Boasting a huge midway, three small indoor attractions, and one insanely long trail, 13th World Fright Park is absolutely at the top of their game. I am blown away by the fact that I didn’t know about this haunt before attending, and now I want to make the drive to see them every single year. The main attraction, Moonlight Mayhem, is a standout among outdoor trails, and mayhem doesn’t even begin to describe the level of intensity experienced within. All ticket holders will also be able to see three smaller indoor attractions. Hellfire House, a twisted maze of darkness and fog that will leave guests praying to find the exit; North Pole Nightmare, when Christmas gets taken over by South Pole clowns; and finally, Prison of Torture, where your nightmares become reality.
Where do I even begin with this haunt? Every actor in every scene is an absolute tour de force, showing their incredible acting chops in so many different ways. Not only did I meet high-energy psychopaths that were just chomping at the bit to cut me up into small pieces, but I also found large, intimidating, silent killers, and everything in between.
The actors in this cast are no strangers to customer interaction in every form. With the exception of one or two actors across the entire show, everybody has lines of dialogue that allow the actor to stay in character while conversing with guests, not to mention the physical side of these roles. 13th World offers optional touching, and the actors who do this are very good at what they do. I went for the light to moderate touch option, and it was about what you’d expect. Grabbing at my hat, placing a hand on my shoulder, that sort of thing. This ramps up to the moderate side of touch, where I was pushed against a wall a couple of times, and even had some fake blood smeared across my forehead. The other option is full contact. I saw people getting handled pretty aggressively by a few actors, along with getting attacked by chainsaws, and even manhandled by an actor covered head to toe in blood.
The range of personalities is quite wide, too. Inside the large church scene alone, I met three nuns who each had their own way of handling sinners. The first was relatively nice compared to the other two, who shouted at me to get on my knees and take off my hat. Inside the saw mill slaughterhouse, there are a handful of hill folk who are preparing to butcher unsuspecting customers who had only come to get the freshest cuts of meat. The first actor I met here asked me what the sign said, and I told him I couldn’t read. He told me it said “saw mill. Not slaughterhouse.” This led to meeting Paw, who then told me the sign said slaughterhouse, and I accused both of them of lying to me. Upon hearing the evidence against him, the first character pleaded the fifth and slinked away while a chainsaw-wielding maniac came for my head. I could go on for literal days about all of the actors here, but I’m not writing a novel. One last actor I do want to mention is Bubbles the clown, who humored my suggestion to play Clue, and then I ended up winning by guessing that the culprit was Bubbles in the haunted forest with the sledge hammer. You’re a good egg, Bubbles.
Just as vibrant and well executed as the cast are the costumes. These are probably some of the best-looking costumes I’ve seen inside an attraction, and that is no small feat considering the large number of actors wearing costumes. Masks and makeup share an even balance inside Moonlight Mayhem, and both are just as well-worn as the clothing. Makeup ranges from fairly basic blood and accents to full-on airbrushed designs, depending on the character’s prominence and location. To say that costumes are believable is an understatement. Everything is so carefully curated for each scene, and it really boosts the immersion because of that.
Typically, I would expect to see some tattered and bloodied clothes that meet the minimum expectation to be called a costume. This is largely happening, but the characters are human or humanoid, so regular clothing that’s been weathered and worn actually fits the bill. The difference here is that there are extra details being added to the costumes to really complete them, and not just stopping at torn and bloodied. Early in the garden of hands, there is an actor that is camouflaged by plants, which get moved to reveal the chain-laden outfit that surely was purchased at Hot Topic in the early 2000s. Heading into the field that leads to the clown training school, I meet a character wearing a large rabbit head mask and white painter’s overalls that are splattered with blood. This character is dressed to rob a bank and leave no witnesses, while using an axe to perform the stick-up. They asked if I wanted to join their collection of hands, which I had just passed through, and I suspect this outfit is for harvesting said hands.
Upon reaching the Mayor’s house, I met his wife and son, who were very obviously re-animated corpses freshly dug up from their graves. The mostly formal nature of their attire lends credence to this theory, with the idea that these are the clothes they were buried in. Their makeup features pale grey tones covering any visible skin and black lines to give that classic zombie look.
