For the DC area, this gets a 5 out of 5. For best haunted houses of all time... probably closer to a 4, but let me explain why first, and exactly why my bar is so terribly high.
Haunted houses are a bit of a 'thing' for me... I love them. Every season I go to around 20-30, sometimes more. No joke. So, while this is listed as a haunted house it's really more of a zombie experience which is a subset of the haunted house genre. What does this mean? No random skeletons popping out for no reason, no clowns, no strange vampires hanging out with werewolves, etc... just a reasonably long walk through a series of zombie wasteland scenes which are complete with several nods to popular zombie movies, etc.
The actors are really into what they are doing, the owners really love giving a good scare and frankly as zombie experiences go for one that's in it's first year it's amazingly good. They have a nice variety of sets, make excellent use of misdirection (which is only possible b/c they have a LOT of zombies), use lighting and settings to maximum effect, etc. Yes, it's in a strip mall, and guess what... that means it's metro accessible. In fact, it may be the only metro accessible haunt in the entire region.
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Back to my first comment... 4 nationwide... for a 5 star zombie experience you really need a blown out building (Zombie Apocalypse in Atlanta is a prime example) and SERIOUS amounts of space. They do an amazing job with what they have here, and for the vast majority of my time there I totally forgot I was in what used to probably be a Bed, Bath and Beyond or something. They also have a custom film at the opening and do a solid job of creating atmosphere... but once you enter the zombie enclave, you kind of wander through getting scared and experiencing the house until the end. Next year they should set up a way point in the middle with paramilitary guys/gals to move a more specific story along. They do a better job than anyone else in the area by FAR in creating a story... which is why for the area they are a solid 5 star... but I've seen more thorough executions (rarely) which is why I drop it to a borderline 3/4 for nation-wide zombie experiences overall.
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That being said, only Markoff's in this area comes close to matching it for overall enjoyment... nobody else gets out of 1/2 star overall territory for me. Maybe Bennett's Curse, which is borderline 3/4 as well.. and they were ranked as one of the top 13 haunts in the country, so as you can tell I'm a pretty harsh critic.
Nutshell - if you like zombies, this is THE haunt for you unless you're willing to travel over 4 hours away (each way) to go somewhere that's not as cool. To get something better you'd have to go to Atlanta for an amazing zombie experience... the west coast, or the heartland. This is a unique venue and it's freaking awesome. Go get some Matchbox pizza nearby (the Rockville location doesn't have the insane wait the District locations are infamous for) and get your zombie on! It's totally worth it. read more