Visit TWISTED HAUNTED YARD’s CarnEvil, where clowns are on the loose wreaking havoc within the walls of this backyard haunt. Hurricane Irma nearly threatened the 2017 season for TWISTED HAUNTED YARD including some significant damage to storage, and many props for the attraction, as well as flooding and a bunch of debris and fallen trees. However, the family and friends of the TWISTED HAUNTED YARD ringleaders (Christy and David Burney) would not let the wreckage keep the haunt from opening for 2017. Through many long days and lots of hard teamwork, the yard was cleared and haunt was built in a couple short weeks, a true testament to the teamwork of the TWISTED HAUNTED YARD family.
Come see what these clowns are up to at CarnEvil for 2017, but be warned: you may not make it out without becoming part of the horde of clowns deep inside the TWISTED HAUNTED YARD.
TWISTED HAUNTED YARD’s cast of clowns and CarnEvil characters are creepy, manic, crazy, wild, and strange. Normally adjectives that would not be appealing, but exactly what you want to see upon entering their circus tent.
While there aren’t many performers, they are truly around every twist and turn in the haunt, including behind the walls for some eerie surprises. From the moment of stepping out of the car, their voices can be heard calling to new visitors begging them to join them in the CarnEvil.
Some characters have dialogue while others remain silent and effectively deliver the creep factor. One clown in particular had a loud noise effect followed by the creepiest deadpan and stare, a perfect intimidation through the rest of the scene.
Costuming a troupe of crazy clowns is no easy task, but TWISTED HAUNTED YARD manages to do it. Featuring some store bought masks and costumes (though modified at times) to effectively and efficiently put costumes on these characters, everyone is clothed from head to toe delivering a complete character look.
The imperfection and rough (at times) application of the clown makeup in this instance helps deliver the story and theming of an evil, run down, carnival of creepy terror clowns and worked well in their mostly UV environment. Masks are used, and effective at times to deliver contorted clown proportions, though sometimes dialogue is hindered through a speech-muffling mask. This dark and mismatched gang of clowns and other characters will revisit you in your nightmares due to their memorable faces and expressions.
Everyone is pleasant at TWISTED HAUNTED YARD. The ladies running the ticket booth and the spectators at the entrance to the circus tent are friendly, welcoming, and greeting Guests with a smile. Christy and her family are gracious hosts, and very polite and engaging including on Facebook, answering questions from customers like us about the haunt. It is clear everyone is involved in this event due to a strong family and friendship bond as well as a passion for delivering a fun, scary attraction for the community They are also passionate about raising money for charity, participating in charity walks during the busy Halloween season.
TWISTED HAUNTED YARD, though tucked away in a quiet neighborhood, is easy to find with standard GPS directions. Upon parking in the front yard, the entrance to the circus is clearly indicated next to the house with a giant creepy clown face. Though there was roadside signage for the haunt, some added colored flood lights in the massive tree in the front yard would not only make for a landmark when locating the haunt but would also make a great entrance statement and colorful canopy tying the front yard into the entire experience. This ‘family’ of clowns is right at home in the backyard of this residential house, setting up their circus tent wherever they can to prey on future visitors.
For a haunt of its size, TWISTED HAUNTED YARD has some fun unexpected special effects, though we won’t spoil the surprise here. They make good use of UV (black light) effects and scenery to add to the creepy carnival atmosphere. Though simple, the scenery echoes that of a creepy fun house, carnival, and circus feel.
Taunts, warnings, and other fun sayings line the walls, as if the clowns have covered the walls with graffiti in order to match their dialogue and taunts heard throughout the haunt. These are sometimes hard to read entirely due to walking through dimly lit corridors, but as they are not crucial to the storytelling, they make for a fun background and effective scenery for this theme. There is a good mix of practical sounds, from props, to special effect sounds, to background music to deliver scares and set the scene. It all belongs here in the CarnEvil, where anything can happen in the circus tents.
Enough Sound FX? (35% of score): 8
Sound FX Effective? (15% of score): 8.75
Sounds Appropriate? (25% of score): 8.25
Creative, Original FX? (10% of score): 7
Special FX Effective? (15% of score): 8
Entrance doorway welcomed visitors to the CarnEvil effectively setting up theme.
While the theme of a clown filled carnival/circus is not entirely original, the layout, character and scene choices make this more original than the average UV clown haunt. Everything has a purpose and a place here, and nothing feels out of place for the theme. The exterior fa������������������ade sets up the theme and carries all the way through to the finale.
While not overly scary, TWISTED HAUNTED YARD still packs a good amount of jumps and startles, unexpected turns, and a very healthy amount of creepy moments. The large amount of population that has a strong fear of clowns may disagree and think this is in fact very scary, walking through this backyard maze encountering this twisted family of clowns.
The great news, however, is that since this haunt is not downright terrifying, it is a great one to bring the whole family to, especially since children will likely see eye to eye with some of these clowns. TWISTED HAUNTED YARD capitalizes on invisible special effect scares to create unexpected startles, highly effective as less predictable moments.
Bring your kids or friend with coulrophobia (fear of clowns), it’s bound to be a fun and wild time down at the TWISTED HAUNTED YARD.