This attraction was reviewed on October 16, 2021 by Team Cleaverland.
How Do We Get These Scores?
Final Score: 8.38
How Did We Get This Score?
Summary:
Field of Fear rolls out a hayride for your haunt-going pleasure, alongside three different takes on the corn maze concept.
The hayride, called Moonshine Massacre, will drive you out into the boonies where moonshinin’ monsters make their mash (monster mash! get it?). Closely related, Hillbilly Hell brings you closer into contact with a crazy killbilly cast.
The other two corn-strollin’ attractions are Carnevil (featuring creepo clowns, naturally) and The Infected (focused on various contagions, from medical to zombie epidemic to toxic waste).
Speaking of stuff that’s catching, an infectiously (ha-ha) energetic cast proved to be the prime mover of these attractions, so let’s move right on to one of the best features of Field of Fear ‘ its group of actors.
Hayride: 7.91
Carnevil: 8.42
Hillbilly Hill: 8.6
The Infected: 8.59
Cast: 8.14
How Did We Get This Score?
First, quantity. Field of Fear routinely trots out 50 or more actors for its show. Even on a muddy night after rainstorms, we noted 41 in the attractions that were fairly evenly spread throughout, plus another six in the midway or acting as doorpeople.
Some of these folks pulled triple duty. We first ran into local yokel Jeb holding forth at the entrance to the hayride, later met him inside Hillbilly Hell, and caught up with him again in the midway. Same for Fester, he gave the rules for the hayride, teamed up with Pogo the clown inside another attraction, and harassed us on the midway. These guys really got in their steps!
Moving on to qualitative analysis, most actors performed very interactively, whether that took the form of talking with us, screaming, pursuing, or what have you. Maybe the actors were hiding energy drinks out in the corn, but nearly all of them were bursting with vitality. Even at the very end of the evening, tramping around in the mud. Total commitment, way to go actors!
Many demonstrated a fine aptitude for improv, riffing off things we said. It was nice to hear someone come right back with a snappy answer when they said do you want to play a game and we asked what the game was: ‘Hide and go bleed!’
Each attraction held its own strong characters. On the hayride, the gleeful chainsaw guy really got into grinding his equipment against the wagon. An axe murderer put great gusto into attacking a victim. A shovel killer and the young lady he was chasing displayed perfect timing as the very realistic-looking killing blow came just as the wagon turned a corner. One extreme athlete grabbed onto the back of the wagon and glided through the mud like a water skier!
In Hillbilly Hell, cheerful psycho/hayseed Jeb loquaciously shared his views on moonshine (‘I just make it I don’t drink it, instead I get high on life and cutting people up’) and his preferred protein (long pig, a.k.a. human for those unfamiliar with the finer points of cannibalese). Pogo the clown taunted us about our reluctance to go down his slide (‘don’t worry, there’s a chiropractor waiting for ya at the bottom’). Very special shout-out to Tony the pig-man butcher, who rapid-fire yabbered at us with auctioneer speed in some bizarre pig (-man butcher) Latin that made him sound a bit like a bloody Boomhauer from King of the Hill.
Carnevil had a belligerent playground brat who turned hilariously verbally abusive and a clown that put its own spin on ‘Ring around the Rosie.’
For The Infected, a demon girl revealed her vendetta against guys who employ roofies, but the big stars here had to be the giggling ‘survive or die!’ twins who played sick games with visitors to the graveyard. Their manically murderous schtick was an absolute riot.
Another set of twins, the midway clowns who self-identified as ‘the good-looking one’ and ‘the fun one,’ got a lot of mileage out of playing off each other. To sum it up, the cast at Field of Fear made our visit and brought each attraction (and the midway) to life. Unlife? Eh, you know what we mean.
Hayride: 7.69
Carnevil: 8.03
Hillbilly Hell: 8.36
The Infected: 8.49
Costuming: 7.87
How Did We Get This Score?
Field of Fear dabbled in a bit of everything regarding costuming. Masks, makeup, wigs, facial applications, country bumpkin clothing, clown suits, your basic tattered and bloody rags, and some streetwear. A grab bag that ran from kinda blah to dahling you look fabulous.
