But if you're there to hang out with your friends or it's not too cold out, I wouldn't spend the money. Part of the fun is just hanging out in line while monsters walk around the crowd, creep up on you, and give you a scare.
The number of attractions at Pirates of Emerson varies each year. I recommend saving the best for last. You want to time your visit so that you hit the ship attraction before or after peak time. It's a very creative and well-done attraction.
The rat maze is horrendous. The strobe light makes me nauseous because it is unending and you have no choice but to see it while you navigate your way through the maze. Btw, there is no sign warning epileptics of the strobe light. Strobe lighting can trigger seizures in photosensitive epilepsy. One year, a girl asked me if it's worth waiting in line for this attraction and just to be funny, I said "not if you have epilepsy." Well, she actually did so she decided not to go in to be on the safe side.
Pirates of Emerson was featured on America's Scariest Halloween Attractions. Apparently it started as a family & friends haunt at a private home and just got so popular that they made it commercial.
P.S. I haven't found any good haunted houses in San Francisco. If anybody can recommend a good haunted house in SF, pls LMK! :)
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We had so much fun! We went with a big group, over 20 people. But only went into the haunted houses 2 at a time. The makeup was done excellent and the actors did a great job! We did not get the fast pass and are happy we didn't. We enjoyed standing in the lines, that moved quickly, it helped build the anticipation!
Each theme was played out through the entire house -
We jumped and even screamed out loud....
The only suggestion we all said: The chain-link strobe light maze would have been fun had it been longer! Maybe taking you into some darkness and then back into the strobe lights. Don't get me wrong it was great, my hubby walked straight into a fence - hilarious!
They really took a lot of time getting the attractions set up! Really great. Can't wait to see what they have next year!
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Pretty disappointing. Most of the 5 "haunts" were just the same thing with different themes and only a couple people who try to scare you. The problem is that there are so many people ahead of you inside you already see what's doing to happen and it's kinda like a waste. They should limit amount of people going inside so that everyone can get the full experience. $20 is also expensive for this type of thing- they should at least give you some candy so you don't feel like you wasted your money. The animatronic skeleton monster was pretty cool. The maze with chainlink fence and strobe light was annoying- would have been btter with black walls and no lights so would have been scary! Anyways not very impressed-not sure why this got top 10 haunted event in the U.S.! Really?!
hmmm, the last time i went, i found myself A LOT more scared. maybe cuz i didn't have my bf friend with me. maybe cuz we got there around 7 pm when the staff wasn't so tired. could be a lot of reasons.
it costs $20 buck to get in and you go through six massive haunts (houses, brothel, asylum, etc.) parking costs $3. not a bad price.
we got there around 9:30 and although we had to wait in line, the lines moved pretty fast. there were six attractions and my bf and i agreed that the asylum one was the SCARIEST! the actors in that one were really into it and did a good job. one of the guys even followed me around halfway up the first hallway and just stared at me. scared that crap outta me!
unlike the last time i went, i didn't let the actors "target" me by overreacting when they came up to me! cuz the more your overreact, the more they follow you around! it's really funny watching them scare you or anyone else! you don't know whether to scream or laugh!
the maze kinda sucked this year because the actors in there must've been stoned or something. they were just kinda standing around and staring at you. i actually got chased around the last time i went. it was really scarry/funny.
it might've been because it was getting late and the actors were tired that it wasn't a 5-star rating. but overall, we'd go again. my bf suggested that next time we go, we get drunk first. i'd have to agree. =)
The Pirates of Emerson is by far the best seasonal haunt in the Bay Area. This year, they had 6 major haunted attractions, and they are each a complete haunted house experience in themselves. We visited the night before Halloween, and despite the large turnout the lines moved quickly and we enjoyed all 6 attractions. Don't miss out on the maze, it's more challenging than you might expect - especially after dark.
This year was my first. It was scary, I was honestly terrified, (but I'm also a scaredy cat) and it was fun. Take your teen kids, I think it would be too scarry for the younger children. I'm going next year.
I'm a big fan of haunted houses, and this is one of the best! AND it makes Discovery Channel's top 13 haunted houses list for the past few years!
This place is awesome if you're up for a scare and a good time! Be advised, some of the actors are very much in character and the makeup can be pretty gorey. I would not recommend for small children.
I came here 2 Fridays ago. The entrance fee is $20; $30 if you want the fast pass, but there were minimal lines. I'm assuming this will change as Halloween approaches.
