A winding trek through the darkness in man’s heart awaits the brave and adventurous in Bishopville, SC. Here at Scream Acres, you’ll find yourself diving into a house of country horrors, set perfectly in the middle of nowhere. Once you’ve made your way through the winding halls and high-ceilinged rooms filled with monsters and gore, you find yourself in a cheery midway with food, drinks, a fire to warm up to, and a souvenir shop. Here you can take a moment or plunge onwards into the darkness of the woods.
The hayride is where Scream Acres really shines, offering a number of nightmarish scenes each decked out with its own special effects and pyrotechnics. High energy horror is mixed with a maze of giant pines and screams echoing hollowly across the dark space. As always, the walking trail is a beautiful touch with local flavor added in, and the new additions to the hayride and the second house have really put this year’s performance over the top.
Monsters this year worked in almost perfect concert. Several times our team found ourselves darting eyes toward a new creature and then desperately trying to find the first one we were looking at. No monsters were sitting in the back or giving a bare minimum performance.
Scream Acres is high energy from the start of the first house to the final scene on the hayride. Monsters utilize every inch of the cart around the willing victims seated on it, work with props and other horrors, and spin chainsaws with beautiful brutality. We have to give a special shoutout to a recently departed soul in the second house who managed to scare our Desi despite her seeing him. The Hillbillies were particularly spirited this year despite the cold, and the demons in the Tunnel worked a ton of screams out of our group. As always, of course, a shoutout to the VIP of cast members, the python.
How complete, unique, detailed were the costumes, accessories? – (35% of score)
Were the masks, makeup creative, detailed, realistic? – (30% of score)
How appropriate were the costumes for the respective scenes, themes? – (20% of score)
How believable-, detailed-looking were the queue actors? (See Note if N/A) – (15% of score)
Costumes were consistent across the board this year. Scream Acres does a good job of kitting characters out in full costumes that match the theme of their scene. We spotted a few untucked masks, but overall, the cast put a lot of care into looking their parts. All the masks used were good quality and makeup was applied well where it was utilized.
How easy was it to locate, park at, navigate the premises? – (25% of score)
Safety (Only dock points for TRULY DANGEROUS hazards!) – (30% of score)
How professional, helpful, friendly were the staff members? – (25% of score)
How easy was it to find pertinent information before arrival? – (20% of score)
The Customer Service at Scream Acres is exemplary. Every year they make sure to have staff that is helpful, empathetic, and friendly working everything from their ticket booth to their concession stands. Signage showing you where to go, which line was fast pass versus general admission, and what was available to purchase are prominent everywhere and they’ve now added some killer neon to point you in the right direction as well.
Safety is obviously a big concern, but Scream Acres put a lot of work into making everything safe including adding well placed lighting on the outdoor trail to prevent tripping over roots. It’s always a pleasure to interact with the staff here, and we’re consistently impressed with how they treat guests.
How well did the pre-haunt areas ("vibe") prepare you for the attraction/s? – (25% of score)
How obvious, creative, believable was the storyline? (See Note if N/A) – (20% of score)
Were you completely, consistently immersed inside the attraction/s? – (40% of score)
How well did the "vibe" flow after, between the attraction/s? – (15% of score)
One of the things that works the most in Scream Acres’ favor is how very authentic their haunt is within its setting. The moment you step through the gates from the parking lot into the ticket area, you feel like you are entering the property of some crazed redneck family or an ancient and abandoned haunted house.
In places where they are creating environments, lighting and sound effects blend with smells and sights to really punch up the immersion and make you question what is real and what is make-believe. Transitions between phases of the haunt are smooth and organic, especially moving from the hayride to the second house and then back again. It’s easy to start believing that you are too deep in the woods to save.
How effective were the sound effects? – (20% of score)
How realistic were the scene designs, details? – (30% of score)
How effective, realistic were the props, animatronics? – (30% of score)
How well did they use creative, special, sensory effects? – (20% of score)
We are really impressed with the way that Scream Acres utilizes special effects of all stripes to create an environment. The lighting and texture additions in both houses this year really blew us away, especially the way they created lightning and fire in the latter half of the hayride. Pyrotechnics are on-point and used in a number of different methods across scenes.
There are not a lot of animatronics since this haunt relies a lot on its actors, but where they were found, they were effective and well-placed. The juxtaposition of their vintage and creepy-looking architectural builds against their high-end flames and explosions is a sight to behold and really should not be missed this or any other season.
How scary was it? – (35% of score)
How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? – (15% of score)
How predictable were the scares? – (25% of score)
How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? – (10% of score)
How strong was the ending / finale? – (15% of score)
This was the first time in possibly decades that Desi was scared in a haunted house. The actors at Scream Acres put their all into it. The group in front of us in the first house were screaming loud enough for us to hear them through the walls of the house which was a great sign. An even better one was how fraught with terror our cart was on the hayride. Several of our fellow riders must have missed about sixty percent of the haunt hiding their eyes in terror. Screams echoed through the woods, and at one point, we heard a terrifying wail in the distance that unnerved us all. Scream Acres lives up to its name.
How satisfied with the entertainment provided by the MAIN attraction/s? – (50% of score)
How satisfied with OTHER entertainment INCLUDED with the ticket price? – (25% of score)
How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s? – (25% of score)
Ticket prices for Scream Acres are $25 for regular admission or $35 for a fast pass. The atmosphere here is very comfortable so even if you get regular admission, you’ll be entertained as you wait. We always recommend fast pass as it gives you more time to go through the haunt again.
Parking is free, and there are midway concessions ranging from fried Oreos to fresh lemonade. Pricing for the food and drinks are good, and the merchandise stand has a lot of offerings, all of which are reasonably priced too. The merchandise store has added a lot this year, so make sure you check it out.
It took us almost an hour to go through all of Scream Acres, not counting wait times, so it’s a good value for your ticket price.
1137 Old Camden Road, Bishopville, South Carolina 29010