Queue actors also look perfect for taking photos with guests and generally lurking around to get a good scare while backs are turned. There’s a Pennywise wandering about with his signature red balloon, as well as a really interesting pumpkin-headed reaper. The reaper wears a large helmet-like mask under a hooded robe, and carries a scythe, or is it a sickle? In any case, these folks are keeping the fun times going and the spooky vibes flowing.
It’s hard to say something is a highlight at a haunt where everything is being executed to such a high level, but customer service might be it. From the moment I pulled into the parking lot, every staff member was just so friendly and helpful. The ladies in the ticket office had smiles on their faces as I checked in, and heading down onto the midway I met even more staff who seemed genuinely happy to be there. The bar tender at the IV bar was happy to chat for a moment as I wandered over, and the Buried Alive attendant struck me as a very warm and patient individual.
The website addresses almost every bit of information you would ever need before leaving the house. There is a comprehensive FAQ section, information regarding refunds (it is possible in some limited situations!), directions, parking, touch policy, tickets, dates, times, the list goes on. The only changes I would personally like to see are a page discussing the difference in touch options and the policy regarding the indoor attractions. It is my understanding that the indoor attractions are not ticketed and are available to experience as much as you’d like. This isn’t really spelled out on the website, and I think it could help drive more ticket sales if newcomers knew this ahead of time. The difference in touch options encompasses a wide range, and describing the difference would allow customers to make an easier decision when buying tickets.
The only time customers might get hurt at 13th World is if they trip over their own feet, like I almost did a couple of times, and if you just watch your step, you will be fine.
Departing the ticket booth and heading towards the midway, there is something of a vista point at the top of the hill, overlooking the giant party that is the midway. The huge midway is set up as a block party, offering all sorts of fun things to do, and getting patrons in the mood for the main attraction. The indoor attractions are but appetizers, giving little hints of what’s to come behind the wall. North Pole Nightmare and Prison Torture give us a small taste, offering live actors that deliver the same high level of energy that’s to come in Moonlight Mayhem. Venturing beyond the wall, we are transported to a desolate abandoned motel, complete with an old-fashioned sign out front. This is the sort of place you see on the side of the highway in the middle of the night, with no cars parked in front; it’s so damn eerie.
Once we cross the threshold into the motel, there’s no turning back. The show has begun, and I am but a passenger on this rollercoaster ride. The scenes are exquisite, and truly transport me into this world, and the actors are the icing on top. I really believe I’m about to be sacrificed by the robed cult member in the first scene, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Every scene thereafter completely immerses me into the story that’s unfolding before my eyes. Speaking of story, there’s no official lore that I could find on the website or social media, but there is something of a story being told as I traverse the many scenes. I’m a traveller in a forgotten town, encountering all of the creepy crawlies that inhabit it. They clearly do not like outsiders, and I am certainly not one of the townsfolk. One thing that momentarily took the immersion away for me was the small speakers in various scenes. At least I think they were speakers. Colored plastic cylinders placed within the scenes are fairly easy to notice when there’s nothing for them to blend in with. This could be an easy fix, either by adding more small items around them or by turning them into functional props, such as a fake candle or other items that would plausibly be found in each scene.
Moonlight Mayhem exits back onto the midway, just as the three indoor attractions do. This is great because I’m still ready to party and have a good time. I also need to buy all of the “I Survived” merch in the gift shop, which simply cannot be missed. To exit back into the parking lot, all guests must pass through it, tempting those impulse purchases and flaunting some really cool items in front of me.
The set design is simply gorgeous. Well built scenes and props lay the foundation of this cursed town, and even without actors it would be super creepy to walk this trail. Animatronic use is rather light, but they are definitely not needed here. Animatronics, it seems, are used as accents rather than main focal points, and this works very well for 13th World.
