After driving 2-hours out into PA and getting disappointed by Jason's Woods, we tried to salvage our night by spending even more money and checking out the other massive Halloween attraction in Lancaster: Field of Screams. We'd thought that Jason's Woods was crowded, but it was nothing compared to this place. We had to park so far away that it was easily a half mile walk just to get to the ticket line. We again opted for VIP tickets, largely because the line for regular admission tickets looked an hour long at a minimum. And with tickets at $25/$40 (regular/VIP) here, it seemed like a downright bargain in comparison to our previous destination. I was immediately impressed with the goofy Halloween-carnival atmosphere of Field of Screams' main outdoor "lobby" area. There were games of chance, which included a particularly awesome boardwalk-style basketball game of throwing severed heads into barrels of toxic waste. Plenty of silly Halloween souvenirs and Field of Screams souvenirs were also available if you were looking to blow even more cash. Speaking of cash, don't try to pay with a credit card here - it's cash only. Kind of annoying. Field of Screams was divided into 3 attractions, each being fairly extensive. The volume of people coming through was just insane, but it was managed pretty effectively. Chain-drawn dungeon-style gates controlled the flow of people from the regular line and the VIP line, which was a cool touch. The VIP pass was an absolute must here - I can't imagine we'd have spent less than 90 minutes in any of the lines without it and that's just WAY too much time to be trapped in close quarters with a bunch of idiotic teenagers. We began on the hayride to get it out of the way and were surprised to find that it was actually pretty good. It was probably in the top two hayrides we've done, along with the one at Creamy Acres in South Jersey. The tractor pulled into a bunch of large metal barns and overhead doors would close around the hay cart, trapping everyone inside the barn with the tractor outside for maximum effect. The first barn contained a truly impressive display of bloody, animatronic slaughtered pigs that dropped from the ceiling and began writing and twitching in strobed light while some some crazies attacked the cart in pig masks. I felt like I was in a Nine Inch Nails video. Definitely an appropriate nightmare scenario for a couple of vegetarians. The clown barn was a little lame in comparison, but that could've been caused by some missing clowns who were trying to help out the stranded tractor driver ahead of us with his dead tractor battery. Good to have Support Clowns on staff, I suppose. Another barn featured a whole lot of chainsaws and a sweet display of a human body getting sawed in half, as shown through brief flashes of light in an extremely dark barn. The use of lighting was very creative throughout. Perhaps the best part of the whole hayride was a massive Tesla coil that shot out bolts of electricity inside a giant metal cage, while a crazy guy hung from a chain-link fence above the cart. I could've watched that thing all night. After the hayride came the Frightmare Asylum. This just looked awesome from the outside. It was set in a legit old farmhouse that was meticulously decorated to look as decrepit and creepy as possible. The walkthrough covered 4 floors, including a basement, and was seriously one of the best I've ever been through. It was packed with actors in great costumes and outstanding makeup (gotta love mouth gore and weird contact lenses) and every Asylum actor was totally committed (pun only sort of intentional). Bloody girls in patient gowns were screaming their guts out, seemingly without regard for their tender throats. And if anyone in a group started to lag and hold up the people behind, a haunter would, without fail, appear suddenly from behind or inside a wall and scream, "KEEP MOVING!" as loud as possible. This helped add to the chaotic atmosphere and also felt great to hear because I always want to scream at those people myself. In addition to great actors and props, the asylum had some really fun architectural features as well - low and cramped passageways, warped floors, an inflated floor-bridge through a hallway, and the requisite Spinning Tube of Disorientation. I would have gone through that building for hours finding new fun stuff to see if they'd let me! The last attraction was called the Den of Darkness - a name that made me fear another boring series of pitch black hallways to navigate. Fortunately this wasn't the case and we were instead treated to another top notch trip through what was once an 1800's barn/farmhouse. While the asylum obviously had a mental patient theme, this one was more butcher and gore related with a lot of good bloody limb props and the like. I particularly enjoyed the room with a falling/rising ceiling of spikes that were covered in stringy guts. Good stuff. Overall it was similar to the asylum in that it was packed with good actors, great visuals, and a lot of creative sets and hiding places. The bottom line is that this place was awesome and totally worth the money and the trip out to Lancaster. If you're in the area, don't even think about going to Jason's Woods - it's more expensive and way less awesome. And do yourself a favor and spend the extra 15 bucks for the VIP pass - the crowds are so big it's silly.
|