The Deadwoods cordially invite you over for dinner; just don’t ask what’s in the soup!
At Tewlvepole Manor, the Deadwood family redefines Southern hospitality with the most evil of intentions. Entering this property will force guests to witness a family’s descent into madness and see firsthand their gruesome activities.
This haunted house and grounds combine a traditional haunted house with an outside trail to create an atmosphere dripping with blood. Visitors will be treated to some of the best-set details in the business, active animatronics, and spine-chilling actors.
The cast at Twelvepole were clearly out for blood. We were met with character after character who lunged, popped out, screamed, threatened, and chased us, all in order to take our skin or invite us to dinner. While we walked through, we were met with a combination of animatronics and live performers. There was a spot here and there that could have been a little more intense with an added actor, but we had our hands full with the shenanigans thrown at us throughout.
We met quite a few villains, but also some victims needing assistance a well. Some characters improvised with us, while many who spoke had a script they were leaning on, or they attacked us silently. In the kitchen area, we were scolded for being late to supper and then informed about the cadaver chandelier they made from the “witch that stole their husband.” We met another actor who slid across a slick metal table to get up close and personal. Another forced us to bear witness to their breakdown of meshing three personalities into one body!
Some smiled at us menacingly, and some screamed at us. We were accosted with different tools and weapons. We witnessed characters banging their tools of destruction while others pointed them at us. Here and there, we heard a snort or growl. Clowns played hide and seek with us, threatened us, and jumped out at us. We saw an overgrown kid hiding behind a bloody mask and other children popping out to startle us.
How complete, unique, detailed were the costumes, accessories? – (35% of score)
Were the masks, makeup creative, detailed, realistic? – (30% of score)
How appropriate were the costumes for the respective scenes, themes? – (20% of score)
How believable-, detailed-looking were the queue actors? (See Note if N/A) – (15% of score)
Costuming was somewhat varied here. We met family members and victims wearing dirtied and bloodied, old-time clothing inside the house and also distressed and bloodied street clothes outside. These characters were assailants, leading us to believe we were meeting family members from possibly different periods. All costumes looked complete and appropriately distressed.
We came across some unexpected masks mixed in with traditional masks. There were “meat suit” masks that looked like they had been freshly peeled from victims, a pigman butcher mask, some burlap masks, a fuzzy bunny, and also an unexpected horned cow, all wearing farming costumes. The creature in the animal skull mask in a taxidermy room was something else! There was evidence of airbrushed faces with folds, layering and speckling, dark drip patterns, and veining evident.
Props were also used well and were realistic. Characters were picking up all kinds of things to use on us, almost as if they wanted us so bad they grabbed the closest thing they could find to use on us. Did you know a chainsaw file could do the trick?
How easy was it to locate, park at, navigate the premises? – (25% of score)
Safety (Only dock points for TRULY DANGEROUS hazards!) – (30% of score)
How professional, helpful, friendly were the staff members? – (25% of score)
How easy was it to find pertinent information before arrival? – (20% of score)
Getting information about the haunt was easy, as they have a dedicated website detailing all the pertinent information. Using Google and the street address provided, arriving at the property was simple. We arrived 30 minutes before opening, so there wasn’t much of a line ahead of us. The line does fill up quickly, so plan accordingly.
The haunt itself is a former residential house within a residential area, so parking will be on the street or in empty parking lots near the property.
There were no safety concerns to note. A couple of times while walking through the outside portion of the haunt, actors reminded us to watch our step at any places they thought we might trip on, as there were places with concrete steps to traverse, but all were painted and lit well. But then again, being clowns, can we really trust them? Maybe they were just teasing us because we were walking so slowly, trying to take it all in.
All staff were friendly and willing to answer any questions we had. If they didn’t know the answer, they got someone who could.
How well did the pre-haunt areas ("vibe") prepare you for the attraction/s? – (25% of score)
How obvious, creative, believable was the storyline? (See Note if N/A) – (20% of score)
Were you completely, consistently immersed inside the attraction/s? – (40% of score)
How well did the "vibe" flow after, between the attraction/s? – (15% of score)
The vibe of the pre-haunt area was completely relevant to the haunt. In addition to the dilapidated building, and Halloween lighting, there was metal music playing over loudspeakers. The street in front of the haunt is closed off to make room for the ticket booth and refreshments stand. Guests also begin the waiting line in a roped-off area leading to the front porch.
Queue actor “Granny” appeared from behind us with a bag of props bantering with the guests in line. Ohio and Kentucky neighbors alike felt the sting of Granny’s sharp tongue as we waited our turn to enter the house. Don’t be fooled by this light-hearted exchange. The front door had an eerie creak to it as several fully costumed actors with fully distressed makeup and masks came out to inspect the crowd, causing onlookers to wonder what was waiting inside.
