Haunted Hollow is located east of Pittsburgh in the mountains of PA. It has been on my ‘hit list’ of haunts for years, but at almost two hours away, I never quite made the time. Luckily, we were in the area for another haunt, so we decided why not check it out!? We are always looking for new haunts to explore.
Haunted Hollow (formerly Huston’s Haunted Hollow) lists five attractions:
Following the Revolutionary War, the Bruner family opened up a boarding house. The Bruners’ adopted daughter, Mae, suffered a disfiguring accident. It seemed to not only affect her appearance but also her soul, causing her to set horrible traps for the guests. Worse than ‘Mad Mae, her caretaker Willie did unspeakable acts to those who stayed at this house. Now abandoned, it is said Mae and Willie still roam the halls looking for permanent guests.
Milford Asylum received an increase in patients due to the tortures that happened at the Bruner house. They used unconventional methods to cure their patients, but they did not seem to work. Now the spirits of these poor souls are trapped looking for revenge.
HollowWood Haunted Hayride provides a claustrophobic ride to the Toxic Swamp.
Inside the Toxic Wasteland are the remaining individuals who escaped the boarding house only to make a home in a highly contaminated area. Causing horrible mutations, these monsters prowl the swamp looking for unsuspecting visitors.
Finally, you will reach the end, the Dead End Cornfield filled with souls harvesting for eternity. Once the bell tolls, knock 3 times to enter… but once you do, it is too late to turn back!
The cast offered a wide variety of characters; weird witches, spooky spirits, maniacal monsters, horrendous hillbillies, contortionist clowns, demented doctors, perturbed patients, and many more oddities roam the area.
The boarding house and asylum offered a solid stream of characters as we made our way through. The Toxic Swamp had a good amount of personalities but seemed to be more spread-out. This could have been intentional, adding to the suspense and mystery of when the next scare would happen. All in all, we would have liked to have seen some additional actors throughout the whole haunt.
The varied cast provided a mix of boo scares with one liners. Some tied in with the surroundings, such as one scene where an animatronic of a dog was barking; the actor popped out stating, ‘You woke my dog!’ Another actor was hanging laundry outside and she was talking about ‘all this laundry’ and ‘don’t touch my clean sheets.’
A few classic lines popped up such as ‘dinner time’ and ‘wanna stay for dinner?’ with an added, ‘C’mon, just a nibble.’ At one point a clown informed my wife, ‘You smell different when you’re awake.’
There were a number of growls and screams throughout. We did not engage in much banter with the ghouls outside of Nurse Candy (who was hitting on me… i think).
Some actors were mainly physical, especially in the wooded area… hiding in their designated areas waiting to pounce. One poor guy had to stand in cold water all night scaring those who walked across his bridge. Other individuals waived weapons including chainsaws. Some ran full speed though the dark woods dipping between trees with excellent accuracy.
We estimated roughly 45 actors throughout the whole attraction. All the performers played their parts well, but with the lack of direct interaction, we got stuck in the dreaded conga line. It made it hard for any actors to stick out. Well’ the actor on the stilts definitely stood out, get it!?
Variety of Characters – (35% of score)
Complete, Finished Appearance – (30% of score)
Creative, Detailed Costumes – (20% of score)
Creative, Detailed, Realistic Makeup – (15% of score)
Costuming seemed to be executed well. They seemed to be an assortment of masks and makeup. The masks looked realistic such as the witch’s mask and the old wrinkled man. The costumes themselves appeared to be store-bought-quality or above. It was hard to tell in some areas as things are pretty dark.
The costumes also seemed fitting for each area with ghostly costumes for the house area, for example. In the Asylum, we saw bloodied doctors and patients. Nurse Candy was a fairly large gentleman in a sexy nurse’s outfit. The contortionist had a cool spandex outfit that we have seen before in those characters, but this one had glowing eyes which was an added surprise.
We noticed actors were wearing safety masks and some incorporated them into their costumes.
The overall appearance of the characters added to the realism of the haunt.
If Masks, Effective – (25% of score)
Costumes Appropriate for Scenes, Themes – (30% of score)
Easy to Find, Navigate – (25% of score)
Safety – (20% of score)
Even though this was our first time visiting, we had no trouble finding Haunted Hollow. We entered the haunt’s name into our Google Maps app and we were on our way. It was an interesting ride bringing us through the state game lands at night.
Everyone we encountered was very nice. A lady in a look-out tower provided us info on where to go for tickets. The ticket ladies were happy even though it was getting close to closing and the ticket takers (in costume) were nice and chatty.
As we walked through the haunt we did not come across any ‘real’ threats. Dark areas were found throughout the haunt. There are a few low areas, so watch your head, and also some small hills in the outdoor trail. Nothing out of the ordinary for a haunt.
Regarding Covid, ‘staying six feet apart is better than six feet under,’ is their slogan this year. On their website, along with plenty of other info, there is a 6-page list of COVID protection policies. In summation: self-monitoring for staff, safety masks to be worn by staff and patrons, increased hand-washing for staff, temperature checks for staff, no joking or making light of COVID by staff, back up staffing, hand sanitizing stations, reduced touchpoints, plexiglass barriers for close areas, social distancing, and much more.
This is the most detailed list I have seen. From what we saw most of the policies were in place. However, we did notice a lack of social distancing in the line, haunt, and hayride, by customers. However, we did not feel at great risk during this time.
Staff Professional, Helpful, Friendly – (25% of score)
Ease of Finding Info Before Arrival – (20% of score)
Obviously a Haunt Before Entering – (40% of score)
Prepared for Experience Inside – (15% of score)
Getting to the haunt was an interesting ride as the GPS took us through the mountains and state game lands. We had plenty of jump scares from the local deer population before reaching the haunt.
