Lewisburg Haunted Cave Review (2019)

Our last visit to the Cave was back around 2012 or so, and we remembered seeing a lot more actors versus props and animatronics back then. This year, there seemed to be a heavy emphasis on “eye candy” with actors sprinkled about to accent the various displays.

The journey started off great. The groups were spaced out quite well, and we were able to get a few bits of “quality time” with the monsters. However, by the time we were halfway through, the groups had merged into a pretty consistent conga line, and it remained that way until after we found our way out of the final maze sections. We aren’t sure how many actors we missed amongst the madness, but we did see some that didn’t “get us” when we looked behind us on several occasions.

We were one of the first groups to enter and throughout the Cave, the rank and file actors didn’t say much to us at all. However, we did come across a select few that were better-equipped to send us some scares. One guy, for example, held a cross to a group member’s forehead while saying some sort of prayer, and another guy with a shovel threatened to dig our grave! Also, a female doctor- / nurse-type character offered us some guts on a knife and seemed offended when we didn’t take her up on it. We saw a few live victims as well, but most were stuck with sinister-ly staring at us.

As with most conga line haunts, it was common for most of the monsters to simply dart out at us – maybe with a line or two of quick dialogue, maybe not – then quickly reset for the next batch of customers that (hopefully) missed them the first time.

In contrast, the chainsaw guys were pretty relentless! They knew they were the guys that most people were afraid of, and they exploited that trait much more than the others.

The Devil, understandably, gave the most elaborate and believable performance of the night! With the aid of some pyrotechnics, his skit was a show-stopper, to say the least!

Several portions of the Lewisburg Haunted Cave are pretty dark, but of the creatures we could see, the costuming seemed to consist of a mixture of basic pieces and some street clothing, as well as some distressed and more fitting attire. It was hot during our tour of the Cave and, while it was significantly cooler underground than it was outside, there were still several monsters that had taken their masks off. Regardless, given the rest of their get-ups, they were still hidden to some of us patrons.

Despite the Cave being underground and having many dark corridors, there’s also a lot of vegetation. For purposes of this category, some costumes were carefully selected to blend in perfectly with these surroundings. We found it nearly impossible to pick off the ghillie suits in here before they attacked!

Some characters sported makeup consisting of generic clown and bloody wound designs, while others had full body paint on all their skin that was exposed. We also noticed a few prosthetic appliances that helped in making the characters’ looks more exaggerated. On multiple occasions, we noticed bloody and tattered shirts paired with clean pants.

As a whole, the costuming seemed all over the place, and we didn’t notice anything intricately detailed, except for maybe the Devil. But, as we mentioned earlier, it was rather dark in some areas and it was busy when we were walking through, so it’s easily possible that we could have missed some.

Some of the stand-out looks of the night included the officers holding back their gigantic police canines, The Devil’s get-up and his lovely assistant that was by the door, the nurse, and the gravedigger with the shovel.

Our GPS took us right to the entrance of the Cave, but as we got closer, we found multiple lighted signs pointing us in the right direction as well, including one in the little town nearby. Parking was free and easy to navigate. The large, gravel lot was marked off by strings to guide us as well as a couple of parking attendants.

Once on the property, everything was easy to find and there were multiple staff members available in case we had any questions or concerns. All of them that we talked to were friendly and able to get us on our way down the entrance very quickly.

When visiting the Cave, you will encounter wet, rocky ground and a lot of uneven surfaces. Some of this is also in the dark, so definitely don’t run! The entrance to the Cave is at a pretty steep angle and, while it was wet, there seemed to be carpet laid down and a metal handrail between the entrance and exit lines, which proved to be very helpful to keep us from falling or slipping. We’ve never visited the cave when this area was dry.

Information about the Cave was pretty easy to find online. Keep in mind, their tickets can only be purchased on-site with cash. There is an ATM in case you forget.