There are 6 attractions this year - Pirates of Emerson, CarnEvil of Chaos, The Goredello, Sick Asylum, Miners Revenge and the Blige Rat Run.
I enjoyed the maze! I know people think it's lame that it's chain link and you can see right through it, but with that disorienting strobe light going off and actors chasing you around, it's takes awhile to navigate to the exit.
The CarnEvil of Chaos was by far the scariest house. Like crap, I need to get to a porta potty stat, because I think I just wet myself, scary. I will have nightmares of maniacal clowns for years to come.
Be warned, the actors MAY touch or bump you. I'm thinking the physical contact isn't intentional, but with everyone running around in a panic in almost complete darkness, accidents happen.
And this isn't like Gyros where the actors pop out, startle you and then allow you to go on your merry way. The actors will actually get up in your face, follow you around for awhile, yell at you, and otherwise terrorize you...lol
I love that even in between houses, there are scary pirates roaming the crowds/lines and engaging the patrons.
$20 well spent!
If it weren't for the fact that it was TWENTY DOLLARS PER PERSON, I would have given it 5 stars. It was pretty cool! Actors were really into it- great makeup!
I used to be a huge fan of Pirates of Emerson (now called the Haunting Fields). Not anymore! It used to be 2 haunts and a maze, now it's 5 haunts and a maze. But don't think you're getting more for your buck. They use the same amount of space and just split it into 5 smaller haunts.
We started at the chain link/strobe maze. This thing used to be very disorienting, which added to the fun, but for some reason, this year it seemed really easy to get through.
Next we headed to the asylum, where we were supposed to be scared by people locked in cells and rooms. Nothing too scary here. At one point, they used a fog machine so much that we couldn't even see where we were going. This would have been really cool except that we were walking through rooms that actually contained scenes, which we could see NONE of. To top it off, the smoke and fog get in your nose. It's not very pleasant when you get home and blow your nose to have black stuff coming out.
After that we went to a clown-themed haunt. I never really understood the fear of clowns, even after watching Poltergeist again last week. The only thing a bit startling in this one was a clown who was on the roof and came through the ceiling every so often to honk its horn at us.
Another haunt was Miner's Revenge. This one has some cool details in it, but again, nothing scary, unless of course you think someone yelling, "Where's me gold?" is scary.
Next we went into Pirates of Emerson, same ol' thing as any other year I've been to it. One guy was dressed as a bush/tree; he got me pretty good. There was one part that made you feel like you were in quicksand, but it was only one step, and I had experienced a much better version of it at the Haunted Cornfield in Petaluma.
Finally, we went into the Goredello. I don't remember much about this one, as they all see the same at this point. People basically hiding around corners and trying to scare us as we walked by. One guy who was hiding in a kitchen cabinet, seemed to scare a lot of people. There was a also a lame attempt at a chainsaw near the end, but the thing looked and sounded like a child's toy.
All in all, I was super disappointed. This place is a huge waste of money, $20 pp plus $3 to park in some dirt. The people who let us into the haunts, didn't space us properly, so we often ended up right behind the group in front of us. There was one guy who impressed me on the Pirates haunt. As we first walked in, he reached out like he was going to grab my neck. That startled me a bit. The neck-grabber got me again towards the end of the haunt. I might have given this one an extra star for awesome details and the animatronic monster outside, but I am so tired of seeing this Haunt on "Top Haunts in America" lists, that I just couldn't do it. My recommendation....... Dragonshead Inn in Sonoma. I know it's farther away, but with the online coupon, the haunt is only $8. You can use the $15 you saved for gas. It's a MUCH scarier haunt and well worth the trip. For something closer, the Livermore Haunted Barn was much spookier, and the haunts even start in the parking lot. Plus, it's only $7. As I said 2 years ago, I WILL NOT be going back to Pirates. They only care about making money, but not the true spirit of haunting.
I was recommended to this place by a few of my friends. I got mixed reviews but it still seemed like it would be fun. This is my first haunted house but it was excellent. I was so scared. I almost cried at one point. I went with a group of 3 but i recommend going in pairs. The actors were great. They knew exactly when to scare you, they played their roles from beginning to end, and the make up was great.. At some point you didnt know where they would come from.
Although I had a good time.. this is by far NOT the scariest haunt that I've ever been too. If you ever get to the mid-Atlantic Markhoff's Haunted Forrest is by far much scarier than this.
