The Dark Rows Review (2019)

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail is run by volunteers who clearly have a passion for scaring. As our group walked through the corn trail, we were faced with a wide variety of characters. There were a few quiet places without cast members, but this worked with the pacing of the haunt to allow for the next set to be more effective. The shallow character profiles and a lack of theme gives the cast the opportunity to flush out the characters and make them their own and more believable. While some of the dialogue did go a little stereotypical with screams or growls, most told a story for their scene.

Our group loved how interactive the corpse bride within the graveyard setting was as she started creepily and carefully choosing the people more susceptible to her act. Our favorite character of the entire haunt was the little boy named Noah that wanted to lead us the wrong way at the end maze. He had great timing and was simultaneously creepy and hilarious.

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail had an excellent crew handling costuming, makeup, and other physical character details. While some of the less well-lit characters had costumes that were more basic, most were unique and detailed. The costumes also felt like they belonged within the micro-themes of the haunt. The clothes were not what was selling the characters, it was the makeup and to a lesser extent, the masks. The makeup was on point, believable, and well-executed. It was clear that the staff paid attention to the minute details of the character’s aesthetic. The masks were fun and creepy. We appreciated the toy-like masks on the characters leading up to the clown area and it set the tone for that area especially well.

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail has a wonderfully dedicated crew, ready and willing to aid people. They have several checkpoints to make sure that the customers entering understand the rules and they are there to answer any questions the customers may have. They also have visible, well-marked security personnel to keep everyone safe, and a build that allows for easy movement of those personnel with a moments notice to be from one side of the haunt to the other. Our group also noticed dedicated people who have specific paths to take people that are too scared to continue the haunt.

While we really wish the haunt had some sort of lit sign at the entrance into the corn so customers can more easily find the haunt as opposed to the regular corn maze, we appreciate the staff person at that entrance to verify that the customers have everything they need (like tickets) before standing in line. The internet has lots of information on the Dark Rows as they share part of the Shuck’s website and they have their own Facebook page.

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail builds up people’s anticipation the moment they step inside the corn. Since the haunt actually lines their customers up within the cornfield, it makes people already creeped out.

Additionally, Dark Rows has roaming characters that can sometimes show up from any direction out of the corn to torment the people in line. The haunt also has the safety briefing on an eerie voiced loop interspersed between fun Halloween music. With those characters, the sounds, a few photo opportunity areas, and some great ticket taking actors of the haunt playing the role of line buster, it makes the line area almost as much fun as the haunt itself.

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail has an admirable set of special effect machines tucked into the corn. Within the trail, they have temporary facades placed and within those are fog machines, eerie soundtracks, and cool lighting. Each set had its own theme with its own lighting, sounds, and ambiance. The sounds were especially good, with old music in some places and clown music and then areas of eerie dead silence. While we found the transitions between the themes to be less fluid and caused the suspension of disbelief to falter, each theme is well established by the effects. Some of the best special effects were used for creeping or scaring. They had a great steam blast from a boiler that caused several of our group members to jump high.

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail didn’t have an overarching story or theme for their haunt, but each section had micro-themes like snapshots in time in different places. The haunt went from graveyards and clowns to mines and rednecks and each theme was set with special effects, unique characters, and individualized scenarios for those characters and for the customers.

As mentioned in Special Effects, the transitions between the themes felt harsh at times, which caused an almost disjointed feeling. But once adjusted to the new setting and micro theme, the story could unfold for that snapshot. Some of the micro themes had a more story feel to them, like the girls’ room playing Bloody Mary, while other micro themes just felt like a cliche haunt area, like the clown area. Overall, they were well done and were detailed.

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail is a family-friendly haunt in the way that they go about their scares. There are no extreme psychological scares like gore or torture. With that being the case, they are still a scary haunt with their best attribute being that the actors are superb at scaring all parts of the group. Our group was merged with another group and we were literally run over by both the front and back of the line as they were scared simultaneously. We were scared and laughing at the same time!

The haunt had creepy moments, eerie moments, and quiet a few heart-leaping moments as we went through the attraction. The best was their ending which turns the trail to a legitimate mini maze. Everyone in our group was quickly concerned as we passed people going backward and forwards, and we had no idea which was to the exit. That situation was made more entertaining by the ‘helpful’ kids throughout the corn that were telling us different directions to get us more lost.

The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail is a frightfully good time. While the minutes per dollar ratio isn’t great (13 minutes of haunt for $20.00 ticket), the tickets come with a lot more than the haunt. The $20 tickets come with the Dark Rows Haunted Trail, unlimited wagon rides, a bonfire with marshmallows (after dark), jumpy pad access, tire mountain access, kiddie maze access, and goat walk access, which is a great value. Additionally, the line for the haunt is quite entertaining, and if you get lost in the maze, the haunt will be longer than 13 minutes.

Overall, The Dark Rows Haunted Corn Trail is a fun experience and we can’t wait to return in years to come to see what they do with their new permanent location!