Features:
✓-Free Parking✓-Restrooms/Porta Potties On-Site✓-Food/Concessions✓-Gift Shop/Souvenirs✓-Optional Games/Midway✓-You will NOT be touched✓-Original Characters✓-Uncovered Outdoor Waiting Line✓-All-Outdoor Attraction✓-Family Friendly
How Do We Get These Scores?
Our Rating System
UPDATE FOR 2022: Our former “Atmosphere” and “Theme” categories have now been combined and renamed “Immersion.” Our intent with this is to give more appropriate credit to attractions that have shown a clear focus on achieving and maintaining better customer experiences (both inside and outside the attractions) and developing creative storylines.
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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Final Score: 7.86
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 7.65
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 8.4
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 7.48
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 8.4
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 7.7
(5% of Final Score) Theme: 7.15
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 7.6
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 8.08
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Summary:
Just across the Etowah River from Dawson County middle school sits Uncle Shucks Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch, home to The Dark Rows Haunted Trail. Previously, they often had some relatively dark story themes. This year they’re focusing on being a fun, family-friendly themed freak show with frights and scares and laughs. This haunt still delivers the thrills and chills we love, leaving you feeling spooked without nightmares.
Cast: 7.65
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 7
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 7.5
(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 8
(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 8
(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 8
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The Dark Rows Haunted Trail has a passionate cast of volunteers that just love to scare. A wide variety of spooky and whimsical characters from Red Riding Hood and monkeys to the bearded lady make each scene very different from the last.
The actors have come up with some wonderful dialogue and actions exploring their characters. In certain scenes, the actors made it really believable that we were in the tents of a freak show set up within a cornfield. We especially loved the shopkeeper and his friends. Also, the magic act was a scream! The character that took our hearts the most was IT, played by 7-year-old Connor who was very enthusiastic about scaring the pants off of everyone.
Costuming: 8.4
How Did We Get This Score?
Costuming Scores (15% of Final Score):
(15% of Costuming Score) How complete / finished did the costumes appear to be?: 8
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 8.5
(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 9
(15% of Costuming Score) How effectively did they use masks (if used)?: 8.5
(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 8
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The Dark Rows always do impeccable work on makeup. Many iconic characters were identifiable at a glance, and others were dressed to fit perfectly into the scene. A theme like the freak show is a challenge for costuming, which they stepped up to quite well. Walking the fine line between whimsy and horror is always difficult.
Masks were highly effective for some characters because it added to the strangeness of the freak show. While some of their costumes were basic, the focus on their faces compensated well.
Customer Service: 7.48
How Did We Get This Score?
Customer Service Scores (10% of Final Score):
(25% of CS Score) How easy was it to locate the attraction, park, and navigate the premises?: 7.5
(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 6.5
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 9
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 7
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The Dark Rows Haunted Trail is located inside Uncle Shucks Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. The information on their website made it easy to plan our trip and find the attraction. Our GPS took us directly to the dirt parking field. The ticket booth was well lit and easy to see. Once past that, heading across the open field to the corn and following it a bit to the right took us right to the entrance of the haunt. While it didn’t have any sort of well-lit sign, you could ask any of the friendly and well-marked staff for directions.
The trail itself has many well-staffed safety paths. Our visit was on a drizzling night with heavy overhead clouds, but the trail was still lit enough to be safe and easy to navigate. This made the dirt path a bit slick, but we felt it was quite safe for a cornfield. Watch out for the wooden bridges though, as they get very slippery when wet. While we suggest wearing real closed-toed shoes, rain or otherwise, we found the trail relatively easy to walk.
Atmosphere: 8.4
How Did We Get This Score?
Atmosphere Scores (10% of Final Score):
(60% of Atmosphere Score) How obvious was it that you were at a haunted house before entering?: 8
(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 9
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The Dark Rows had a long, spooky queue through the corn with actors creeping and spooking along it. The theme really started here, helping transition from the other attractions at Shucks into the haunt’s world.
With several photo ops, entertaining music, and friendly staff, the queue area got us ready for a fun and scary haunt. Before that, the screams and chainsaws were the only indications that the haunt was there.
Special Effects: 7.7
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 8
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 8
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 8.5
(25% of SFX Score) How well did they achieve & maintain the suspension of disbelief?: 7
(15% of SFX Score) How effective were the SFX at providing scares / entertainment?: 7
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The Dark Rows Haunted Trail is a low tech haunt. With very little power to work with out in the cornfield, most effects are done by actors. The trail is lit by the moon, so your choice of when to see them largely changes how dark and spooky your experience is.
Between scenes, we very much enjoyed the long, winding paths through the cornfield that were empty and spooky all on their own. Sometimes less is more, and spreading out the scares works very well in this case. The scenes themselves are wonderfully decorated. In fact, we somewhat regretted that it was so dark on the night of our visit so we couldn’t see many of the details. Throughout the corn, there are small nuggets of special effects, like a bridge here and a lifesize jack in the box there. You never really knew what you’d see when turning a bend in the trail.
Theme: 7.15
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?: 7.5
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?: 7
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?: 7
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The Dark Rows theme this year was a freak show, letting them be both comical and terrifying. The idea that a freak show would be in a cornfield is very believable and made the escapism effective. Characters, sets, and costuming all came together to make the theme as authentic as it could be. With a theme as difficult to perform as Freak Show, it struggled in certain areas, like the graveyard. But overall, the built sets within the tents were well done and fun to walk through.T
Scare Factor: 7.6
How Did We Get This Score?
Scare Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of Scare Factor Score) How scary was it?: 7.5
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide scares to the entire group?: 8
(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 7
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 8
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 8
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The Dark Rows has always leaned toward being family-friendly and fun, and this year’s theme played well into that. People were all laughing or screaming, but certainly not bored. By being family-friendly, this means that certain scare tactics (ie blood or violence) cannot be used, but even with that, the haunt still had some spooky moments. Additionally, they have volunteers of all ages, including several children. And children in cornfields are ALWAYS scary!
Entertainment & Value: 8.08
How Did We Get This Score?
Entertainment & Value Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment received during the main attraction/s?: 8
(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 8
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 8
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 8.5
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The Dark Rows Haunted Trail is a long haunted corn trail. The way the trail was cut was actually quite smart, with a central hub area as the actor and security zone, so that they can move seamlessly across the haunt quickly.
It took our group approximately fifteen minutes to walk the whole attraction and that was at a steady pace. With a ticket price of $20.00, this means that they have a minute per dollar ratio of 0.75 which is fairly average for a haunt. The ticket price also includes wagon rides, a bonfire, and other nighttime attractions within the Uncle Shucks part of the area.
The Dark Rows is always a fun stop in our month of haunts and we cannot wait to see what they have in store for us and other eager patrons in the following year. Additionally, our group always enjoys supporting charity haunts as they are doing what they love and making their community a better place at the same time.
How Did We Get These Scores
Our Rating System
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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