Out of the 6 attractions at POE only 3 of them are even worth walking through. The chain link maze.. is just dumb. The only ones really worth walking through are the "POE" house, Sick Asylum and the Gordello.
It's a fun night out but if you've been to other good haunts this is going to be rather lack luster....
if you can find coupons for the buy one get one free then go check it out. Otherwise $20 pp is really pricey for this place.
Last year I wanted to go to a haunted house for some reason so after debating between the Hollister one and this one I decided to check this one out. From the pictures and reviews, I thought this was going to be really creepy scary so my boyfriend, his sister, our friend, and me decided to check it out.
Well, other than being startled (like when you turn the corner and someone happens to be standing there) I was NOT scared at all. I am a total chicken with these kind of things but I think I walked through each section laughing because my friend ended up scaring some of the pirates. LOL,
The only semi-cool thing is the wire fence maze but it got old real quick and gave all of us a HUGE headache. Oh and I don't like how all were coughing and sneezing up black stuff (from all the smoke/fog they use). Pretty gross.
Overall, I would rather go to my neighborhood haunted house even though it's only a minute long. At least it's free and actually scary.
I went to check out the Pirates of Emerson a couple of weeks ago with a group of friends. I think I have vague memories of coming here several years ago with friends while I was still in school.
We drove from San Francisco, so that's 45 minutes at minimum, depending on traffic. The website makes it sound elaborate and HUGE. I guess relative to other haunted houses, it is. There were five haunted houses and an outdoor chainlink fence maze. The maze was fun, but a little nauseating because it was lit by a strobe light. As for the five haunted houses, there were some good scares and surprises, and a lot of the actors were quite good, but after a while it became a bit redundant. After all, how many ways can someone jump out and scare you? I might have preferred to have at least one larger haunted house - each one seemed to go by pretty quickly - and to have more rooms and scenes.
It was something fun and different to do in the spirit of Halloween with a group of friends, but if you're going to drive all the way to Fremont for it, I'd suggest finding something else to do in the area (eat??) as well.
i loves me some scare! a few years ago my friend B asked me to come with him and at the time i didn't think much of it. i ended up screaming/laughing until i nearly lost my voice. if you "let" yourself get into it, POE can be quite fun. $20 got us into 6 attractions and spanned approximately 1.5 hours. it can be a longer visit, depending on if you get uber lost in that strobe-lit chain-link labyrinth.
i think the most fun is getting some chicken friends to go and watching the shrieking that ensues!
watch out for the parking entrance, which can be hard to spot right away, and be advised that they only take cashola. don't waste your time with the $30 no-wait pass, unless you really care that much. it's fun enough for me to chat with friends and flirt with actors dressed up as ghost pirates and wenches. it can get quite cold in fremont so dress in layers.
went here last saturday with family. and its a great way to spend a night with your family or friends. $20 per person pass was all that was necessary. we all enjoyed it. better than sitting and watching a scary movie in the theatre.
enjoy it for what it is. a professional haunt with actors who are all trying to do their best to give you a fun experience. fun can be different for everyone, some may laugh, some may freak out. whatever you do, don't walk through the place with a frown on your face. i saw a few dud customers who probably expected more (more I mean someone actually cutting your head off, which I wouldn't find very scary, just nuts) we all know it isn't real. if you want a real scare, walk down a dangerous street in a big city after midnight. you'll see lots of real zombies there ;-)
A friend of mine told me about the Pirates of Emerson a few years back because he had heard they were looking for volunteers. We decided to volunteer because we thought it could be fun to scare some people. We were treated poorly, especially for unpaid workers. We were yelled at often for not screaming the right phrase at customers, huddled back into the attraction from our breaks, and simply not given room to breath. When my friend protested, they kicked him out and told him never to return. How can you call it volunteering when you earn a profit for somebody's work? It's $20, which is way more expensive than a movie, and is way shorter. Would you pay $20 for a half hour of amusement?
