Twelvepole Manor Review (2021)

We could see a lot of adult actors here, with a few younger ones sprinkled around. The feature or most interactive actors seemed to be veteran actors who love what they do and have been at it for a while. There seemed to be somebody around nearly every nook and cranny in the place.

The acting was convincing and the actors stayed in character the entire time we were there. Prime example, we approached the nursery and walked in on a mother character ‘playing’ with her baby, throwing it up into the air and banging its little head against the ceiling over and over. We start asking questions, to which she clasps her baby and scolds us for being too loud and ‘don’t wake the baby up!’ After we left her area, we peeked over our shoulder back to her, and she is still clasping the baby close to her, stroking its damaged head. There was no one around, and she was still at it.

We were put on high alert several times while actors were interacting with us directly, or using their props to their full advantage. We entered a cemetery area and encountered a grave digger slamming his shovel onto an already dented coffin, and were followed by a werewolf character dragging its long claws along the metal railings on caskets behind us, after getting the initial scare on those of us at the front of the line. We met a cook who rocked his body from side to side in a way that led us to believe he was an animatronic. Imagine our surprise when he lurched out after us with his handheld saw.

The dialogue here felt natural and authentic. We met up with a young madman who had a skinned/burn victim on some sort of life support as well as a headless victim curled up in an oversized sink. He caught us looking at his handiwork, leans in, and tells the lady closest to him, ‘You smell just like she did.’ We read the words written on his forehead aloud, ‘I’m not crazy,’ to which he repeats it and yells it over and over, all the while, giving us a maniacal laugh.

The list of different characters we met along the way include a cook, an elderly man in a wheelchair, a lady stretched out across the bed with her clearly long-dead family member, a mother and her baby, shadow people using drop-down doors, a crouching feral-lady, monster mask-wearing ghouls, ghost lady, clowns, werewolves, devil, scarecrows, grave digger, caged victims, pig man, pig lady, various darkened and hidden jumpscare people, youngins wearing plaid outfits or old-time country clothes, a ‘leather-face’ chainsaw guy, and a medical madman.

All the costumes looked complete, from what we could see, given the darkness. We did not note anything that appeared entirely off or conflicting about any costume.

We did see a combination of styles of ‘street clothes’ here, from an old-time prairie look to modern jeans and sweaters. We met a few chainsaw-carrying maniacs wearing different costumes including a sleeveless shirt and a zip-up coverall. We met a clown or two in full clown jumpsuits, and a cook wearing a ‘white’ cooking coat. We saw lots of pop actors who did just that, pop up from out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. They remembered to give their werewolf some nice sharp claws to work with. Every costume fit well with the character they were portraying, and with their set.

While we did see some good makeup on the feature characters, notably on the nurse in the queue area, we saw some simple makeup applications inside, namely on the youngins. We saw some faded white face paint with darkened eyes, some streaking of reds and blacks, and some with a clown look. Each clown did look a little different from the next. Damien the clown was definitely a special clown and king of his castle, and the wardrobe and makeup on him showed some nice detail.

We came across lots of different masks. We did not note any problems with any of them. All appeared to fit and work as designed. Masks all worked well with the costuming and sets they were placed in. We got a good look at some of the scarecrow masks and enjoyed the detailing and variety of them from one another. We were treated to some masks on display in the taxidermy room and they were well made and detailed nicely, even if they were being used as static props. They further sold the idea that animals weren’t the only thing being preserved here.

Using a simple Google search, we were able to follow GPS directions to the property. All in all, we only missed one turn-off and looped around the block one time. There is a paved and lit parking lot, with a secondary one posted for church use only. As we approached the property, we noted cars parked just off to the side of the street. We did not note any parking attendants. However, we did spot someone appearing to be pulling some security detail. There were some signs in town, and just out of town, advertising the haunt and providing another route to the haunt. We could see the unmistakable glow of Halloween a bit before we could see the actual haunt.

Twelvepole Manor does not currently have a website, but they use Facebook for advertising and informational purposes. On the Facebook page, the address, telephone number, and Google directions are available. Digging deep into Facebook provides stories about the manor and family with posts and nicely filmed videos. Using only Facebook can make it difficult to get an answer to specific questions without searching the entire Facebook feed. Specific inquiries could be sent through messenger or the phone number provided on Facebook, as there is no email listed either. To stay updated on this haunt, be sure to follow them on Facebook and check in often so as not to miss anything.

There were a couple of areas with some darkened and rough step-downs. There were some steps that were painted in bright paint to allow customers to be made aware of the steps.