On first arrival, we weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into. But, once we made our way to the ticket booth, things started coming together. There were several actors walking about with mild makeup, lots of pumpkins and a hand-painted ‘Haunted Cave’ sign hanging over the entrance path. Some music was playing and, every now and then, it would switch to declaring the rules of the show.

To get in the queue line, we had to enter through a black hole that plummets into the ground and, the further and further we walked down, the colder and wetter it got. It also got darker and darker and, on occasion, our only light source in the queue line would go out completely! The faulty electrical wiring and fire extinguisher succeeded in getting some pretty loud screams from those in the queue behind us. Darn those electrical shorts!

There was a clown actor at the entrance that did a little skit by acting like he was putting the fire out next to us. He was fairly entertaining and did a good job of staying in character and preparing us to enter. He even told us that, if the lights were to *actually go out while we were in the cave, to just stay put and that someone with flashlights would come get us’ but it would be at least a few hours.

HOURS!?!? Can’t say he wasn’t good at psyching us all out before we went through, which was exactly what we all need before entering, right?

Just before it was our turn, as we stood there staring off into the dark nothing, all sorts of sounds were echoing out of the abyss… which helped build our anticipation to enter even more and proved to be quite unsettling!

Whoah! Where to begin’ where to begin. Well, as alluded to in Cast above, the Lewisburg Haunted Cave leans pretty heavily on the Special Effects that are on tap! No, seriously… they had so many props, animatronics, and gadgets all throughout the cave that you’d be hard-pressed to see this many in any other single walkthrough in the region.

They also have quite a variety! If you love ‘eye candy’ and large animatronics, they totally have ya covered! They also had stuff that appeared to be built in-house that we haven’t seen anywhere else. So when you come here, don’t meander through with your eyes closed, because you’d sure be missing out on a lot of cool and scary stuff to look at! Of this large mixture, to be fair, we also noticed some old props and animatronics; some of which were missing limbs or not working properly.

When you think of a haunted cave, you may not think of it the way this one is set up. The inside is huge! Huge enough they can actually build full-size scenes down there, and lots of ’em! We walked through a full-sized school bus, encountered a life-sized dragon, found a weirdly-wired slanted hallway that we had to weave in and out of, navigated one Hell of a maze (literally), and there were even some walls that slowly closed in on us, just to name a few highlights… not to mention the other full-sized vehicles driving around.

In many areas, they did well utilizing the natural cave surroundings as their backdrops. They did use a lot of plastic and other scene dividers so we couldn’t see into the next scenes, but they were very obvious except in the darker areas. Other spots had thick vegetation – some of which we had to crouch and weave our way through, which was very cool – and, while one of us thought it was weird that full-size trees were thriving underground, the desired effect was still a nice touch. Add in a nice haze of fog and we almost could’ve sworn we were back on the surface scraping our way through a thick forest.

For nearly the entire duration of our tour, some sort of sounds were pricking at our eardrums. Some were very loud, some were realistic, and some were obviously recorded. We heard so many sounds including an air raid siren, gunshots, loud rock music, a vintage video game-sounding soundtrack, and some of the characters had microphones so we could hear them over everything else. Some of the sounds were heard over and over again which made them rather repetitive and annoying, but this may have been intentional’ or just flat-out unavoidable (given the conga line scenario).

To go along with the many sounds and scenes, we also experienced some strategic lighting, real flames, body bags, floating bats in the air, vibrating walkways, a lively dinosaur skull, a huge dragon, convulsing coffins, a live actor on a scissor lift, real water, a uniquely-changing vortex tunnel, and one of the best laser swamps we’ve seen that mixes with a ramp and claustrophobic-bags that made us feel like we were actually walking down into water.

The Cave didn’t seem to stick to one particular theme. Instead, they had MANY different areas that all seemed to somewhat either be related to the cave, death, or Hell. As of this writing, we’re pretty sure we’ve never been to another haunt that offered quite this many differently-themed areas in a single walkthrough. We literally never knew what we would stumble upon next!