The storyline was somewhat easy to discern from walking through the property. The house was laid out as a residential home with evidence of murder and madness at every turn. Costumed characters seemed to fit together as residents of the evil abode, creating a believable and creative storyline. They even included outside outback of the house scenes of a disturbed family that included farming sheds, a mine and tunnels, a family cemetery, and a junkyard.
We were completely immersed throughout the entire attraction. There were so many fine and gruesome details to look at that we had to be reminded to move forward, and we wanted to go through a second time for fear of missing out on some of them (but alas, not time for that sort of thing!) Around every corner was a new scene but also a continuation of an unhinged family and their twisted minds being played out in the scenes or in the actors and/or the animatronics.
The flow was cohesive and suspenseful. Every inch of the space was used to create the haunted
feel. Although it was suspenseful what was going to happen next, there was definitely a connected flow to the vibe of the haunt. Each part of the house was set up in such a way as to cause fear or panic but also keep the vibe of the room intended for the use of the inhabitants that were still living. Snowy TVs found in the living room, books in the study alongside the deceased, and bloody supper on the kitchen table are just a few of the examples.
Upon our exit from the attraction, donuts, coffee, hot chocolate, and lemonade sales were available with the help of a well-placed food truck. Once the haunt was over, you could partake in the food truck, but there was no other entertainment. There wasn’t much space to hang around as they were quite packed in a small neighborhood atmosphere.
How effective were the sound effects? – (20% of score)
How realistic were the scene designs, details? – (30% of score)
How effective, realistic were the props, animatronics? – (30% of score)
How well did they use creative, special, sensory effects? – (20% of score)
The sounds throughout the haunt worked well to keep us on edge and show us what the Deadwood Family’s home atmosphere is like. We could detect heavy metal and old-time music playing at various sound levels on quality speakers. We heard the faint, melodious ticking of a clock to make us feel rushed or that there was some sort of countdown going on. The children’s section was already creepy by design, so the added sounds through the speakers made us feel we were being watched by the not-so-innocent. Areas of silence were noted to be right at the perfect times to build suspense.
All scenes had great details throughout that fit each area perfectly. Each room was detailed so masterfully that we knew exactly what room of the Deadwood Family home we were entering. When going through the Deadwood Family home, it did make us wonder about our safety there when there were brains and eyeballs in jars, body parts all around, and sheets of skin lying about!
There were numerous quality animatronics throughout that would pop out or run at us unsuspectedly to keep us on edge and not knowing what to expect. We were attacked by larger animatronics and also jarred by others that shook, banged, and screamed. We had to take a second look at the dog to make sure it wasn’t real! There was lighting that was placed to either flicker to throw our senses off or to light the way, alternating with darkness to build suspense. Special effects were noted but were not limited to flickering lights, powerful strobes, fog, laser swamp, and pyro. There was a nice effect with the pyro that came on and off just long enough to see a glimpse of what was creeping around us and giving off just enough heat to remind us that the fire was real. Some of us detected the unmistakable haunted house smell of death in the slaughterhouse, which made the gore scene that much more believable.
How scary was it? – (35% of score)
How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? – (15% of score)
How predictable were the scares? – (25% of score)
How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? – (10% of score)
How strong was the ending / finale? – (15% of score)
Twelvepole Manor uses the dark to its advantage. They distract with animatronics and also use them for the primary scare as they shake, shoot out, and scream. Actors hide among the set details to pop out after us or reach through a window to grab at us.
We experienced a Jack and Jill tactic, where one child actor grabbed our attention while another came out after us from a different direction. The actors use a general script to unleash the madness, startle with a scream, unnerve with a wicked grin, or make a racket with banging, and, let’s not forget, their love of chainsaws. Fair warning: chainsaws are not reserved for the finale!
As previously mentioned, it’s quite unnerving to watch three different voices come from one person, who is seemingly becoming more and more unhinged by the second. We saw more mangled bodies than we could count, and blood seemed to be everywhere. Pyrotechnics were also blasted in the air as we made our way through. At times, including the finale, we were like lambs to the slaughter, winding around narrow mazes while chainsaws were coming at us from seemingly every direction. Strobe lighting played tricks on us, making us feel frozen at times.
How satisfied with the entertainment provided by the MAIN attraction/s? – (50% of score)
How satisfied with OTHER entertainment INCLUDED with the ticket price? – (25% of score)
How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s? – (25% of score)
The entertainment throughout the haunt was excellent. For $25 and about 20 minutes, we were put on edge and wondering what was going to happen at every turn. They included lots of detail we couldn’t keep our eyes off of.
We felt quite satisfied with the cost of general admission tickets, as they are competitive with other haunts, especially when considering the general atmosphere of the place. Actors milled around guests while in line, and there was music playing to fill the air, along with the screams of actors and guests alike.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves here and are more than ready to go again!
335 Hall Street, Wayne, West Virginia 25570