Exiled KC Review (2024)

If you have been following along with Exiled on their social media pages and/or the forum, you would know that the cast is one of the major selling points of this attraction.

The trail itself, which was considered Level 1 and had the most foot traffic, offers an array of different characters like clowns, cultists, rednecks, and more. While you may not get the full story from these characters, they still have plenty of their own dialogue that fits into who they are portraying. They offer guests special and unique interactions that can lead you astray from your group, as well as ask personal questions and pry deeper into your answer. The cast is not afraid to touch you, make you extremely uncomfortable, and get into your personal bubble. Our highlights of the trail include Roach Burn the Clown, the dentist, and the cultists.

Level 2 and Level 3 are where you will uncover most of the overarching story that Exiled has to tell. While you may see a glimpse of the story and certain important characters throughout the trail, the next two levels are where you will uncover the major plot points.

Interacting and engaging with the cast is the most important aspect of this attraction, as you will uncover the story piece by piece through these characters. The longer you interact with them, the more information you uncover, and they will also possibly provide you with special tasks to carry out that will dive you deeper into the story. Every single character you meet has a distinct personality, history, interests, opinions, mannerisms, and more.

In Levels 2 and 3, you will interact with two different factions that are at odds with each other: The Redcurves and the Elites. The Redcurves are a family of rednecks with crude outer shells, but heart under the surface, while the Elites are the mysterious suit-wearing puppet masters of the operation. Some of the stand-out interactions we had with the Redcurves include Hesta, Frank, Stevie, Dorothea, and Lily. The Redcurves range from sweet, funny, creepy, disturbing, and, in rare cases, extremely loving. Dorothea is the acting leader of his kin, who is featured in many promotional videos. While we do not want to spoil our experience with Dorothea and Lily specifically, we do want to mention how our time with them was utterly horrifying, devastating, and beautiful. It left us feeling completely raw by the end of the interaction. Our time spent with them was truly special and is something we have been reflecting on since our visit.

The Elites, while we do not want to spoil much, are the direct opposite of the Redcurves and it very much shows in how they treat and interact with participants. Our time spent with them was certainly the most unnerving and uncomfortable. The tension was thick, and we had to be ready for whatever they threw our way. One of the most peculiar Elites is known as the Dairy Man, who we absolutely adore. If you visit, you will know why he was given this name by the community. He has become a sense of security for our team personally throughout all of the wild experiences we had.
While he may not be there every night, there was a particular person who was running around all night making sure that everything was running smoothly and also being directly involved in the action. We were lucky enough to interact with him, even while he was playing a character of himself. While we don’t expect to see him again, his presence only makes the experience more intense and memorable, especially when he called us out directly.

There is one more character we would like to mention, opulens. (Yes, he prefers his name to be lowercase) This is a character we have to dance around discussing directly, but we just want to say how impressed and blown away we are by his dedication, hard work, memory retention, and balancing multiple things at once. He would seemingly appear out of thin air during our visit, and we found him lingering no matter where we went. He is an intimidating and intense presence, but that only made his impact hit deeper. Our interaction with him will not be forgotten anytime soon.

These characters have been extremely thought out and well written, from the most serious and strict Elites to the goofiest Redcurve. All of the actors were in character the entire time, even while it seemed like they were talking to another actor privately. You are truly brought into their world, with top-notch dialogue and interactions.

It is up to you who you choose to interact with, but don’t be surprised if one of the Redcurve family members decides to strike up a conversation with you out of the blue or if someone in a suit begins watching and following you for an eerily amount of time. Throughout our experience, we also witnessed randomly timed events that make each experience unique to each guest, so it is heavily encouraged to explore.

Levels 2 and 3 will also be the most personalized experiences, as they may ask you very deep and intruding questions that could affect your experience with them. We have had the privilege to be following along in this story since June/July, interacting with Exiled through Instagram and the Forum on their website, so they made our experience extremely personalized to us. Don’t fret if you are coming in completely unknown, as they will still be able to dig deep if you are willing to commit, engage, and interact.

The cast is absolutely spectacular and provided us with some of the most heart-wrenching, devastating, hilarious, intimate, and terrifying interactions we have experienced yet.

The costuming for Exiled, while nothing extravagant, is very effective. The trail will contain more of the traditional costuming you may expect from a haunt but without any department store outfits or masks. Given the story of this haunt, the costuming actually fits extremely well as it appears that these clothes have been either provided by the actors themselves, funded by the Elites, or pulled from the Redcurve’s storage. They have varying degrees of distressing depending on which character is presented. Our favorite outfit on the trail was Roach Burn the Clown, who had a very unique look and layering to her clown outfit.

The Redcurves dressed mainly as what you expect from rednecks. Overalls, plaid, boots, bandanas, with varying degrees of weathering and blood/mud. Some Redcurves were dirtier than others, and their outward appearance directly reflects who they are as characters. You notice such minor details that tell these rednecks apart visually. Hesta had a bit of an elevated style of fashion, and you can tell that she is free-spirited and enjoys venturing outside of the country life. Meanwhile Frank has herbs tucked away in his shirt pocket that he fiddles with while getting lost in his thoughts. Hector, one of the offputting Redcurves, had his entire head covered in mud, and it was only slightly concerning as he served popcorn to us. The amount of blood each character has on them also tells us how brutal they may be. The Redcurves poured blood, sweat, and sometimes tears into this haunt, and it’s very apparent in their clothing.