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This was my second time coming here (first time back in 2007) and I went with a group of friends from out of town who never came here before. There are 6 attractions with different themes but in the end it was almost all the same. The layout of the whole park is great: dark, evil pirates roaming around, films playing outside, huge flames blasting every 5-10 mins, cool animatronics, good overall feel for a fun haunted evening. So back to the attractions, every single one of them, besides the Rat Maze, was the same to the exception that they had different themes (clowns, insane asylums, pirates, etc) but they weren't too noticable to make a difference. I did however appreciate the set up of each attraction, but it seemed 2007 was set up a bit better and they even had a 3-D one that I thought was cool but not this year. For what its worth, 20 bucks is a decent deal. I was there for over an hour enjoying the atmosphere and taking our time going through each one. We didn't wait in line for more than 5-10 mins on a Saturday around 8:30-9:30 PM. The ladies got a great scare and I almost lost my voice not from being scared but trying to scare my friends and laughing alot at the expense of them displaying sheer terror at every corner. But by the 4-6th attraction you will get desensitized by the whole thing and it'll seem less scary. Could be a good thing if your the ones that have your eyes constantly closed to finally appreciate the set up. In the end, my friends were glad that they came. Oh and to finish the night we went to Dave and Busters which was only a few miles away. Good times!
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i used to go to gyro's when i was in jr high and high school. it was kinda fun with a group, but definitely not that scary. that's pretty much what i was expecting when i came to pirates of emerson last year. boy, was i wrong! i almost crapped my pants i was so scared!
first of all, they only let you go 2 people at a time at the most, so no security of a big group. second, there is no defined path...you have to explore your way out of there, not knowing when or where something is going to jump out at you. third, it's dark as a crap in there, and there's loud noises, so it's disorienting. as if that wasn't enough, they also have fog, so you really can't see all that well. i wanted to turn back, except i wasn't sure which way i had come from!
there was also a chain link fence maze with a strobe light. how hard could it be, you think. it's not even that big of a maze, and it's well lit, except for the flashing strobe light. well, 30 minutes later we are still wandering around in there, passing the same damn people who are equally as lost/disoriented as you. the strobe light really makes the chain link fence hard to see. i walked into it a couple of times ha.
Can anyone tell me where I can find the BUY 1 GET 1 FREE coupon please!
I only came cuz the bff loves these type of haunted house places...so me the bf and the bff came here the night before halloween..
It looked cool from the street, you could see the big skeleton head from afar..
It was basically broken up into 3 diff "scare" rooms....we braved the first one...there was plenty of scares and thrills...though one of the pirates in there not only scared the crap out of me but managed to step on my foot! I hobbled my way through and I have to admit was pretty fun!
Tickets were $20...not a bad way to spend a thurs night!
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I went here back in October with my Cousin and Friend. We decided to get into the Halloween Spirit by trying to get the crap scared out of us.
We started the night by going to the haunted house on the left as we walked in. It was filled with your typical scare tactics. Dead bodies, skeletons, cobwebs etc., adorned the walls. There were scary noise and screams all the way through the house and of course people jumping out to try to startle you.
I have always felt that startling someone is a cheap thrill, yes if you jump out from behind a wall and I am not expecting you, I will get startled ok congrats I am not scared I am startled. In this house the groups were so close together that I could see where the person was going to jump out long before I got to that spot so I knew what to expect.
The next haunted place was set in a swamp. This was actually pretty cool I felt like there was more for me to look at and get distracted by as I walked through the place. Again it was adorned with cob webs and dead bodies and had people jumping out at you.
After this we went to the maze. The maze seemed like a good idea and it was with flashing lights all around to help confuse and disorient you. My only problem here was that is was a chain-link fence so you could see everyone in front of you and where they were going and easily navigate through the maze.
Finally, we went to the Fortune Teller, this was a cool feature it was nice to get my fortune read. It also helped that they had some guy dressed up as as swamp creature patrolling the line and harassing anyone who got frightened by him being there.
We got there kind of early so the place was not packed at all. We actually spent less than an hour there and at 20 bucks to enter its kind of a lot to ask for not even an hour of entertainment. On the flip side had I had to wait in line for long periods of time I would probably be just as annoyed as I was for not being there for an hour.
They also counted a movie being projected of Pirates skateboarding and their snack bar as features for the place. Ummm sorry but that's kind of lame, your feature is the snack bar where I can buy over priced food? Um no.
Also, you can only go into an attraction once. If they had let us go in to each one twice I am sure they could have earned another star but sadly this i not the case not even on a night when the place is dead. ha ha.
All in All while I have a lot of problems with the place I will probably go back again next year. Now that I know what I am in for I wont be disappointed well at least not for the above mentioned complaints.
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Last night - we ventured out in the rain to see the Pirates of Emerson. The night before our friends bought us the fast pass tickets ($30 in lieu of $20) which there was really no need for because it was very empty, i'm sure due to the rain and it being the last weekend.
