Fear Field Review (2020)

During our moonlit stroll, we encountered ten different actors. Most of these actors played double or triple duty as they darted around the haunt to appear in multiple areas. This gave the effect of about sixteen different interactions. However, there was an area near the end of the haunt where two minutes went by with no interaction. The buildup of anticipation was good as we kept waiting for someone to jump out, but to our dismay, there was no payoff. Due to the limited special effects, that we will discuss later, the lack of actors in this area was noticeable.

Most of the characters we encountered inside the haunt fit the traditional hillbilly stereotype. Paul (the director) provided the most authentic performance of the evening. Paul gave the story of the haunt and some general directions. He had a slow southern draw in his speech with a creepy undertone of malice. He informed us that we could use our phones as lights to help walk through the haunt. He was also quick with some adlibbing too. Paul also popped up a few times as we walked through the haunt to add a scare.

We also came across a young girl looking for her mother. My teammate shined his phone light on her out of curiosity to see what she looked like. This caused her to freak out and scream about the light, good improvisation. She would pop up again later informing us that her cousin Jethro would eat us. Another hillbilly popped out but did not say much. He made a return later telling us he would eat us (Jethro, perhaps?). At one point I had a stalker behind me following letting me know they would eat us alive, he was also a hillbilly. These guys only seemed to have one thing on their minds. Another character asked if we were trying to steal his moonshine, which I was definitely up for! As we walked through the area we could hear the actors yelling back and forth warning each other about us ‘city slickers.’ We felt this added to the realism of the scenario. This back and forth also added to the anxiety of trying to determine where they were from.

Outside of the hillbilly motif, we ran into two odd characters. One was a pig/man butcher who wanted to eat our faces. He was in the slaughter area which kind of made sense. Perhaps these hillbillies resorted to beastiality and created a pigman, or maybe he was just wearing the head of a pig. Either is quite disturbing. The second character that felt out of place was a clown. He did a great job acting. He sounded very creepy and energetic. Maybe undead hillbillies need comic relief to help kill time between eating people.

Finally, the biggest scare of the evening came from the smallest actor at the haunt. As we were distracted by the clown we turned around to find a child actor standing in front of us. His quick appearance and small stature for some reason took us extremely off-guard causing quite a jump. Good job little man!

The costuming of the characters was on par for the theme of the haunt with a few exceptions as mentioned earlier. The hillbillies donned jeans and plaid/flannel shirts. They appeared dirty and bloody. Nothing exceptional but it fit the main theme perfectly. A few other characters fell outside of the hillbilly wardrobe. The first character we met was a woman in a dark hooded robe who led us to the seating area before entering the haunt. Perhaps she was the witch that cursed the town folk? In the waiting area, there was a photo op with a special guest actor named SkinKrawl from Columbus, OH. He had the best and most intimidating costume of the evening and I wish we would have encountered him inside the haunt. He wore a mask consisting of a discolored skin tone and a ripped face. Blood covered his face and his jumpsuit. Most of his head was bald with thin strands of bloody hair falling down around him. After we took our photo, Paul (the owner), led us into the haunt. He sported bloody clothes with a bloody surgical mask covering his face. The young girl discussed earlier who was looking for her mom wore a dirty white dress or nightgown, it was hard to tell in the evening. Her face appeared pale and dirty as well. The pig butcher had a detailed pig mask that looked like a real pig’s head. His clothing consisted of overalls or perhaps a butcher’s apron. The clown wore a black and white ensemble. His mask was white with black accents around the eyes and nose. The jumpsuit itself was black and white striped with polka dots.

I would like to note that inside the haunt (which is technically all outside) the majority of the light is provided by the moonlight and some tiki torches throughout. This made it very difficult to see some of the finer detail in the costumes and d������������������cor. As we found out from the girl in the white dress, the vagabonds did not like us shining our lights on them.
The costuming was adequate and fit the theme but nothing we have not seen before. Thanks to the theme and the design of the haunt the need for extravagant costumes is not necessarily needed and did not feel like it was lacking.

