Facing Evil, A Dead Bird’s production has brought scares and fear to Evansville, Indiana, for years, and they didn’t fall short of that this year. They brought us a version of Carnevil that will remain etched in our brains, and the gypsies that performed in the Freakshow are bound to haunt our memories for a long time.
This show performed masterfully. Many changes were made from last year, making all areas shine brightly and creating a more effective show overall. We were pleasantly impressed to say the least.
The Freakshow and Carnevil brought us several different types of cast members. From clowns, creeps, convicts, freaks, gypsies, a contortionist, to construction workers luring you into their white van, this haunt was not short of cast members.
Once we started interacting with the cast, the interactions didn’t stop. They kept us well entertained like a good carnival would. Each cast member played their role, and none of them mirrored another. From screams, pure creepiness, uncanny violin playing, and a boneless girl with lungs of pure steel, to incredibly banter that pushed us well out of our comfort zone, this haunt offered an incredible variety of actors, making us truly feel like we were watching a performance in each area. The only confusion of the night came from the convicts. Although the actors played their parts well, we didn’t understand why there were escaped convicts in the middle of a carnival tent.
We interacted with two queue actors and a real psychic/tarot reader during our visit. The tarot reader dressed and acted her part beautifully. We assumed one queue actor, the ringleader, gave us a good time waiting in line for our tickets. He had a very interesting creature coming from his stomach, and he wanted us to pet it! A little boy also waiting in line thought that was gross and refused. I, on the other hand, had to touch the little pet that looked like some sort of flesh-made animal, also a little hairy. I’m not going to lie; it was a little gross. The other queue actor stood well over us and stayed silent, except for his little toy, which gave us a good jump scare before we were even in line!
The Facing Evil cast was all truly entertaining and a whole lot of fun!
We started experiencing the masterful costuming and makeup as we walked up to the ticket/merch trailer with a tall, freaky clown on stilts. Covered from head to long legs with makeup and costuming that seemed specifically catered to the Carnevil theme of the haunt this year. Along with that came your typical clowns and other carnival characters. We didn’t notice any incomplete makeup or costuming, but we were a little confused when we walked into the circus tent and found some convicts. Although their makeup and costume application were crafted well, we didn’t understand why they escaped to a circus tent. Besides that, no two costumes matched another; each seemed to be a specific design for every individual character. There was always something new to look at. The makeup was incredibly creepy, uniquely applied, and fascinating to look at, to say the least.
Facing Evil was super easy to find. They had all their information on Facebook and their website. Although navigating the construction on the west side of Evansville wasn’t ideal, the GPS still took us directly to the parking area.
Two large pumpkin skeletons on each side of the well-lit and noticeable “Facing Evil” sign let us know we were in the right place! There was a sign directing us to enter for parking, and parking attendants led us to a perfect parking spot. It can’t really get better than that.
The staff in the ticket/merch trailer were nice. Keeping things short and sweet, they talked to us briefly and sent us on our way to the line for the haunt entry.
Ticket prices, location, dates and times, and other activities offered were all well-defined on the Facing Evil website and Facebook page. All were easy to navigate, and we were able to find all the information we needed.
Approaching Facing Evil, the pre-haunt atmosphere was perfect. With fog, some animatronics, and an outstanding queue actor, we knew we were in for a memorable night.
Although it took us a few minutes to start getting action from the cast and scenery, once we did, it didn’t end. We had a body in a bag thrown at us as we walked down a long trail. We met a few characters who started off with slick banter, which created an uncomfortable feeling as we walked around a car where a character used a grinder to create a spark effect. This raised a real concern or fear that our hair might catch on fire! We walked up to a gypsy who warned us not to go inside the trailer, as not only were they hungry for our physical bodies, but hungry for our souls as well! The details inside the gypsy trailer stood out. Our interaction with the gypsies was short and sweet, but effective to say the least.
After leaving the gypsy trailer, we immediately entered a white, giant, circus tent that took us on an unexpected journey. An unnaturally tall character in a wedding dress welcomed us inside the tent. Every twist and corner featured beautiful hand-made paintings and signs. One stand-out painting was the elephant man; uncomfortably beautiful.
One actor did take us out of the immersion as they stood at the end of a hallway putting their phone up to their ear. As we walked by, they just stood there, having no interaction with us at all. That was an unfortunate misstep in keeping our team fully immersed inside the circus tent. Other than that, the rest of the cast kept us on our toes, not knowing what was coming next.
Our spidey senses were on overdrive, and we were bamboozled on the way out, leading us to a way too quiet walkway directly back into the parking lot.
My favorite haunt sound effect was here. I love orchestral ambiance, and a real violinist in the circus tent mesmerized us—formidable and beautifully terrifying.
Other than the violin, they used sound throughout the circus tent. Beyond a horror circus-themed soundtrack, we could hear screams of terror, cast screaming at and taunting us, chainsaws revving, horns blaring, and various other bangs and loud noises.
Visually, inside the tent was nice to look at, even if some of the horrifically beautiful artwork gave us uneasy feelings. There were art or props in most of the sections of the tent that we walked through. We would like to mention, however, that some of the walls or sides of the tent lay bare, leaving room for more masterpieces in future shows.
21. How scary was it? (35% of score): 7.5
22. How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? (15% of score): 8
23. How predictable were the scares? (25% of score): 7.65
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
Freakshow and Carnevil are the perfect verbiage for the show we witnessed, experienced, and became a part of. From the minute we started engaging with the cast, they gave their all for the most part, and we went on a roller coaster of emotions that, simply, a good, haunted house will do to you. We were tag-teamed at the very beginning by a few cast members who slowly crept beside us and made several comments. They led us to a white van filled with various items, where one character was using a grinder, and another character gave us two options. 1. A quick death if we enter the tent, or 2. A slow and possibly painful death, with possible satisfaction if we chose the van. We walked up to the van, looked inside, weighed our options, and BANG! A scare that almost made us need to use the bathroom. We chose option 1 and entered the tent looking for our impending doom, and I think we found it.
The circus tent fueled us with fear, around most twists and turns, we encountered a different scare. Getting us from in front, behind, and above is important. We witnessed a little girl contortionist who had an unforgettable set of lungs. “Beware of the girl with no bones,” they said. We heard them, but we didn’t listen. My eardrum is still ringing.
Although they included some typical screamers, jump scares, and chainsaws, they also used a variety of other scare tactics. The performance included claustrophobia, disorientation, strobe lights used in horrifying ways, bodies moving in unpredictable ways, and, worth mentioning again, an amazing violin player perfectly staged in the middle of the tent to grab our attention and divert our focus from what was next. The word uncanny describes the scene perfectly.
Facing Evil had several different options for Tickets. There was an outdoor scare and movie, no haunts option available for $10, a general admission ticket for $25, A VIP ALL AXES-Scare Pass for $59, and an ALL SEASON Scare Axes Pass for $99. It took our team 13 minutes to get through the haunt; we did run at least 30 seconds of that, which puts the MPD at .52. Although this was lower than what we like to see (1 MPD), all the other available activities make it well worth your bank. They have a photo op area where you will get pictures emailed to you at no extra cost!
They have a tarot reader/psychic that you can choose to participate in at no extra cost! The psychic present on the night of our visit connected with and tuned into our energy, read our cards, and gave us an uplifting, empowering message that was well appreciated! There is also a bonfire outside where we could sit, and they had s’more items available for purchase inside the merch/ticket trailer!
Facing Evil has changed drastically since last year. Even though it took us less time to go through, it was more immersive and fear-inducing. We are excited to see what this gem of a haunt has in store for the future.
3800 Claremont Ave, Evansville, Indiana 47712