We had so much fun getting spooked by snarling pirates and literally in your face wenches I thought my girlfriend was about to smack down - lol. There were 2 haunted houses - the big one was really nice - we enjoyed opening doors and the animatronics were pretty cool.
Unfortunately, the maze was too muddy so we missed out. The fortune teller was a nice touch however.
Overall it was good scary fun. The not so fun part - trying to get the mud off our shoes. We'd check it out again next year.
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This is a diffrent experiance so It is worth seeing once. A lot of work and time has been put into building and making the area a fun place to go but I was left disappointed for a few reasons
1) Variety. I was under the impression there were 4 or 5 diffrent houses. There were 2 (although the 2 were fantasitc) and a maze. Even on the ticket we get it lists the food bar and an open air movie screen as attractions...
2) Price. We paid for the 30 speed pass (since it was a saturday we thought it would help, very few people were there) I felt a little ripped off by 2 hours for 20 for the majority of people. And we wee told we could only go into each house one time each...
3) The way they scare you is simple. They pop out and say boo. I had fun but it feels odd to pay so much just to have a house created to hide a bunch of people to say boo, scare me other ways please.
I had fun but only three star fun.
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I've been here the past two years and so far I've been satisfied, but I do agree on the price being TOO much.
I love being scared and I love going with friends, so the people you go with is a big thing because you tend to feed off each other and it makes it more hilarious. Every time I go one of the pirates always ends up following me around because you can read the fear on my face. Not as scary as Freddy Kreuger, but still.
The worst part is probably the maze with the strobes light. Stay away if you have seizures. My BF lost his glasses. LOL NERD. and my friend ran his face into the fence. Not fun.
I'd recommend it if you like getting scared, BUT if you're one of those people who like to prove you don't get scared, why bother going haha
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I agree with Matthew R. that it was overpriced for the attraction. I was also expecting 4 or 5 things, but there was one big haunted house, a smaller haunted house and a chain-link fence maze with annoying strobe lights. It was pretty quiet this past Friday but they only let you go through a house once. That's pretty lame. The big house was pretty good though.
I think you can find better haunted houses if you go to the corn farms around Gilroy, but it was nice to go here early in the month when there weren't any lines and it was a short drive away. I wasn' t sure either if we should get speed passes but the manager said the first two weekends are always quiet, and it gets busier from that point on. Maybe that'll help people trying to decide next year.
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This place is really scary!! I came here with a group of 12 friends on a Saturday night, and it didn't seem that packed. The ticket for Pirates of Emerson is $20, which is a bit pricey to me.
As soon as you walk in, there is a center area for people to sit and rest. There are 2 haunted house, 1 maze, and a fortune teller for people to enjoy.
We went to a haunted house first. I was immediately scared when I walked in, since it was dark. I was anticipating people jumping out and scaring me! After a few screams, I realized I couldn't take it anymore..lol. I clung on to my boyfriend really tight, and I allowed him to walk in front of me. When my eyes was closed, I got hit in the butt by someone! I thought the pirates aren't supposed to grab you. I couldn't wait to exit the haunted house!
Afterwards, we went to the second haunted house. This one has a huge skeleton outside. This one seems longer and scarier! As soon as we entered, I basically hid behind my boyfriend the whole time. I can hear the pirates asking my boyfriend 'Who is hiding behind you?'.
My favorite one is the maze. There were so many paths to choose from. When we saw the exit, we kept hitting a dead end..lol. It was nice when everyone started working together by shouting out 'dead end' before we even entered the path. Watch out for some of the zombies walking the maze. Apparently they don't move out of your way, so I I got punched in the face by the zombie. I hope it was an accident!
You are defintiely not safe until you are back in your car. When you are walking around or waiting in line, there are a few pirates scaring people.
I kept getting scared by this one pirate. I screamed, ran away, and clung on to my friends for safety. I even dragged my boyfriend to get away from the pirate..lol.
Pirates of Emerson is a good place to go if you want to get scared and have a good time with friends!! I like how all the workers were in character by talking like a pirate. The makeup on their face is amazing and scary!
I come here every year a week before Halloween, I love it. I always get scared. I just wish the prices were a lil bit lower.
For only 2 attractions.
But Parking Kinda Sucks
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Overall good, scary fun! For $20, you get access to two haunted houses (one big, one small), a chain-link fence maze with strobe lights, and a fortune teller. A bit overpriced...
