Located on the northern outskirts of Grand Rapids, Michigan, lies a farm with a horrifying past. The Legend of Abandoned Acres is written in blood and is something straight from your nightmares. With two terrifying attractions that both stretch well past a half mile long, you will surely think twice about entering any corn field.
The Bloody Butcher Corn maze is where you learn the legend of Old Eli and his bride, who had died. Overrun with inbred hillbillies, mutant pumpkin creatures, and sinister scarecrows, by the time you meet Buzzsaw, you’ll wish you had stayed in the car.
Big Top Terror Vision 3D is the result of local townsfolk who ignored the legend of Old Eli. They had set up a circus on the old, abandoned acres when mysteriously the Big Top went up in flames on the unholy ground of Old Eli. Now the circus finds new life every fall, bringing with it a gaggle of demonic clowns that are looking to take the souls of anyone who dares to enter.
The cast is anything but short-staffed, with roughly 80 actors on any given night, and I must say they are an unsettling bunch of misfits. You know, we wouldn’t want it any other way! From filthy hillbillies and silent scarecrows to loud, obnoxious clowns, each actor embodied their character and brought them to life. Each precisely placed for the perfect scares, whether that be in the corn or in one of the many scenes.
The actors at Abandoned Acres are creative and resourceful, using their surroundings and sets to tell their own personal stories, making you genuinely feel like these might not just be actors. They taunt you, follow you, and tease you. One clown had a chilling nursery rhyme, if you will, he whispered repeatedly as he stalked us in the corn, “In the corn the people went, to try and escape the clowns, and when they thought they had gotten away, SPLAT! Went the people.”
We found out that everyone partakes in the scares at Abandoned Acres. One of their security guards has a split personality, if you will. Sometimes a security guard, and sometimes a silent, unsightly ghoul who wore a mask of what looked to be skin and flesh. He changed back and forth through the night. He would make friends with someone as the security guard, then torment them in character, and the visitor was none the wiser.
With the number of actors at Abandoned Acres, you would think costuming would be a daunting task. With multiple makeup artists, high-end masks, and a large costume area full of clothes and accessories, they take costuming seriously. With the size of the cast, it was an impressive sight.
From the midway/queue actors to the leading attraction actors, everyone we encountered was in full costume. The hillbillies wore tattered clothes, flannel, and straw hats, all wielding weapons like hatchets or hammers. The scarecrows wore dirty, worn-out overalls and wore detailed, frightening masks. Most of the clowns had painted faces; each one had its own personality, and no two were the same. Each creep we faced had a unique name that reflected its character, truly showing that these costumes were thoroughly thought through.
Abandoned Acres is located just a short 17-minute drive from downtown Grand Rapids, and we easily found it using maps. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a team of parking lot attendants, making it easy to find a parking spot. The parking area was well-lit, graveled, and marked with lines, making maneuvering the area easy.
As you approach the midway, you are welcomed by staff, asked whether you have purchased tickets online, and, if not, directed to the ticket booth. Abandoned Acres is cash-only, but don’t panic if you forget cash; they have an ATM on-site. The rest of the staff at Abandoned Acres are professional and friendly as well. From the ticket booth attendants to the security guards, everyone was willing to help and go the extra mile for everyone visiting.
Abandon’s website has all of the information one needs to plan their visit. From location, date, and times to buying tickets in advance, they have you covered.
Surrounded by tall corn on all sides, combined with a cast that torments visitors, while standing in a queue line or hanging out in the midway, it’s hard not to be immersed as you spend your time here. The music played kept the mood fun and playful.
Although there are two attractions with very different themes, one of which would typically not make sense in a corn field, the lore of Abandoned Acres does a great job of uniting them. Both attractions kept us immersed throughout, each delving deeper into the unsettling story that is the legend of Abandoned Acres.
Once you exit The Bloody Butcher Corn Maze, you are spit out back at the midway and next to the entrance to the queue line for Big Top Terror Vision. Allowing you to jump right into the following line or take a break and enjoy some of the other things Abandoned Acres has to offer.
One thing that we mentioned a few times while visiting Abandoned Acres was the fact that, whether you were midway or in the haunt, you could not hear the other. On the Midway, you had the music playing but could never hear what lingered in the corn, and while in the corn, you could not hear the music of the midway, just the sounds of crows that cawed in the distance. It created that eerie feeling that you may be lost deep within the corn.
Even though Abandoned Acres’s two attractions are in corn fields, they utilize many shacks and outbuildings to help create detailed and realistic scenes. In The Bloody Butcher Corn Maze, you enter old barns, a butcher shop, and old cabins that are inhabited by terrifying characters. In Big Top Terror Vision, you set foot into clown tents, the circus cinema, and a rundown bus that has been infested with high-energy neon clowns, each scene more detailed than the last.
The Bloody Butcher Corn Maze utilizes a darker tone with darker colors and shadows. There were many lifelike, well-timed animatronics scattered throughout the maze, which was great for a corn maze. The Big Top Terror Vision had a bright, colorful palette. With the 3D glasses, the corn stalks seemed to multiply before your eyes, creating a feeling that you were experiencing a bad acid trip while navigating the maze.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 7.63
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 8.25
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 8.5
24. How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? (10% of score): 7.5
25. How strong was the ending / finale? (15% of score): 7.5
There is something unsettling when you visit a cornfield at night. The towering walls of rustling leaves swaying in the breeze. The uncertainty that something could be lurking in the darkness just off the path. Watching. Waiting. Your mind begins to turn on itself. Did you see something, hear something? Or was it just your imagination?
At Abandoned Acres, all these questions fill your head as you walk the winding trails of the two attractions. When you think you’re safe, you quickly learn that nobody is safe. Deploying multiple scare tactics – like jump scares, distractions, suspense, disorientation, and more – there is no escaping.
The cast does a great job scaring everyone in the group, like I said before, nobody is safe. The finale of Bloody Butcher Corn Maze was by far the strongest this year. You’re chased out of the corn by Buzzsaw and a few other misfits lurking in the dark. As for Big Top Terror, we were hoping for more of a finale after experiencing such a strong one at the Bloody Butcher.
We were delighted with the entertainment of both attractions and were pleasantly surprised that general admission for Abandoned Acres’ two attractions is a consistent $35 throughout the entire season. Both attractions took us 33 minutes to complete, bringing the MPD (Minutes Per Dollar) to 0.94, the best we’ve seen so far this year. They also offer fast passes and a Super Slasher VIP Pass, which is highly valuable. One thing we would like to see is some entertainment while you wait in line.
Besides the main attractions, Abandoned Acres offers a 5-minute escape room for $5, multiple photo ops, and a nice little merch store. They also offer warm mini doughnuts and cider to complete the perfect fall experience. Just outside the main entrance, they showcase local food and coffee trucks from the Grand Rapids area.
I was also threatened by my wife, who told me I needed to mention they have goats, and if I didn’t, there would be consequences…. So, with that, they have goats for all you goat people out there.
7737 Fruit Ridge Ave NW, Sparta, Michigan 49345