Everyone we interacted with was polite and professional.

Tickets could only be purchased at the ticket booth on-site, which could be a gamble to customers who are traveling from afar to visit in the midst of potential unexpected operational changes. They have a great reputation through word of mouth, and rightfully so!

Directly in front of the house, the street is blocked off allowing for a ticket booth with souvenir t-shirts, porta pots, and a concession stand. They also had a tall lighted sign with Twelvepole Manor printed on it, just in case you couldn’t tell from the hearse, the blocked-off street with trailers, metal music blaring, and the soft green glow on the clearly dilapidated house, that you were at Twelvepole Manor.

General admission lines were separated from the fast pass holders right away, with signage right off from the ticket booth. While in the actual haunt, we had no trouble making our way through. The chainsaw slingers are usually just around the corner waiting for a chance the chase someone in the right direction.

We witnessed a demented nurse whipping a patient in the queue line. We were just coming out of the haunt, so we don’t know what the patient did. They looked innocent to us, just saying.

We met a chainsaw-wielding Pig Man terrorizing anybody who walked near him. This guy is a tricky guy, he saw us trying to take a selfie and offered to help us out. Apparently, I had ‘Gullible’ written across my forehead because I handed him my phone, and off he went… in the other direction! After my initial self-loathing session, he returned my phone and did a selfie with us.

We began the haunt with loud metal music. There was ambient music inside the manor, a television playing, some poetry reading in the library, creepy circus music, bizarre clicking, spewing sounds, animal squealing, hollow dripping sounds echoing in the cavern area, and malfunctioning equipment sounds.

We saw two larger animatronics. One popped out toward us with screaming sound effects, and we walked around the corner to spy a second one. It was an effective distraction from a hidden ghoul jumping out to get us. We also saw a massive werewolf head pop out at us as we walked past their lair.

We came across some well-done areas we hadn’t seen often, specifically the taxidermy room and the poetry/library which we call The Poe Room. There was a static werewolf with shiny blood on the mouth and paws that looked real. The life-support victim that we accidentally woke up moved well. Within the kitchen area, we knew we were in a kitchen, but within the kitchen, we had to walk through a maze of kitchen equipment to wind our way out. We noticed the hole in the ceiling above the lady in the shower that provided a spotlight of sorts on her. In the backyard shack, we noticed a hanging half-man with guts falling out of him. Someone thought enough to place a gut-catching basin below him so he did appear more realistic and authentic in his space. We also found a really well-painted clown on the wall in the circus area.

We could go on for days talking about the details in each scene. There truly was not one inch in this place in need of added attention. Walls, floors, ceilings were all treated and looked deteriorated with staining, holes, cracks, and exposed boards, and such. The floors creaked and moved with us. We saw webbing and clutter in a house full of family. We liked the added effort of placing the bookshelf on its side to make the room appear to have had some sort of issue happen there earlier. Any respectable homestead needs a slaughterhouse and Twelvepole delivered with a larger multiroom slaughterhouse containing different animals (and people) for slaughter.

We were always entertained here. We were looking at the fabulous details in each set or watching out for someone to pop out, or looking to see if that next figure is a prop or a real person in costume. We watched and waited to see what each actor was going to do. While we thoroughly enjoyed everything the house had in store for us, the trail was varied and kept us guessing as to what or who we might see next.

Twelvepole might be the best at providing scares to everyone in the group. Time and time again, they would do a scare on the front, set, and then get the people at the end that missed what just happened to the front. Pops were timed differently as we made our way through so that everyone got something before we finished the night.

We saw evidence of several different scare tactics. We heard threats, screaming, creepy laughing. We got distractions, drop-down doors, pop-up actors, shocking and unexpected sharp noises, popping lights, puffs of air, being followed, or being stopped when an actor steps in our way. We smelled some bad smells. All actors were costumed and had something on their faces to varying degrees. There were moments when we came across someone or something that we couldn’t tell if it was a person or prop. The grand finale consisted of a chainsaw fellow on the way back to the front of the attraction.

Ticket price: General Admission $20, Fast Pass $35
This price includes both the manor and trail for the general admission and the fast pass upgrade.

We completed both the manor and trail in 21 minutes, which averages out to 1.05 minutes of entertainment per dollar. We enjoyed every minute of our time in the attraction and wanted to go through it again. Compared to similar attractions, the price point was a very fair one. Now, when it comes to extras included with the ticket price aside from the attraction itself, the queue actors were entertaining and checked in on us while we waited for our turn to enter. Loud metal music and the smells of the concession stand filled the air.