Finding Fear Field was easy using GPS. On Fear Field’s website, there is a link to take you directly to Google Maps for directions. However, as we arrived closer it was difficult to see the signs leading to the haunt. A light source on the sign would be very beneficial because this is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and it is very dark out there. In fact, driving around this area may be the scariest part of the night. There was plenty of parking in the field and there was an individual guiding customers where to park. He also helped customers with their time slots and directing them when to go into the haunt area. Due to Covid, customers are to stay in their vehicles until instructed to proceed to the ticket booth. All the staff encountered were helpful and professional.

As previously stated, the haunt is all outdoors and has very limited light outside of natural moonlight in most areas. One area is illuminated by a black light. The trail will take you through the woods where there will be wood chips, dirt, rocks, trees, and tree branches on the walkway. There are also a few small hills to travel up and down. We did not find anything dangerous outside of walking through the woods at night. Normal walking speed, paying attention, and using your phone for light, should help avoid any tripping hazards. All of this information is also provided on their website.

Speaking of Fear Field’s website, it provides plenty of information to the most frequently answered questions. Tickets can also be purchased through their site. Fear Field also has a strong presence on most social media platforms.
Also provided on their site is their safety plan for Covid-19. They have a downloadable PDF listing all procedures. From what we could tell they seemed to follow the majority of their rules. We did wear face masks the whole time, however, the actors did not. The actors did maintain a safe distance. They did have hand sanitizer stations around the haunt and the porta-potties smelled like bleach which seemed as if they were keeping up with cleaning them. Since we were outside, wearing our masks, and the actors were keeping a good distance, we did not feel uncomfortable with actors not wearing masks. Not all people may feel this way though. Also, you will only be placed with the group that you came with to avoid too much interaction with other customers. ‘Come together get scared together!’

If Fear Field was not so highly advertised on social media and did not have a well-done website, you may think you are heading into a murderer’s trap. It is in the ‘sticks’. On your way to the haunt, you will pass a few houses but it feels this could have been a set up where a killer is luring victims to a secluded field to murder or sacrifice them. I’m not going to lie at one point we did feel a little uneasy about our surroundings.

As we pulled in our parking spot we could see that there was not much to see. The haunt is lined with a wooden fence about 10 feet tall. Toward one end is the ticket booth with two small lights hanging above it but nothing special to see here. Visually, outside of the ticket booth and signage there wasn’t anything to tell us we were at a haunt. However, the lack of d������������������cor added to the mystery and the authenticity of this haunt. The lack of d������������������cor added to the realism of entering the forbidden woods where these horrific kinfolks live.

Occasionally a fireball would shoot out into the sky from inside the woods which did add to the intrigue and excitement of what was waiting ahead.

Audibly there is a solid track playing creepy music with a constant bass induced heartbeat that you could feel. Accompanying the music was yelling from the actors and the screams of the patrons that definitely added to our angst.

The soundtrack and heartbeat that can be heard outside also plays throughout the haunt. Outside of the soundtrack, the most profound sound was that of being outside, sounds of the crickets and locusts provided a perfect eeriness between actor interactions. Shotgun blasts, loud bangs, screams, and the flame thrower also added to the scares.

The set design was natural and primitive. Cut trees made up the fence around the walking area as well as pallets and other wood pieces. Everything inside felt as if it was created by the inhabitants of these damned woods. Some of the trees had strange dolls and skeletons hanging from them. We found some pumpkins on a shelf, a creepy altar, and an odd white ghost faced creature on a wall. All felt poor, not a poor attempt at decorations but more like items that may be found by poor people. The butcher area was lined with plastic material splattered with blood. A small washbasin was seen but from looking at these people… they were not using it. The lack of extravagant set design actually adds to the realism of the story. Also, ninety-seven percent of the trail is built out of recycled materials.

For most of the haunt, it maintained a strong feeling of realism, except the area you can look to the side and see the baseball field and some cars. I think adding another fence in this area would quickly eliminate this distraction. At least to cover the car area, the empty ball field in the dark was not as distracting as seeing the vehicles. Or additional actors in this area could distract the attention from the outside world.

The realism and natural setting added to the Scare Factor of the haunt. Some animatronics and additional scary d������������������cor would be a nice addition to help provide additional scares.