Anyway, the larger haunted house was the better of the two. Lots of scary, good times. The animated skeletons outside makes waiting in line a little more bearable. The second house was smaller and wasn't as scary as the first. You end up walking through the corridor without anyone scaring you for a good portion of it.
The maze could've been a little better. More actors and probably someone with a chain saw or something could've added to it, because eventually, the maze got old and everyone just started following everyone else around.
I didn't care for the fact it is located in a piece of land lined with dirt, though. Parking is literally a dirt road, and you end up inhaling piles of dirt and dust while waiting in line. I ended up sneezing tons of brown bits after getting home from this.
Well executed haunted houses, but could've given more for the $20 admission.
So this is the first time I've been here... I went here with my bf, his cousin and gf and two other friends.. so 3 girls 3 guys... and obviously us being total chicken girls... we went into the first haunted house maze.. and I'm not a fan of scary things... I love scary movies but put me into the scene.. I DON'T THINK SO... so all I remember was clenching on so hard to my bf arm cutting off his circulation to his arm and my circulation to my fingers were going out.. and I had Cathy grabbing onto my whole body behind me and Merryl grabbing onto her arm from behind her and all of us screaming and the bf's behind them.. SO YA... AS FOR US.. I DONT THINK WE SAW MUCH BUT being grabbed and screaming our asses off and sweating like hell trying to get out... and the guys getting spooked also and remember we all have thick jackets on by the time we got out it was freaking hot as hell...
ended up at the rat maze? with the strobe lights... that thing took forever and all I remember was running around with my bf and I see Cathy and Nico on the other side of the fence and Nico runs into the fence.. seriously that was so hard to get out of but hella funny... that was a good one...
the last haunted maze wasn't to fun because they had these loud pops that would go off in your ear... but I do like the first maze..
apparently last year they had like 5 mazes? according to my bf.. but they moved part of it to santa cruz.. they had a projector screen showing off last years thing and how better it was... and 20 bucks for 3 mazes wasn't all that good.. atleast 10 bucks for the 3... but you'll get a kick out of the rat maze because all you see is a bunch of people running in circles and GUYS running into fences thinking this is the way out.. :)
and glad to say finally my circulation to my fingers came back.. .and us three girls were loosing our voices and jumping up and down all crazy and ya...
oh and some dude believed the fortune teller.. .haha... that was hella funny because he believed what she said and ya.. if she says touch the magic ball.. IT WILL SHOCK YOU.. it's what the thing was made for... you can find those at Spencers except in a clear ball with the light..
Went on Halloween with a group of friends. I was expecting more people there and extremely long lines but the rain kept some people away. There was still a good sized crowd and the lines were long but moved quickly. It was muddy but the straw they laid down helped with that.
There were three main attractions: a rat run maze and two scare houses. The maze was okay. The rat run maze is a chain linked fence maze with strobe lights. At first it doesn't look difficult to get through but the strobe makes it challenging. The scare houses were good. The larger one better than the smaller ones. We were screaming and laughing all the way through both houses. However, the timing separation of the groups weren't enough and we ended running into other groups. They did a great job setting the mood with the animatronics, characters and music (it felt like a scary disneyland). We also meet with the misfortune teller at the end.
Overall, it was good scary fun; we had a great time. We were in and out of there in about an hour and a half. I only wished there was maybe one more attraction. It was much better experience than Gyro's Fear Factory.
$20 general, $30 express (no lines) and $3 parking
Well, we just got back from this years Pirates of Emerson, And they scared the pants off of us again! So well thought out, and well decorated...With scares in all the Darkest of places! Which doors lead you out? and which has the monster behind it?? Guess you'll have to go to find out! =)
We are going back next weekend with friends who couldn't make it tonight! I know... were a bit crazy! ;)
A must for all true haunted house fans!!!!
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10/5/2007
Ok...so to be honest, we only drove out there because it was the only "haunted house" open this… Read more »
I was a first time visitor to this place - we got there when the doors opened - and a good things since by 8pm, the place was packed. We went for the extra $10 ticket ($30 total) for the SPEED PASS - no waiting, and good thing - I really don't want to stand in line on a cold night!
There was a FREMONT POLICE CAR there as well - guess for added security in case things got out of hand? Lots of teens, and 20-somethings. Maybe we were the oldest - late 30's-early 40's?
