Yes, Asylum 49 is worth the trip
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The lobby of Asylum 49 in Tooele. Photo: Erin Alberty/Axios
Salt Lake has some of the nation's best professional haunted attractions, so thrill-seekers here might wonder whether Asylum 49 is worth the trip.
- Yes, it 100% is.
State of play: My family finally hit Tooele's haunted hospital — and it's my new favorite in Utah.
What's inside: A lot of the features are similar to other haunts, but with some elements that are unique.
- The room where you put on 3-D glasses, for example, incorporated the effect into costumes for some clever jump scares.
- The actors followed and interacted with us for longer than the others we've done.
- I got more disoriented in the dark and mazelike rooms.
- The emphasis on medical horror makes it a notch gorier than SLC's haunts, which raised the stakes for me.
How it works: You can buy tickets with various levels of "touch," from no-contact with actors to light brushes to "full-contact," which includes being grabbed.
- We also did the "mini haunt" add-ons, which you experience before the main hospital attraction. They're probably worth the $10 if you aren't bringing a big group.
Between the lines: At other times of year, Asylum 49 hosts "Dead on Arrival" experiences, where guests experience mock torture and other terrors in a private tour.
What's next: The main hospital haunt is open all month and for the first two weekends in November.
- In previous years, it's hosted special holiday haunts for Krampusnacht, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day.
The bottom line: The sets aren't quite as polished as at Nightmare on 13th or Fear Factory, but the building's history as a hospital gives it a unique sense of narrative immersion.