The 13th Hour Haunted Trail Review (2024)

At times, we felt that there were not enough actors throughout the haunted trail. There were areas of dead space that lasted a bit too long and could have benefitted from more actors. However, the areas that had plenty of actors filled their scenes well. Those areas include the professor’s office, the area right after the bridge, and the church.

The actors did a pretty good job of portraying their roles. They all stayed in character, but most of them popped out quickly for a good jump scare and then disappeared, so there wasn’t much “character” to be seen. A few actors responded to us in different ways. For example, one actor asked for our names and used them to be even creepier. Another actor was listening to what we were saying to each other and responded accordingly. There were also a few times an actor would block our path, so we would have to walk around them or go in a different direction. The best dialogue we encountered was by Professor Eve Vile. She told us the storyline behind the haunt when we first entered.

There were many different characters within the 13th Hour Haunted Trail, but most of them were placed in random locations where they would jump out and scare us. We would have liked to see a bit more variety in behaviors. We came across actors who would stare and stalk, jump out and disappear, or jump out and chase us as far as they could.

The costumes of 13th Hour Haunted Trail were decent. We noticed a few costumes that were standard clothing and would have benefitted from more detail. But, overall, the costumes were pretty unique. Since the theme was legendary creatures, they had characters like the Mothman, werewolves, or banshees. Each costume was interesting and creepy.

We noticed a lot of actors wearing masks going through the haunt. Many of them fit the cast well and seemed appropriate for the costume worn. The makeup was better this year compared to last year. We especially liked the dead bride and the stone angel in the beginning.

Most scenes throughout the haunt were randomly scattered with randomly placed actors. Most of the time it felt like chaos. We expected to see legendary creatures in their respective homes, but we saw things like a tiger near a random shed or werewolves near a circus. With that said, there were some good things to note. There was a butcher in a butcher shop, a skull actor in the woods, and clowns in a circus.

This year, 13th Hour Haunted Trail did not have any queue actors.

Locating the attraction was very easy. We know the area so we were able to locate it from memory, but it’s also easily located using your GPS and following the well-lit signs. They have flaggers in the parking lot to help guide you. The ticket booth and main attraction queue were easy to locate as well. The only thing we had trouble with was the lack of signs in the queue to differentiate between general admission and fast pass.

Overall, everything seemed safe here at the trail. The only thing we would have liked to see was more lighting in the parking lot. It was VERY dark when no one had their headlights on. There were also portions of the main attraction that were very dark. These areas could have benefitted from a tiny amount of light because, at one point, we almost went in the wrong direction. After all, the corn was so small we couldn’t tell where the path was.

All the staff we spoke to seemed helpful and friendly. They all appeared happy to be there and welcoming to all guests.

The 13th Hour Haunted Trail has a website where you can locate most information you would need to know prior to arriving. It lists the dates/times, location, ticket prices, and parking information. You are also welcome to purchase your tickets in advance on the website. We would have liked to see information on the storyline, touching policies, or rainout information.

The pre-haunt area was spooky and you could easily tell you were at a haunted attraction. They had things like a scary movie playing near a bonfire, lots of frightening decorations, photo ops, and lighting. We may have liked to see the decorations a bit more themed, based on the storyline of the haunt, but overall everything was well done.

The storyline was immediately told to us upon entering by Professor Eve Vile. At first, the storyline was carried through pretty well, but at some point in the middle, it got lost. We enjoyed being in a cornfield and forest, and the story had a lot of potential to be great, but it fell flat at times. There were random things like a clown mouth archway we had to walk through, a butcher shop with a butcher, and a circus maze with clowns. We felt that the items had nothing to do with this theme. With that said, some parts fit well, such as the Mothman or werewolves in the corn, and the stone angel.

Overall, we felt like we were completely immersed in the attraction. There may have been some random creatures in random scenes but they kept the haunt flowing forward with all the transition zones. Most transition zones were just corn or forest, but they worked in this haunt!

Upon exiting the attraction, we immediately came into the parking lot. While the parking lot is huge with a lot of space to run (away from the scare actors), we got the feeling that we had to leave immediately. We know this isn’t the case because we saw several guests sitting and watching the horror movie after exiting, but we believe the exit should be in a different location. Or there should be something else near the exit, like a gift shop.

The sound effects were not the best inside the haunt. Overall, there were no sounds or music at all. Sometimes, the quietness helped with the eeriness, but mostly, it was just boring. Some areas had sounds, though, such as the circus maze or the church. Those places had great sound effects!

Each scene was different from the next. There were a good handful of scenes that didn’t have very much detail. A lot of walls were bare and in some scenes, we couldn’t really tell what it was supposed to be. We did enjoy the circus maze, the foggy bridge, the cemetery, and the church/mortuary.

Almost every prop and animatronic was placed in a location that worked well for the scene and the actor in that scene. There were just a few props that didn’t have a purpose, like the clown mouth archway. We did enjoy the jumping coffin and the tombstone that had a ghost fly out of it.

There were several sensory effects used within the 13th Hour Haunted Trail. They used a lot of different lights, such as green and red mixed light, blue lighting, and flashing lights. They used “snakes” at your feet, a spinning vortex, a green fog cone, and fog falling over a bridge. We especially enjoyed that last one!

At times, we were frightened by the scare attempts within the haunt. There were MANY jump scares which got us several times. The actors know all the best hiding spots in this haunt! We would have liked to see a wider variety of scares, though. There were some missed opportunities for scares. For example, they used a spinning vortex tunnel but didn’t place a scare actor immediately afterward. The foggy bridge we liked so much didn’t have any scares on or near it. With that said, they used other types of scares like phobias, victimization, and camouflage.

This haunt did well at providing scares to everyone in our group and seemed to be the same way with all other groups. They only singled one of us out one time throughout the haunt, but we admit it was a good opportunity.

Each scare had pretty good timing. Since the majority were jump scares, they all had a good hiding spot to be ready to jump out and scare us. We didn’t notice too many distractions being used. There was a crying girl in pigtails distracting our team while a scare actor came up from behind to frighten us.

The ending of the 13th Hour Haunted Trail was way more intense this year! They had not one but THREE chainsaw actors who were immediately outside of the circus maze. We saw them chase someone across the entire parking area!

We had a good time at The 13th Hour Haunted Trail. It felt like it was long enough. They provided a lot of entertainment within the haunt and we saw many weird things. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience.

The entertainment available with the ticket price, excluding the main attraction, is more than some haunts we have been to. We enjoyed that you can watch a horror movie before or after your excursion. We think the movie screen should be closer to the queue so you can watch while waiting in line. There are a few photo ops for your enjoyment as well.

The ticket price is $25.00 per person, with an optional upgrade for a fast pass. The price is fair compared to other haunts, but the quality is lacking a bit. We definitely had a fun time though. If you’re looking for a corn maze in the area, be sure to check this one out!