The midway clowns appeared very fashion-forward in punkish patched jackets. Tony the pig-man butcher looked awesome with his piggy nose and apron, perhaps the best presentation in the place. Fester appealed with skull makeup and an upside down cross on his forehead. Jeb rocked Hatfield v McCoy couture in his off-the-shoulder overalls and trucker baseball hat labeled with ‘JEB’ in marker.
The gas-masked doctor at the beginning of The Infected looked legit, the demoness with her horns and cape came across like a cool cartoon devil, and the giggle twins twinkled in matching old-timey little-girl dresses.
Hayride: 7.6
Carnevil: 7.77
Hillbilly Hell: 7.96
The Infected: 8.13
Customer Service: 9.46
How Did We Get This Score?
Question, what did people do before satellite pathfinding to find these remote haunts out on lonely country roads? Actually, we’re of that age and we can’t even remember. But GPS did get us here easily.
Field of Fear is located in Monclova, Ohio. Do not confuse it with Fear Field, also reviewed here on The Scare Factor! That’s on the eastern side of the state near Pennsylvania. This one’s on the northwestern edge by Michigan and Indiana, a short drive from Toledo. Free parking was on (muddy) grass.
Field of Fear’s website contains just about anything you need to plan a visit. They’re also on Facebook, where they frequently post weather updates.
Being in a boggy field, the attractions are highly susceptible to flooding and muddy conditions when heavy rains occur. The hayride tractors can get stuck in the mud and so can your shoes! It’s advisable to wear boots and old jeans probably anytime you visit after very early in the season, even if it hasn’t been raining.
They had been closed the night before we stopped in, and we stomped around in plenty of mud and observed the tractor trails filling with water. Make sure your valuables (phone, wallet, etc.) are packed up tight or they just might become a permanent part of the attractions!
Other than the mud, the usual outdoor obstacles (roots and such) occurred, but nothing too bad. They will make you climb some stairs and go down a slide. Regarding the phrase ‘corn maze,’ they’re actually more corn trails, the pathways are clearly defined. The only way you could be faced with a maze situation is if you strike out into the corn, which is against the rules anyway and definitely something to avoid.
Nice folks abounded here. We enjoyed pleasant chats with the ticket booth attendant, some security guys, the people tending the grill, and at the very end of the night out in the parking lot again, Mark the tow truck operator ‘ remember that mud? Your vehicle can get stuck in it too, and Mark will get you out. Our ride pulled right out (advantage of parking next to the street), but it felt good to know Mark was out there patrolling the fields even after everything had shut down.
Lovers of tubed meat should head to the grill, where they served up smoked sausages, hot dogs, and a bratwurst that was sizable, super tasty, and snappy skinned. Brat*best* was more like it. Much love for the extra options like chili, cheese, and BBQ sauce, as well as the full condiment table with relish and onions alongside the standard catsup and mustard. Hungry haunt fans, rejoice and commence salivating.
All attractions share the same score.
Atmosphere: 8.74
How Did We Get This Score?
After we parked in the very last row, flashing lights appeared in the distance and chainsaws and screams cut through the night air. We got closer and entered the misty midway to find it bathed in eerily illuminated fog with metal music blasting away. Props like a hearse made an appearance throughout the sizable courtyard.
Each queue offered something a little different. The Moonshine Massacre hayride took the line through a shack structure. Carnevil funneled patrons through a circus tent entrance, ushered in by a mini top hat-wearing door person and a large colorful gent slinging around a severed head attached to a rubbery strap. Hillbilly Hell had a neat introduction that used laser lighting and a raised platform leading through a gate. The Infected went with simple broken wire fencing as its lead-in.
Taking all the atmosphere in total, we thought Field of Fear crafted an effective, haunt-y, creepy, successful environment.
All attractions share the same score.
Special Effects: 7.67
How Did We Get This Score?
Field of Fear displayed an impressive array of effects, more than might be expected based on their simple premise of riding or walking through the corn. They ended up being a fun part of the visit. Most effects landed in the small structures scattered along the corn paths.
