A Petrified Forest Review (2024)

Undoubtedly, the cast at A Petrified Forest were some of the strongest cast members we’ve seen all season. We never saw a character break once, even in the midway, or in the outdoor ticket line to get in. I don’t think we heard a “Boo”, “Go Away”, or “Get Out” all night. Instead, the cast spoke in character, whether it was to torture us with another deadly game, lead us into a chainsaw chase, or help us plot a path for escape from the town of Faireview.

The standout for the night was LifeLine. The trail had such a unique concept, and storyline, we had to buy into and the cast sold every second of it! Full dramatic scenes played out before us as we held onto our own personal lifeline (a rope) for our lives. For example, as soon as we entered and navigated through the dark for roughly 50 seconds, we met Ginny and Conrad, who ran into each other with flashlights and were having a back-and-forth about a spider.

Ginny: I thought I felt a spider.
Conrad: I don’t see any spiders!
Ginny: Did you say see? Conrad, are you not wearing your blindfold?
Conrad: Come on, Ginny, everyone knows it’s just…

Their flashlights abruptly extinguished and all we could hear were screams. We were in the dark again, but able to start piecing together the need to wear a blindfold, to stay safe. As we ventured further into the trail, the cast began to talk about Dr. Graham, his malicious practices, and the need for escape. The story came across so clearly and powerfully, and it was all because of the dedicated cast in the trail. Truly, it was horror theatre brought to life.

The costuming at A Petrified Forest had enough detail that tied perfectly to the themes of each trail. In LifeLine, the tortured townsfolk of Faireview wore distressed white gowns with blindfolds, while some actors had enhanced makeup effects, such as gouged-out eye sockets, and carried their own severed eyes in their hands. We weren’t disappointed when we finally met one of the creatures attacking the town (we won’t give the design away), and think it was a terrific costume design that utilized a mask and extended limbs creatively. In Deadly Games, the Bob Barker-esque game show host immediately set the tone, leading us into a variety of deadly game themes. Each section featured distinct, game-specific costumes, from neon-painted actors in the toys section, to vibrant clowns in the circus. In Estate of DeKay, a living statue in the garden startled us by coming to life and spraying water from her hands, adding an unexpected and immersive touch to the trail.

Parking onsite at A Petrified Forest is not available unless you need it for accessible purposes. Instead, A Petrified Forest monitors two off-site lots right down the street, and provides complimentary transportation to the attraction entrance via a Terror Trolley. We attended on a Saturday night and the lots were packed. While there were parking attendants present, it would be helpful to equip them with light wands to help them stand out. After parking, we opted to skip the trolley and took the quick six-minute walk down the street, to the entrance.

Before entering, you will have to go through a security checkpoint (always welcomed) and then have the option of purchasing tickets onsite or proceeding to get your ticket stamped to enter the midway. To manage crowds, each guest is assigned a color upon entering. As soon as your color is called, you get in line for one of the haunted attractions. After exiting the first trail, all guests can utilize the Fast Pass lanes for the other two attractions, so you only have to wait in the regular line once.

A Petrified Forest has its crowd management down to a science, and while it was very busy on the night we went, guests were pulsed through the attractions quickly and efficiently. Each employee we spoke with was a returning veteran, and we quickly felt the love each staff member had for the haunt. Their website has all you need to know to have a successful night out, including all ticket options, attraction backstories, parking details, and nights of operation.

A Petrified Forest is a fully immersive haunt that ties the overarching storyline of “Societies in Shadow” into each of their haunted trails. We recommend visiting the website to read up on the full story before attending, as we didn’t see the trail storylines upon arrival. Most impressively, A Petrified Forest changes the full story every year, so there will be a new set of trails with a connected backstory in 2025. It makes each year unique and always worth a return visit.

The storyline for Deadly Games was relatively easy to follow as we traversed from game to game, narrowly escaping with our lives. We had a harder time following the storyline for Estate of DeKay. Still, we appreciated the expansive set design and attention to detail as we traveled through the mansion and estate grounds. We may sound like a broken record, but the storyline in LifeLine was the highlight of the evening. The twist of having to hold on to a rope, the entire time to navigate the pitch-dark trail, had us hooked from the get-go and was such a risky concept that paid off in full.

If we had one recommendation, we would place an actor by the entrance warning you to put your blindfold on and to hold the rope instead of having the house attendant do it. Other than that, LifeLine is currently our top pick for the most immersive haunted trail of the season.

The special effects at A Petrified Forest are crafted to enhance the overall experience. Full-scale facades are built for each attraction, creating an immersive environment right from the start.

Instead of focusing on animatronics, the trails use its actors to deliver intense, well-timed scares. In Deadly Games, standout effects included neon pink boxing gloves punching out from a wall to “attack” as we walked by, a disorienting laser swamp, and a chilling walk through a dilapidated school bus filled with perfectly timed fog bursts.

LifeLine showed us just how terrifying bright lights can be. The attraction expertly kept us in pitch darkness for extended periods, only to blind us with sudden, harsh flashes of light accompanied by a buzzing sound. The contrast between the darkness and the light is so jarring that our eyes were constantly struggling to readjust, leaving us completely disoriented and reliant on a rope to guide us through the forest.

There’s something to scare everyone at A Petrified Forest, whether it’s clowns, chainsaws, aliens, killer pigs, or complete darkness. Actors came at us from above on bungees and zip lines, below us through fireplaces and swamps, and from the sides behind curtains, walls, and cornfields.

Speaking of, we loved the triple scare in the cornfield portion of Estate of DeKay. As we walked into the open field, an actor dressed as a tour guest of the estate, and popped out to scare us. At first, we thought it was an actual haunt goer trying to prank us, but we were quickly mistaken. As she was screaming for help, because her boyfriend was taken, an actor wielding a chainsaw popped out from the side and chased our group leader halfway through the field before doubling back and attacking the next person in our group. As the character continued to chase us toward the field exit, a second chainsaw-wielding character popped up to create a sequence of triple scares!

Overall, our group found LifeLine to be the scariest of the night with Deadly Games coming in as a close second, and rated the scares at A Petrified Forest a solid 8 out of 10!

With ticket prices starting at $34.98 and three trails averaging 7 – 8 minutes each, A Petrified Forest is a good value for your dollar. It took us 22 minutes to complete all three trails, which breaks down to .63 minutes of scares per dollar spent.

The courtyard was packed with eight food trucks, local vendors, and an adorable goat named Happy! While waiting for your color to be called, you can enjoy music spun by a DJ while trying to avoid the roaming scare actors waiting to pounce on you when you’re distracted.

You can opt to add on a variety of upgrade options like backstage tours, laser tag, and midway games. Tickets can be purchased at the event (while supplies last), but we highly recommend purchasing your tickets in advance online before attending. All tickets include free parking and a themed trolley ride to the event.

We did experience the Interactive Ambulance Operation Game and thought it was a ton of fun and very interactive. It’s not a timed experience, so you don’t feel rushed to get through it in a limited amount of time. You and your group need to dig through a corpse looking for keys to escape before you become the next patient in an insane asylum. It’s worth the $8 upgrade if you’re looking to continue the spooky fun at A Petrified Forest.