The Haunted Forest Review (2025)

Looking for those familiar faces I was talking about? In this heavily animatronic haunt, you can still spot a breathing character or two. From your classic options like Evil Dead and Elm Street to our most current obsession–Stranger Things. This Haunt has them all. Creatures and monsters that have terrified you on screen your whole life are now alive and coming at you in this dimly lit, winding woodland. They come around corners or whisper sweet nothings in your ear as they pass. Expressing sentiments like, “I enjoy your screams as they spread into the night,” while grinning at you eerily, eye contact unbroken. They are unexpected and efficient. Just like we like our monsters to be.

The classic costumes put together here at the Forest for the breathing characters are well-made and definitely fit the scenes and surroundings they inhabit. The dolls in the playground and the cabin witch were some of our favorites. We literally ran into a sharply dressed Dracula, and obviously melted Krueger with patients and scientists in between. A variety of costumes for a variety of characters. From the entrance where you learn the rules and regulations to the bloody end, everyone is dressed to impress, and this may sound odd, but we don’t mean just the actors, as the animatronics and props are costumed great as well. They definitely take pride in their work and spend time and care on each one.

The Haunted Forest is just outside of Salt Lake City, about a 30-minute drive for us. It can get a little gnarly towards the end with its dark roads and rough parking area. But we like to think of that as part of the creepy warmup lol. This year at the Forest, they have tried a new “streamlined experience”; everything is done from your phone. You purchase tickets from your phone (unless you are paying cash), you get queue updates from your phone, you are notified when to enter, etc. Now, this is certainly keeping up with the times, but we have to be honest: it can make you feel incredibly rushed. Or at least it did for us. We wanted to spend more time in the Graveyard taking photos and whatnot, but we were immediately called in and told there would be time after the haunt. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be true. We cannot recommend coming early enough to you for the full Haunted Forest experience. The ladies working at the front were helpful for the most part, but again, a little rushed when trying to ask ticket questions. But any and all ticket info is listed online during the season as well, so come prepared.

Man, this section is really hard this year because when you are in it, you are all the way in it, but there is soooooo much downtime between actors, animatronics, and any interaction, really. We found ourselves with plenty of time to chat about the section we just left, the beautiful lake that you can see from within the trails of the Forest, and as haunt reviewers, the immediate time to recall what we just saw is great, but as a haunt go-er, it was hard being pulled in and out constantly from the scare and the story. When you are inside the Evil Dead cabin, the fire is glowing, the chains are rattling, and screams are all around you – you are definitely scared – but moments later, when you are back outside in the cool air and quiet path, the energy dies a little.

The only other immersion downside we say we had was constantly catching up with those in front of us, and again, as haunt reviewers, it is usually the opposite because we want to look at and examine each and every inch of the place. But like we said, when you are in it, you are in it! You are crawling through caves and tunnels and winding through wooded path after wooded path. You go through spider nests and mine shafts and all sorts of places tall people hate, lol. They also make great use of the water features. The pirate ship! Just wait till you see it! And you will know when it is close… Cannon fire has a very distinct sound, doesn’t it?

Damn. Holy animatronics! From beginning to end, this place is stocked with some of the biggest animatronics we have seen. They kick it off with an oldie but a goodie here at the Forest– a big wolf eating poor Little Red Riding Hood. This animatronic has been a staple for many seasons. It’s almost like visiting an old friend. Another mechanical favorite here is the puking skeleton, but this year it appears he is having an even worse time! We will let you check out this ‘explosive’ change for yourselves. But fair warning, if vomit makes you queasy, this won’t be any better. This next part was the worst part for me and definitely not one I remember having before. The baby animatronics that FILL a room. Not just physically, but also with their blood-curdling cries. The gross factor is out of control in this room–be warned. They recreated the entire cabin from Evil Dead that you walk through, and the entire Stranger Things house, too. And, those are just the indoor structures. Outside is another story. They have a Christmas Land that is sure to scare any kid right back onto the nice list. At one point, you cross the covered bridge from Sleepy Hollow (we will revisit this in the Scare Factor section). In the cornfield, they have built an alien abduction scene that is out of this world. See what I did there?

There were a few big, big scares throughout our adventure in the Haunted Forest. Let us tell you about them. It was shortly after we left the cabin and were walking through the covered bridge from Sleepy Hollow. You think it’s just a down moment in the haunt, a nice stroll if you will. But no, from under your feet is hissing and movement, and things creep up your legs. It’s these creepy, texturized, inflatable tentacles that come up from the floorboards. It was truly unexpected. I screamed my lungs out, having no idea what was going on at first. Especially when this is a no-touch haunt. There is no paying extra for hands-on here.

There are plenty of jump scares and pace-increasing follow-throughs inside this dark haunt. And of course, the chainsaw ending to the haunt itself is foretold from the start, with it being an all-outdoor haunt, you can’t hide the screams and sounds of what’s to come. But going back to the animatronics mentioned in the last section…. The babies. What a house to walk through. Unconventionally scary for sure. There are so many, and it is so loud! There is even a live birth! You read that right–birth. This gory, wet, birthing scene is in the middle of the haunt. At least it’s the outhouse in the beginning that sprays and not this one…