Meanwhile, the Elites stick out in this strange carnival in the middle of the forest as they wear expensive suits and clothing. The Elites mostly wore black with varying colors through their designer shirts, jewelry, accessories, and matching suits. Our favorite fit from the Elites was the matching rose suit set.

The costuming, while not over the top, was extremely effective in keeping the realism and immersion of this attraction.

The non-character staff were extremely kind and helpful with each guest.

The information online was very informative, easy to find, and helpful, with plenty of information about what to expect from each Level. Along with the website, there is also a forum where you can ask questions yourself. They also send at least two emails further clarifying information before arrival.

There are no safety concerns, but you will be out in the woods as this is an entirely outdoor attraction, thus you are dealing with all of the elements. We heavily advise you to dress appropriately and watch your step, especially on the trail.

We would also advise to be prepared for the possibility of your time slot getting slightly adjusted, depending on your ticket type. They will let you know hours in advance.

What more could be said about the immersion that hasn’t already been discussed in the previous sections? Exiled made us feel like the main characters in our own horror movie. We weren’t just experiencing it as background characters, but we were a part of the story and our choices actively decided what happened during our visit.

For an immersive haunt, the immersion itself was top-notch. The best aspects of the immersion come with the characters, but the setting of this haunt, the Crooked Rose Woods, felt like a character in itself.

The story is extremely intriguing, fascinating, and ever-growing. While our team knew a large majority of the story going into it, we found that the storyline was laid out everywhere, even for guests who don’t know everything, making this extremely accessible for anyone. Level 1 may be limited on what they experience storywise, but there are special moments woven throughout that give guests an idea of what’s going on. While we cannot directly confirm this information, it is assumed that along with your ticket confirmation, you will also be provided a bit of insight into the story of the attraction before you arrive. It is encouraged to go through this information on your way to the attraction. Depending on your ticket, the story building can begin hours before you even arrive.

Everything flowed seamlessly between the Trail, Carnival, and Tent, and they did a great job disguising and hiding anything that would be considered “behind the scenes.”

There was barely a flicker that took you out of the immersion of the haunt. The cast is on the entire time, even when you’re not looking, or they don’t think they are being seen. They have eyes and ears all over the place, and it created this constant state of anxiety as you are never truly alone.

In terms of special effects, it was clear that they thought of every single tiny detail.
As you enter the Midway, you are filled with the music you expect from rednecks. The trail had an ominous soundtrack to it, and even the tent had its own strange soundtrack that was extremely fitting. There were small sound effects that were happening in the background that ended up having relevance in a significant way later on and not just there for the sake of it.

You can tell that this attraction was put together by the characters you interact with and didn’t have any detail that felt unrealistic. The gore used in this attraction is what you can expect from a horror movie director like Darren, it was incredibly realistic and had our team truly shocked in certain moments.

The lighting was very well thought out and used appropriately as well. The trail was dark and dim, while the midway was mostly bright throughout, but had dark corners you could potentially go to and within some of the tents like in Frank’s Apothecary. The OPULENCE tent’s lighting was ominous and the fog within made it feel like you were in a hazy nightmare, especially once you’re a few drinks in.

Exiled offers a different type of horror and fear to its guests. You could go through this experience without being scared once, or you could find yourself unable to commit to what is being asked of you. The beauty of Exiled is that the fear is crafted and personalized to you.

The trail itself has some great jump scares, unnerving moments, atmospheric building of suspense, and intense scenes happening in front of you. While our team did get a few scares during the trail, it was more intense in what was being asked of us in Levels 2 and 3. We had to disconnect ourselves from the standards of our world to commit to the bit, no matter how humiliating, dark, or extreme it was. We watched others around us succeed and fail. It was scary in the sense that we didn’t know what would happen next and how they would react to any word spoken or any action taken.

This haunt has redefined horror and the potential that haunts have.

Level 1 tickets start at $49, Level 2 starts at $89, and Level 3 starts at $199 before tax and fees. You can upgrade your ticket online, as well as add ticket protection and a $50 merch voucher. For Level 3, you do have to fill out very personal questions when purchasing the ticket. Our Level 3 experience includes both Levels 1 and 2, and in total, we were at Exiled for over 4 and a half hours.

The Midway included in Levels 2 and 3 offers the most bang for your buck, with carnival food, an operating bar, and optional mini-games you can play. There is so much packed into the Midway, and even with how long we were there, we only scratched the surface of what you can do while you are there.

To say that the tickets were worth every penny is an understatement.

The best way to experience Exiled is by visiting yourself. Our advice? Dive deep, explore, and experience everything you can. Don’t be afraid to interact and commit to the bit when asked, be vulnerable, let yourself go down the rabbit hole, and be immersed in the story Exiled has to tell. Everyone involved with Exiled has created something magical, and this immersive has stuck with us days after our visit.

Even as we write this review, we truly don’t know if our experience is truly over.