Hush Haunted Attraction
37550 Cherry Hill Road
Westland, Mich.
Through Nov. 7
From the moment I walked into the Hush Haunted Attraction, I knew we were going to be in for a good time. Instead of a strobe light-lit horror scene, we were taken to a charming reconstruction of Old Hollywood, complete with balconied storefronts, signage, and a stage, where an aerialist and burlesque dancer entertained us between pop songs. Those of us with bar passes were able to enjoy the spectacle from a classic film-themed lounge with specialty cocktails.
This was the waiting room, an upbeat, delightful palate-cleanser before an evening of terror – and a vast improvement over shivering in cold, boring outside lines you find at many haunted attractions.
Hush’s haunted house featured several elaborate, distinct themes, opening with a demonic film projectionist before transforming into an ancient temple/cannibalistic tribe setting, a historic graveyard, and a decaying mansion. Two hidden bars separated the different sections, with staff directing those with bar pass wristbands to secret rooms, each with different themes and cocktail offerings.
The attention to detail in the haunted sections was impressive, even if the throughline of the story wasn’t fully clear to me. Perhaps the three themes were different movie settings? Maybe they were just three separate houses?
I particularly enjoyed the graveyard. While a common haunt setting, it featured rather lovely, larger-than-life gothic headstones, and a chance to play “real or not real?” as we carefully walked among the sculptures, never quite knowing which was going to jump out at us.
The mansion was cool too, definitely appealing to my love for historic houses. My prolonged stop to admire the grand foyer, though, wasn’t as appreciated by the impatient demons who inhabited it, and we were soon chased out to continue our journey through the rest.
While Hush did feature traditional animatronic scares — many of which jumped directly onto our path — their rather healthy actor budget meant we only made it a few steps at a time before something leapt out of the dark to chase us away. There was not a lot of room for anticipated fear, although the live scare frequency did keep the adrenaline running high.
While I’m not a big drinker, the bar breaks were a nice emotional reprieve between haunts, and the few sips I had of the Bushwacker cocktail — rum, coffee, chocolate, and coconut — were pretty good. Including short stops at the bars, our journey through the haunted houses took about 30 minutes from start to finish, so those looking to make a longer night of the experience might opt to spring for the bar passes, which also get you accelerated access into the haunt.
Haunted houses offer an adrenaline-focused entertainment experience that, for me, is fine in small quantities. But adding some pure fun, non-scary elements offers a nice contrast, and the opening Old Hollywood lounge-performance space might have been my favorite part of the night. It put me in a good mood, and I felt less stressed yet more excited when it came time to actually enter the haunt.
If you’re looking for a haunted house with some Old Hollywood glam, Hush is the place to be.
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