Once we arrived we saw that the Hollow was aiming for the party vibe. It seemed to be winding down, though, as we arrived around 10 p.m., 30 minutes before the ticket booth was closing.
A woman sitting on a tall chair, similar to a lifeguard post, told us where to get tickets and reminded us to keep our masks on. Popular hip-hop music from the 2000’s was cranked up. A magician had a small intimate show going on to the side. They also had concessions and a gift shop, but both were closed by the time we exited the haunt. We thought it was an interesting little midway!
The main waiting area was covered. In front of us, we could see an oddly-shaped wooden fence. Large trees stood in the middle, two lanterns to the right provided light, and a curved door sat slightly receded giving the entrance an appearance of a face. The vines covering the fa������������������ade were a nice touch as well.
Above the fence, we could see fog rising into the trees. Then suddenly a burst of fire blasted into the sky illuminating the otherwise pitch-black area. In those few seconds, we caught a glimpse of an imposing house.
They also had a few line actors making their rounds in the cues. The hip hop music pulled us out of the moment as there were no ‘windows,’ ‘walls,’ or ‘sweat dripping down my’ …anything, as it was only 32 degrees out in the mountains.
Sound Effects Effective – (20% of score)
Creative, Original Scenes, Props – (30% of score)
Detailed Scenes – (30% of score)
Achieve, Maintain Suspension of Disbelief – (20% of score)
Standing in the queue line, the first thing we noticed was the huge plume of fire shooting in the air lighting up the decrepit house in the distance. Once inside the main gate, fog rolled across the land as we made our way to the house.
The inside sets were very well detailed with exceptional lighting and great sound. With that level of detail, we were surprised that this haunt is not better known. The basement/chamber area felt claustrophobic with dimly-lit areas, cages, and stone-looking walls.
The upstairs was designed like a traditional haunt with your typical rooms. Throughout the haunt, there were several animatronics to help eliminate dead space. The clothes hanging outside had blood stains on them. The outside cabin looked real with flickering lights.
The asylum felt like an old dirty hospital; tiled walls with a yellowish-brown tint lined the rooms. Hospital beds and equipment were found throughout. Even a premature, dead baby was in one of the machines adding to the horror of this hospital. There were also several animatronics in this area, including a spewing sink.
After the inside haunts, we headed to the ‘Haunted Hayride.’ This was, unfortunately, our biggest disappointment of the evening. We really did not consider this to be a haunted hayride as there were no scares. I do not know if this was the normal set up or if this was due to COVID.
On the Hayride, we sat on a covered wagon with benches, so I guess it’s technically a wagon ride. During the ride, which lasted approximately eight minutes, we watched TikTok videos on a TV anchored to the wagon. I will say it was very impressive how the TV was set up on the wagon, but it was not scary. Even the videos were more comical and not scary. We feel that, if this is the normal and future design of the attraction, then it should not be labeled as a haunted hayride.
The eight-minute wagon ride provided a good separation from the other haunts and a more-secluded feel. After exiting the wagon, we headed through a trailer park area full of clowns. There wasn’t much going on besides old trailers, and we thought it felt a little out of place.
Then, we headed into the woods which had a very natural feel. The clear sky and bright moon added odd shadows to the already-creepy woods. This trail was one of my favorite wooded experiences of the season as it stayed pretty natural it did have some water areas that required us to traverse over bridges.
One unexpected feature was skeletons that popped out of the water as we waked across the bridge. We felt this was very unique. Another area had us walking through a large sewer pipe. There were your typical huts and shacks to go through as well. The finale of the trail was a large greenhouse filled with fog, which blended with the colored lights making it hard to see. It also hid several actors and a huge alligator animatronic.
After this trail, it was back to the wagon ride and more TikTok… until the final attraction: the corn trail… a small trail bringing guests back to the midway. There were no scenes, just corn and some lighting. This was the smallest attraction at about 4 minutes in length.
Sounds were used throughout the whole haunt. The house had multiple sound effects throughout as well as creepy music playing. The sounds and music changed accordingly to the different scenes, as did those in the asylum. The Toxic Wasteland had more natural sounds playing: wind, owls, howls, and screams echoed around us.
SFX Effective at Scaring, Entertaining – (35% of score)
Could Tell What Theme Was Without Asking – (15% of score)
Theme Well Executed, Believable – (25% of score)
Location Authenticates Theme – (10% of score)
How Scary – (15% of score)
There are 5 different attractions. However, each seemed to have its own mix of themes.
Provide Scares to Entire Group – (50% of score)
How Predictable – (25% of score)
Variety of Scares – (25% of score)
Haunted Hollow provided a descent variety of scares. Actors provided screams, growls, and some dialogue. Animatronics were used well, providing scares between actors and distractions for actors. Detailed sets provided a heightened sense of immersion. Disturbing sounds and music played throughout the haunt adding more depth to the scenes.
An interesting scare was a small room with an actor, but we could hear another individual saying, ‘Psst, over here.’ We couldn’t see anyone, but we kept hearing the voice. It led me to believe it was just a recording with some speakers hidden, but when I made the comment, ‘Is that real?’ a voice replied, ‘Yes, I’m real.’ We thought this was a cool effect.
In another area, the walls looked cracked and broken. Suddenly a hand popped out of the wall unexpectedly. We thought this was another cool effect. We also noticed that, in tight areas, the drop-down boxes were covered with plexi glass, which is a great way of sticking to COVID guidelines.
126 Woodland Road, Rockwood, Pennsylvania 15557