Much of the effects come in the form of light and sound with one scene flooding a room with fog, which turned into a laser swamp. There are several lighting effects happening in just about every scene, and they range from simple colored lights, to black light in the clown school, to lit up signs scattered throughout the trail. Ambient sound is present in a number of scenes such as the church which features an organ playing the first movement of Moonlight Sonata, the gas station which has a more abstract sound track playing outside, and the clown section which has evil circus-like music. Some scenes do not include an ambient track like the trailer park, as it would be drowned out by the onslaught of chainsaws revving constantly. Sound effects are used where necessary like the electrical zapping sounds in the finale, and the giant rat actormatronic in an early scene.
Coming back to the scene design, the inside of the clown school building is filled with black lights shining on the fluorescent paint all over the walls, making me feel as though I’ve just entered a fun house. I know the sign out front said Twisted Clown Training School, but I was immediately transported to another world. The inside of the church is another great example of scene design done right. As I turn to look down the row of pews, I see a flickering light at the altar, and the silhouette of a nun, ready to consume my soul. It’s almost as though this room was ripped out of a church and plopped down in the woods, with everything perfectly intact.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 9.2
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 9.5
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 9
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 8.5
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 8
I don’t usually get scared in most haunts, but I can see why so many people were screaming at 13th World. They are playing on a handful of classic fears that really get the juices pumping, like clowns, hillbillies, chainsaws, and Catholicism. There were actually a few actors and even animatronics that took me by surprise, coming from places that I was definitely not expecting. A lot of the scares don’t come from hiding spots, rather the actor is in plain view as you approach, and they just do something unexpected.
In many cases, it’s the intimidation factor that drives the scare rather than jump scares that come at opportunistic times. The chainsaw-wielding clown outside of the school delivers on this, by running across an open bit of field, chainsaw in hand. You’re not really sure what’s about to happen, but it won’t be pleasant. Something I didn’t see a lot of, and would work extremely well here, are distraction scares. There were a few spots where a small distraction was set up, but I think these could be used on a much grander scale, allowing for some really creative scares.
Almost all of the scares are actor-driven, which is nice to see, as they can put their own twist on things like timing, dialogue, and movement to give each individual customer their own personalized experience. They come from everywhere, too. For most of my journey, I was completely alone, but I did run into a group near the end as we approached the slaughterhouse saw mill. It really doesn’t make a lick of difference where you stand in the group; these actors will give everybody equal attention, and that is very appreciated.
The finale scenes see us moving through a hospital, building up to a huge, memorable ending, but that never really came. The crescendo of lights, sounds, and effects are really hinting at something big, and I was a little disappointed when a definite end just wasn’t there. I suppose one way the finale could be interpreted is that we’ve been severely injured by the countless murderous creatures along the way, and as we’re seeking medical assistance, the doctors just kill us instead.
This is one of the best all-around haunts I’ve ever seen, and absolutely one of the best price-to-quality ratios in the country. The GA ticket price almost feels too low for the show that’s being presented. If a ticket is purchased online, the lowest price is $33, which includes a $3 service fee, and is unavoidable. Purchasing tickets on site is $35, according to the website. My walkthrough time in Moonlight Mayhem came to around 23 minutes, and that gives us 0.7 minutes per dollar.
Despite the slightly low MPD, this is a stellar deal. Not only will you see an intense, well-built trail, you also get to experience three indoor attractions as many times as you want. That’s right, they’re not ticketed, so you can do laps through Hellfire House, North Pole Nightmare, and Prison of Torture if you so choose. There are also a handful of photo ops throughout the midway, three bars to get your drink on, and fun twists on classic carnival games.
If you’re feeling hungry, there is the Casket Cafe offering delicious food. If you’re up for something a little different, the buried alive simulator is available to ride for an additional cost. Do you want cool photos to put on your holiday cards? Check out the Slasher Theater photo experience, where you can pose in iconic scenes from some of your favorite horror movies and shows. Don’t forget to check out the gift shop on your way out, where you can find t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even collectible knives.
13th World Fright Park is a destination for anyone who loves Halloween. This crew is destined to become some of the top names in the haunt industry, and it’s only a matter of time before the word gets out that this is the place to see.
1701 Park Street, Palmer, Massachusetts 01069
