Horror at Dogwood Pass Review (2017)

The cast of Horror at Dogwood Pass are the same volunteers that work the city throughout the year and they have an endearing devotion to Dogwood Pass that makes them strive to put on a fantastic show for everyone that visits, no matter what part of the year they come. Each and every one of them worked very hard to bring realism and personality to their original characters and made extra effort to stay true to any recognizable characters. There was no short supply of actors anywhere in Dogwood Pass and the only time we caught one breaking character was when his mask flew off and onto the ground as he lunged at us from a porch roof. Characters that were in a position to interact with us, did so quite well and when prompted for banter, did not disappoint.

For most of the characters, the costuming and makeup were fantastic. There were a few people in regular street clothes, which is a ‘no-no’ for us but, they were countered by perfect renditions of Freddy, Jason and the devil from Legend. They were gorgeously portrayed and the actors that opted to don their (historically accurate) wild west attire, added some blood and decayed makeup to give it that Halloween flavor. They could definitely benefit from a trained makeup artist but, overall, the characters were great and complete. Other than the previously mentioned faux pas, the masks were all nicely fitting and worn well.

We lost GPS signal a few times on our way to Dogwood Pass but, thankfully, there were several signs to keep us headed in the right direction. The parking lot was lit and it was easy to find the ticket booth once we found a parking spot. There was only one port-o-potty that we saw and, by the time we got there, it was out of toilet paper. The gentleman at the ticket booth seemed so happy to be there and was extremely gracious and handed us our passes before letting us know where to go from there. Their merch booth was well lit and it looked like they had some food offerings as well. There is a lot of uneven terrain and several stairs that you have to navigate but, the crew at Dogwood Pass make a serious effort to keep you safe. Stairs are either pointed out by actors, signs or brightly lit. As we waited to enter, a screen to our left was showing ‘Evil Dead’ to keep us entertained until it was our turn to enter the town.

Somehow, Dogwood Pass managed to utilize just the right amount of sound effects throughout the attraction’even if that sound effect was pure silence. We know that that seems funny to say, however, the level of silence that they achieved in some of these areas was unbelievable and definitely added to the creepiness level of it all. This haunt lives in a historically accurate replica of a wild west town and, with that, comes a great level of detail in the majority of the scenes. Two scenes, in particular, caught our attention for their innovativeness and creativity. The first was the room with the possessed woman, contorting her body all across the floor as furniture floated and twirled around her. It was such an amazing effect and yet, it was also a very simple one, which made it even more impressive. The second scene was that of the devil from Legend. The costume was gorgeous but, what really caught your attention was his flame-throwing staff that he would blast off very close as you walked past’charring the trees next to you.