I certainly would not bring a child here - maybe a 14+ could handle it? I did some young kids like under 10 so not sure if they were going in the haunted houses or not.
So on the scares. We went in 6 houses - and all were pretty great. The people who put it on really have an eye for detail - everything was meticulous. The ASYLUM was super gross ... PinHead was there too, chainsaws, sounds, and more.
Was I scared? Not really but it's kind of freaky/eerie, and my friends were fund to be around getting scared.
One "scare" I didn't like - the barbed wire fence/strobelight thing - dang, that freaked me out. Can you imagine if you were on acid & going through this (not like anyone on yelp has ever done that but just imagine as if you had heard about that stuff)? Ok, maybe lots of ibruprofren or maybe lots of coffee.AAAH. I couldn't get out, and it was irritating me big time. I could people getting anxious with this one.
I only give it 4 stars b/c of the price. It's kind of steep for $30 BUT then again, the people have to get paid - and it's not like the people working here are rich or anything. I wouldn't go again only b/c I've been but if you haven't gone - check it out, get the speed pass too.
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I'm a huge fan of haunted houses. Anyone from So-Cal has heard of Knott's Scary Farm- on of my favorite things to do for Halloween. I love them so much, as a high school student my friends and I worked with the local community center to create one.
Anyway, they say that Pirates of Emerson is the best in the bay area. I stopped by on Saturday night with my boyfriend, totally excited. We showed up at around 8pm, with little to no lines; by 10pm there was a 15-25 minute wait for each house. I regret not throwing down the extra $10 for a "speed pass" to surpass the wait... but $20 seemed a bit steep to start. If I had it to do again, I'd plan to hit up the best rated houses first, because towards the end I got so tired of waiting in lines that I almost didn't go to all of them.
So, my thoughts on each haunted house::
PIRATES OF EMERSON- We started with this house simply because it had the shortest line. On our way in they gave us each a pair of 3-D glasses, making the psychedelic images stand out as we walked through. This haunted house didn't have a particular theme besides having a weird, trippy atmosphere.
THE ASYLUM- This house was really scary, if not simply due to the strobe lights. Most of the scary parts of this house were unexpected startles (ie something jumping out at you), although the actors did a pretty good job of acting like crazys. This is one of my favorite houses.
BILDGE RAT MAZE- I'd say a complete waste of time- a large maze set up under strobe lights. It would be pretty cool, except they used chain link fencing. All they would need to do to step this up is hang black draping over the fence so you couldn't see through the entire maze. Also, the entrance is also the exit- leaving little mystery.
DENSMORE MANOR- This house follows the typical old women's haunted house theme. You'll walk through the living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom. It is short, and near the bottom as far as interest.
HEARTSTOPPERS- We went in this house toward the end, so I had been getting tired. The theme is Western, which is unusual but refreshing. There is a point where you have to push through padded walls to get to the next point- creative but unnerving, because you have no clue what is happening. All in all, a fun house.
REBEL YELL- This is the first house near the entrance, so there is a perpetual long line. We were so tired of waiting, that we almost skipped this house. It would have been better off- The house is short, and I don't know if the workers were on the 10 minute break or what, because we didn't have anyone jumping out and scaring us for the better half of the house.
All in all, I had a good time. I HIGHLY recommend you spring for the speed pass, because the waits are a pain. Overall, well made Haunted Houses for a fun evening.
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what a rip off. tickets are $20 for regular admission, and $30 for "speed passes" which entitle you to jump to the front of the line. there are only three real mazes / attractions but they advertise five. they also charge $3 for parking in the lot adjacent to the event.
so i went this past weekend with a group of friends expecting a horrific haunted house adventure and opted for the $30 passes since there were long lines all over. the mazes are setup on a dirt lot located in a fairly unpopulated area of fremont so it is quite dark and dusty. the larger haunted house and the smaller one took about ten minutes each to walk thru, and the rat race varies depending on how well you fare running thru strobe lights and chain link fences. you could probably be done with the whole event in about 30 minutes. i'm a chicken so i did get freaked out on more than one occasion, but overall the event was disappointing.
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I have heard of people traveling from out of state to go to this thing.
It is a great haunted house for a first time visit. They do not change it much so overall it is the same every year.
There is a level of professionalism and quality production put into it. If you go to their website they have a trailer for what to expect, but that thing gives away a lot.
When driving through Fremont on 680 look for the giant lit up skeleton head and you'll find Pirates of Emerson.
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