The hayride slid past basic structures like a gallows and props such as abandoned vehicles. We should note that some of the effects contraptions were not running due to the earlier rains, so presumably the effects score could have been somewhat higher.
Carnevil boasted an effects panoply with circus tents, neato lighting applications like strobes, lasers, and a cool set featuring wood boards painted a rainbow of bright fluorescent colors and brought to glowing life under a black light. We passed a full playground set a couple times with a slide, swings, seesaw, and a little carousel, but the mean girl there wouldn’t let us get on any of it (*makes frowny face, crosses arms, and stomps foot*).
We thought Hillbilly Hell had the best sets overall ‘ a set of wooden cages, a butcher shop where we saw the sausage being made (with severed hands) and a head in a jar, and Pogo the clown’s RV trailer un-funhouse. It faced stiff competition though from The Infected’s temporary medical huts, slanted bridge, toxic waste dump, and our favorite, the gated cemetery inhabited by the whack-a-doo terrible twins.
Despite being all outside and in the corn, Field of Fear pulled out a wide range of basic but effective sound effects like horns, rattlers, electric shock buzzers, snap-crackers, sirens, crashing garbage can lids, and knocking from closed coffins. We even heard musical interludes in some of the structures, like carnival music and elephants trumpeting in Carnevil.
Hayride: 6.53
Carnevil: 7.85
Hillbilly Hell: 8.18
The Infected: 8.09
Theme: 8.85
How Did We Get This Score?
Each attraction showed strong elements tied into its central premise, all of which we covered in the Summary ‘ but least of all for Moonshine Massacre, where we didn’t see a lot of contraband liquor being brewed or consumed. (Maybe the lack of it is what made everyone so murderously inclined?) It just seemed more like a standard spooky hayride, although it was set up by some of the pre-ride introductory characters/content like Jeb talking up the illicit booze angle.
Hayride: 7.7
Carnevil: 9.46
Hillbilly Hell: 9.43
The Infected: 8.8
Scare Factor: 8.05
How Did We Get This Score?
We fielded a healthy amount of scares! As has happened all season for us, the least scary attraction turned out to be the hayride. Maybe it’s just in the nature of a hayride to be less frightening than walking a trail or being inside a house.
Anyway, we got variously creeped out by follower actors (one of whom trailed us for a notably looong way, which really startled us to turn around and see her still back there), pop scares, screamers, talkers, loud noises, weapon threateners, and a guy concealed under a bedsheet that made us feel ridiculous for getting so freaked out about it.
Just goes to show, sometimes it’s silly how simple setting up a scare can be. Like playing peek-a-boo with a baby. In case you’ve lost the thread here, we’re the scare-babies in this scenario.
Hayride: 7.12
Carnevil: 8.14
Hillbilly Hell: 8.49
The Infected: 8.44
Entertainment & Value: 9.07
How Did We Get This Score?
We hayrode and cornstalked through Field of Fear in a total of 43 minutes:
Hayride – 9 minutes
Carnevil – 10 minutes
Hillbilly – 13 minutes
Infected ‘ 11 minutes
Factoring in the $20 general admission combo to experience all four attractions, that’s a highly robust MPD (minutes of haunt time per dollar spent) of 2.15. This is our highest MPD of the year, and in fact, we believe the highest we’ve personally had in our three years at The Scare Factor. We consider 1 to be the base target any haunt should shoot for, 1.5 and over is starting to get into outstanding territory, and to see a huge score of over 2 is unusual to say the least.
Therefore, the value is phenomenal, especially with the fun time to be had at Field of Fear ‘ come here if you want to stretch your haunt dollar to its limber limits and meet up with the kooky cast!
Fast pass is $30. If you for some reason want to do an attraction separately from the others, they are $10 each.
We’re overjoyed to welcome Field of Fear as yet another successful entrant in our season of reviewing places we’ve never visited before. We have had great fun finding satisfying haunts all over the northern half of Ohio. Consider taking a cue from us and try to discover a new haunt with what’s left of this season.
The maize mazes at Field of Fear come recommended with a nice pat of butter and a shake of salt and pepper. In spite of our bad jokes, this attraction is anything but corny!
How Did We Get These Scores