A 14-acre property packed with spooks, oddities, and peculiarities is rooted deep in the ground on Evansville’s west side. Facing Evil – A Dead Bird’s Production has entered its second year and has expanded to multiple haunted trails. This year, we traveled through The Invasion and The Cabin – and, on both accounts, we left feeling entirely bizarre. It’s unquestionably appropriate for all ages, and if you aren’t as into the startling side of the spooky season, there was a ton to do otherwise.

As we traveled through the haunts (one attached and leading into the other), we encountered several cast – they were coming from every direction- a lot of ghouls, witches, hillie billies, demented clowns, and more random character roles. As we weaved through the woods, we wondered if we were getting repeat actors, but the keen advantage of dipping in and out of the trees quickly made us feel disoriented.

With how quickly some actors moved, it was difficult to determine what/who we were looking at. But this haunt definitely nailed the polarity of having different cast types and levels – especially when actors would stand at the end of a path and not do anything – making us hella uncomfortable.

The cast interactions varied greatly throughout the haunt. Scene actors dove deep into their roles (some with unexpected talents), but other actors did more of an attempted noise-startle (“Woop”) and the occasional “run” or “get out.” The commonalities were spread far apart, but it still felt like no one wanted us there. It is not a bad feeling to have when it is obvious that we were invading their space.

Many characters opted for some uncanny scare tactic choices. We had no idea what to expect around each corner and had to really figure out what we were seeing, hearing, and feeling. The cast excelled at confusing us about what to expect next. We were definitely thrown into the strange side of spooky.

And shout out to our favorite tiny actor, MJ, whose piercing scream (surprisingly long) left us with chill bumps and ringing ears.

The costuming of actors also varied throughout the haunt. Peculiar was definitely the word to describe some of our ghoulish friends. Some actors had well-thought-out designs, with full face makeup and intricate details, which were definitely noticed. We had multiple masked-up casts, including well-known stars; one particular was familiar from The Predator. Several were all decked up in their overalls with crooked teeth and were dirty to their bones.

Others lacked some basics—under-mask eye makeup, dirt on the arm, etc. Some cast members had amazing makeup but lacked a complete costume look. However, the queue actors were wholly committed. There were actors who—even looking from a distance—made us question whether or not we wanted to get closer.

Without question, Facing Evil took time to ensure patrons’ experience of getting in and navigating the location was easy. The staff was kind and very present—actors (in character) helped ensure we followed the right path, and there were plenty of lights. Parking was relatively simple, with good guides and transparent pathways.

The line to grab our tickets was inside the merch trailer. It was a clearly marked path where payment was taken, and a waiver had to be signed. The staff was communicative and amicable; some wore makeup and masks.

We found everything we needed (information-wise) before we arrived. The only safety concern we encountered was on the haunt itself—a few roots sticking out that we couldn’t see, and the ground lights set up for us to follow were covered by natural debris.

Before the haunt, the vibe was unreal – hand-painted tapestries of horror films past completely covered the inside of the trailer we walked through to check-in. Characters were interacting with haunt-goers and a screen show we could watch. Samantha, a cast member inside the selfie station, was funny and great at her role (and what a makeup – you go, girl). There was a fire to sit around and some IMPRESSIVE animatronics.

Once in the haunt, we grasped the storylines well enough – though we had to get clarification post-walkthrough to help us discern where one haunt ended and the other haunt started. Our walk through The Invasion was consistent. We walked through various types of invasions, and it really kept us on our toes and prepared us to activate our flight responses. The Cabin held less silent time, keeping us more immersed overall, mainly by hillbillies and witches.

A few times, we were utterly yanked out of the story while on the walk-through—gaps in interactions, snacks, personal belongings, actors who (accidentally?) walked across the paths in front of us, etc. Despite having a few moments of “are-we-still-in-the-haunt?”, the cast we would find next would quickly have us back in the woods for more trickery.

The post-haunt was relatively tame, ending just outside the woods where we had entered, but once we got back to the to-do area, we were excited to take pictures and see more of what we hadn’t already seen.

WOW. The effort was apparent regarding sound fx, scene designs, and details with props. There were towering spooks, a fully smoking barbecue, hand-painted hieroglyphics, and a variety of other things that we found to be super impressive – for the creatives in our group, we got to really enjoy the colors, variety and sounds – not to mention the additional effects supplied by our natural surroundings. The few animatronics were placed and used perfectly to keep us on edge. Facing Evil definitely triumphed regarding sensory, sound, and design – and we loved it.

The Invasion. We walked through different types of invasions. A stand-out was the spider invasion scene. The webs surrounding us looked like an enormous spider had just wove them. A cast member wore a creepy mask that made us feel like they were going to trap us in one of the webs and suck us up to be bait for an even bigger prey. A group of chainsaw maniacs invaded our personal space effectively. Cast members traveled from one side of the trail in attempts to trap us.

The Cabin. An entirely different scare. We were invited to be a part of their wiener roast. They made it clear that we would be the ones cooked. “this meat will be good enough to feed my whole family.” After walking through the door of The Cabin, we were faced with torn walls and broken toilets. We walked down this hieroglyphic hall, where it seemed like a different curse was being cast upon us everywhere we looked. A little character crawled towards us and was the most intimidating scare we faced. As we walked away, she forced this high-pitched, eerie, bring-us-goosebumps scream upon us. MJ don’t play.

Although we didn’t really experience getting scared, we each at least got a good startle and heard the screams of other patrons echo through the trees. The cast clearly worked to ensure the whole group was incorporated and worked to get each of us several times. Unfortunately, in some areas, we could hear the cast coming (A disadvantage of fall in a heavily wooded area) – and the cast seemed to struggle with timing. At one point, we came up to a scene and saw the trickery unfold before getting to experience it – but the group in its midst definitely had a good scare. Most scares were of the startling variety, and although the second haunt just seemed to stop (with a really odd interaction for us), we really liked the creativity and unexpectedness overall from The Invasion.

Although the haunts themselves didn’t entirely leave us shaking in our boots, we had a ton of fun, and the experience of the out-of-wood area makes this attraction worth the visit. There is merchandise, food/snacks for sale, some fire pits to enjoy, a projected movie, and several photo-op stations. The queue actors were fantastic. The staff and actors went above and beyond to make this experience memorable.

There were several options regarding ticket sales. $55 for VIP, includes front-of-line access, a shirt, and more. They have no scare options available during different times, and they offer an outdoor and just movie option at $10. An all-season option at $125 is also available. They also were doing a canned food drive the night we went. One can was $1 off your ticket price up to five cans. We visited on one of the busier nights, and the waiting line took a while to get through, so the VIP is truly valuable. The standard ticket price is $25, so with that option and our walk-through time of 20 mins and 33 seconds to get through both haunts, the MPD (minutes-per-dollar) ended up at .81, just shy of the national average of 1.1.

We did get some profound insight into what’s coming in future seasons – many upgrades and updates, and let’s just say it’s gonna be thrice as exciting.