The last stop of our 2023 NC Haunt Tour was another North Carolina OG attraction, Kersey Valley Spookywoods in Archdale, NC. They have an incredible 39 years in the business of scares!

Spookywoods is a multi-haunt attraction beginning with their newest haunted trail, Icons; then their cornfield, Harvest of Fear; then their mainstay trail with 11 separately themed houses - Sanitarium, Vampire Crypt, Town of Kersey Valley, Depths of Despair, Agony’s Embrace, Bloodmoon Ridge, Whispering Pines Funeral Services, Decimation District, Inferno, and Photons of Fear. Plus, they have the Midway of Mayhem, Endora’s Witch House, and their Dark Ride Fright Trams that transport you between all the different attractions.

Their midway featured tons of food, adult beverages, and a live DJ spinning a variety of tunes to keep the vibes going all night long. We loved how they even themed out their concessions by incorporating their mainstay characters… everyone has to try one of Endora’s Brews!

Instead of your typical hayride, Spookywoods has custom-built trams similar to those that you might catch in a theme park parking lot to transport you through the vast darkness between the attractions. Their Fright Trams are necessary since Kersey Valley is a sprawling 92-acre farm, and they have widely spread their scares throughout the woods. You board the tram glowing in the iconic Spookywoods green, but as you enter the woods it all… goes… dark… Monsters are lurking and sometimes they jumped on and off our tram as we traveled.

Icons was the first stop and their newest attraction. It was easy to tell we had arrived, the letters I-C-O-N stood at least 20 feet tall and glowed bright red in the darkness of the woods. We walked through the gigantic O and began our journey into iconic horror cinema.

Not only were these sets themed after each of their respective movies, but the characters also acted out a scene from the movie. We’ve seen lots of Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th themes and even more random Freddies and Jasons, but never have we ever seen Freddy vs Jason. There was also Megan’s fave Scream, Halloween, and others.

This haunt is R-rated because they play actual snippets of dialogue from the movies and some contain expletive language. We loved recognizing those bits of script as we approached the next house and guessing what we were walking into!

After Icon, we boarded a Fright Tram and were transported to Spookywood’s cornfield, Harvest of Fear. Harvest of Fear is one of the most original cornfields we’ve ever been through. How do you make a cornfield different?, you ask. Spookywoods utilized a lot of lighting effects at Harvest of Fear including lightning and the laser light and fog swamp effect throughout their cornfield, creating a murky layer of lighted fog from our waist down. This allowed actors to hide right underneath our noses.

The cornfield let us out right in front of the first haunt on the next trail, Sanitarium. It was lit with a very cool vine lighting effect. Again, this second trail features 11 separately themed houses, but to describe each in any detail would make for a very long review. Overall, Spookywoods are masters of light and sound. They use both of these elements to really bring their sets to life. The lake they constructed complete with docks and cabins over the water for Freddie vs Jason was also super impressive!

The actors are also a huge part of what Kersey Valley Spookywoods does. They provide a really great mix of jump scares and interaction.

Costuming and makeup ranged between the multiple sets. Nothing was over the top but always appropriate for their environment. Masks were heavily utilized especially (and understandably) in the Icons section.

Spookywoods definitely has some… spooky woods, and they’re really great at using them to further immerse you in the experience. Walking through those dark woods sometimes felt like a break, allowing just enough time for our sense of security to set back in before we hit another house, but conversely also sometimes felt super ominous and foreboding. We occasionally encountered a victim running towards us on the trail asking us for help, and just like a horror movie… we just continued to head towards the danger.

Spookywoods has so much to offer, so grab the fam and go spend a full night of fall fun at Kersey Valley Spookywoods in Archdale, NC!