This was our 2nd year visiting the Trail of Terror and their continued improvement and growth was evident. Even the ticket booth got a major upgrade this year! They have a huge piece of land, so they definitely have the space to continue building, and we are HERE FOR IT!

Trail of Terror sits on this amazing property that fog settles on like a scene from The Mist. The queue line laces back and forth through the hazy open field where broken-down cars are strewn about. If you’re lucky, you may get to see Sweettooth go all Evil Knievel and jump over those cars on his minibike. People waiting in the line also get a full view of the guests before them hauling ass out of the woods screaming!

The trail is about a 25-30-minute hike through some very uneven and heavily wooded terrain. It gets really dark out there and they don’t do much to light the path, in the best way though! We LOVE how they incorporate strobe lighting along the trail creating this sense of movement in the tall, looming trees. To add even more to the darkness, they’ve built lots of fully enclosed tunnels through the woods along with their open-air sets. These are our favorite!

Trail of Terror doesn’t have any particular storyline as you wander through their dark woods - just a bunch of scary randomness. The sets range in subject matter as their characters do, but they always make sense together. You’re going to encounter hillbillies, cults, scarecrows, and lots of clowns, just to name a few. This crew takes a lot of pride in developing their characters, and the costumes have more detail than you can really appreciate in the darkness.

The sets are not super detailed, and their overall construction is incredibly simple; but they are SO EFFING EFFECTIVE! Some plywood, tarp, fog machines, and strobe lights are all Trail of Terror needs to terrify you! There is one thing this haunt does and does EXTREMELY well, sensory deprivation! They utilize this technique often in the enclosed tunnels on the trail either enclosing you in pitch black or enveloping you in thick fog. Then they throw in a crazy-ass clown (or a few) banging on tunnel walls, taunting you, reminding you that they are out there just waiting. It is the most disorienting feeling to be stuck in those tunnels only to come out into dark woods potentially face-to-face with one of those psychos! You lose all sense of direction and feel incredibly unsettled as you begin walking along the open trail again.

Trail of Terror has an amazingly dedicated cast of characters. Despite the still wet and muddy conditions from a few days of rain, these guys were rolling through the mud all over the trail, hanging from bungee cords in the trees, and climbing all over the sets. Their characters are interactive, fun, extreme, and most importantly scary! We really appreciate that even the youngest of their scare actors knows that just screaming your head off at people isn’t the way to go!

“This ain’t Netherworld.” Trail of Terror is not a haunt to visit just to be entertained. They are
focused on FEAR and want nothing more than to scare the crap out of you! You are definitely going to want to check them out, but only if you’re ready…