From a medical/hospital area, a cemetery, a fluorescently colored clown area, and swampy/overgrowth areas to the chain maze, and a vehicle pursuit track, there’s something here for everyone!

Before getting fully acquainted with the maze, Satan explained that our souls were brought to him to suffer… which, as it turns out, we did’ in his giant maze. If you don’t choose wisely, your soul will remain down in the Cave with the Devil forever!

The Lewisburg Haunted Cave is what we call a ‘360 haunt,’ where something is going on from nearly every direction at all times. We experienced such a stack of startle scares that we lost count before we even got to the halfway point!

There were areas that may make some quite uncomfortable to walk through, such as an area involving a gun, total darkness, and tight spaces. There were times where we were holding on to those in front of us so we wouldn’t get lost’ not being able to see our own hands in front of our faces. They also did a great job of stealing our sense of hearing with loud music and sounds, thus keeping us on high alert throughout much of the tour.

The scares were very unpredictable for the first half of our tour, but as the conga line got longer and longer, we began to see most of the more prominent scares before we got to them. Regardless, they still managed to startle everyone we could see in our line on at least one occasion due to their great hiding spots. We never knew when an arm would reach out from behind a curtain to grab at us or when something would reveal itself from under or over any random object.

The cave preyed on a variety of fears as well as some larger scares, including floors that may suddenly move beneath your feet! We were also nailed with entrapment, a sudden burst of flames, large creatures coming at us, and several unique chainsaw encounters, just to give you an idea. One of these chainsaws was no ordinary chainsaw and, although we don’t want to ruin the surprise, we will tell you that it mixed in an uncomfortable scare tactic for many!

The finale of the attraction was much like the beginning, only there wasn’t anything going on for quite a stretch. The catwalk was lined with several props that looked to be animatronics that could spring toward us at any moment, but then nothing did. Regardless, we were still quite satisfied, a little tired, and thrilled as ever when we left the cave!

As the haunting season progresses, the ticket prices will change. When we visited the cave, it was $19.00 per adult. Once October hits, prices will jump to $23.00 per adult on Saturdays. Children 10 and under can get into the cave for $8.00. Keep in mind that they accept cash only, but there is an ATM on-site and at several banks nearby. As of this writing, we also found a $2.00 off coupon on their website good for September so be sure to look out for those.

It felt like we were trapped in the cave for quite some time, and the length alone made it feel like we got our money’s worth. Each group’s tour time will vary as there’s a GIANT maze at about ������������������ of the way through, and we know we made it out before the people in front of us did because we watched them make a wrong turn when we made the correct one. If you’re stuck in there for too long, one of the actors may start feeling sorry for you and help you out (as they have with us before).

Surprisingly, we only made about 2 wrong turns so we made it out of the maze rather quickly. Our total tour time ended up being 37 minutes. At the ticket price we paid, this puts the cave’s MPD (minutes of entertainment received per dollar spent) at 1.95 which is among the highest we’ve seen!

Aside from the entertainment provided inside the Cave, there was a fire-breather on-site performing near the waiting line. There was also the costumed clown at the entrance that spoke with us and put on a bit of his own show to keep us entertained while we waited.

For those that may need a pacifier while they go through, they were selling glow necklaces that at times, will serve as your only light!

In 2010, The Lewisburg Haunted Cave was ranked the ‘World’s Longest Haunted House’ by Guinness Book of World Records. This is still one of the longest haunts we’ve ventured through. As mentioned above, there’s so much to see and experience in the Cave that we’d be here all week explaining to you what you’ll experience inside.

How many haunts will take you down an 80-foot slope into the ground where 30,000 live bats await you? Once you figure out that answer, be sure to load up the car and head on out to the Lewisburg Haunted Cave because ‘What’s scarier than a real cave?’

*The cave also offers Historical Wagonride tours. Be sure to visit their website for more information.