Wiard's Night Terrors

Wiard's knows how to set the mood right. After buying tickets, you walk down a torch lit path which opens up onto the main midway. Here the facades for the Ultimate Haunted Barn, Mind Shaft, and Asylum watch over the wandering crowd, while further down the path to the right, the other attractions await. All the attractions have strong facades, building the anxiousness of getting ready to be scared. However, the actual haunts themselves are very uneven when it comes to what matters most, the scares.

The Hayride of the Lost is loaded with incredible sets. From the wagons at the entrance, to a boat, an old western town, a train, and a two story house are all set deep in the woods. The sets, combined with some good animatronics, create a strong atmosphere that make for what should be really good ride. Unfortunately, there are just not enough scares along the path. Maybe it was just the night we were there, but it felt wildly understaffed. I would guess that for a 15-20 minute ride, there was maybe at most 10-15 people. Hayrides have a built-in disadvantage to begin with, a scare can not reach everyone on a wagon. Where you sit can create a drastically different experience. Where we were sat, at the front right side, was almost never hit by scares. This feels like what should be a top tier hayride, but there were just not enough people on the trail to make it so.

1.5/5 stars

Splattertown is a paintball range where you shoot at zombies. Simple enough, and a very nice distraction from the other, more haunted attractions. It is a serviceable enough, nice 1 minute stress relief experience to end the night.

3/5 stars

Alien Caged Clown is a smaller attraction, located inside a building themed like a circus tent. It is a winding path covered in fog thick enough to make it hard to see 3 feet in front of you. A cast of 4 or 5 clowns come at you from every direction, until you make your escape through a hole. Its a fun little house, with strong actors who torment around every corner.

3/5 stars

The Mind Shaft starts with a fog drenched queue area, expertly themed like the entrance of a mine. Theming is good throughout the house, with some good animatronic work as well. Just like the hayride though, actors just were not present. This is another house that should be an absolute standout, but just does not have the scares to make it so. Again, it is possible that they may have just been understaffed, but if the biggest, most important of a haunted house is not there, it just doesn't work. I know in years past this has not been an issue, as I have greatly enjoyed this before. However, this year it leaves a sour taste.

2/5 stars

The Asylum on the other hand, gets it right. From the introduction inside a decaying waiting room, with a psychotic nurse handing out instructions, throughout this well designed mental hospital gone to Hell, the actors make this one special. Misdirection is also used well here, as well as good use of lighting, as well as lack thereof makes for some great confusion on where you need to go. This is without a doubt the standout attraction of the entire event, and is the one to see if short on time.

4/5 stars

Finally, The Ultimate Haunted Barn beckons at one end of the screampark. A creepy preshow room, showing demented home footage, is soon followed by a crazed redneck, offering the chance to see the barn for yourself. Well themed, with good use of darkness and changing of eye level create a great house. Scares come from seemingly everywhere, including above. At one point the group is split up with men and women going in separate directions. Actors do a good job staying in character, and follow up good scares with creepy comments as you attempt to walkthrough. This does seem to be lacking a bit in intensity though. It just doesn't have the “it” factor to make it really stand out. Maybe with one or two more big show-stealing scenes this would be a really memorable house. However, in general this is a good house that features some good quality scares and makes good use of its theme.

3.5/5

Night Terrors is a good event that feels like it has the potential to be absolutely great. The theming and atmosphere is really strong. The location is suitably creepy, and wandering actors through the midway keep it entertaining. Unfortunately a couple of the marquee attractions are really lacking on scares. Fortunately it may be a simple as a staffing problem, which could be fixed on the night you could potentially go. It is a fun event that could be amazing with just some fixes.

3/5