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This attraction was reviewed on October 19, 2018 by .
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: 7.8
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 7.4
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 8.01
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 8.55
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 8.4
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 7.15
(5% of Final Score) Theme:
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 7.13
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 8.43
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Summary:
In the Appalachian foothills of Hocking County, Ohio is an abandoned zip lining park that has since become populated with monsters and crazies ready to pounce at unprepared hikers who dare to wander onto their haunting grounds. Wicked Forest is a half-mile haunted trail in one of Ohio’s largest and most impressive forests, but the home-y chalet nestled into the trees at the base of the hill belies the threat of ghouls that could be hiding behind any tree, or in any abandoned camp once their hay wagon brings you to the top.
The hills are alive, with the sound of screaming. No kids, you won’t find the Von Trapp family here but, you will find a fun-loving bunch of mischief makers ready to give you a good fright in Ohio’s beautiful Hocking Hills!
Cast: 7.4
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 6.5
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 7
(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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Sadly, Wicked Forest seems to have fallen prey to an epidemic we have noticed sweeping Ohio haunts this season- reliable volunteer workers are becoming difficult to find and keep. While a good handful of actors did return this year to scare, there was a noticeable lack of monsters on the night we arrived and while the rain may have been partly to blame, it was sad to see such a truly excellent haunt understaffed.
The actors they did have put in the work of two, though, and most of them made a strong effort to follow us through portions of the forest that might have felt a bit ‘dead’ otherwise.
Costuming: 8.01
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?: 8.5
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 8.5
(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 7
(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?: 7.75
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Wicked Forest’s costumes are beautiful, handmade originals. With the exception of one actor in a Predator mask and plain black clothing, every costume was a stunning illustration of the character being portrayed. The makeups were delightful and the masks were all worn well.
The most marvelous costume we saw was on the ticket taker at the haunt’s entrance, whose face appeared to be ghostly pale in normal light, but illuminated with an impressive skull design when she stepped under a black light.
It is quite apparent that their wardrobe and makeup departments take extra care with the actors who are going to be stationed in well-lit areas and they have the skills to carry off impressive, detailed looks.
Customer Service: 8.55
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?: 8
(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 7.5
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 10
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 9
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GPS will take you to Wicked Forest’s front gates, but depending on the direction you’re coming from, the lighted archway might be a bit before or after where your GPS says it is. That is because the ticket office, which is situated a ways back from the main road, is what the navigation software is looking for. As long as you pay attention to where you’re at, it shouldn’t be a problem. Portable stadium lights illuminate the parking area, and even in the rain, there were no large puddles or nasty ruts in the road to get hung up on.
Once we reached the waiting area, we were greeted by friendly security staff, who directed us to the ticket line, which is located in a climate controlled cabin filled with photo ops and a hard working bunch of admissions staff that keep the line moving quickly. They even have well maintained FLUSH TOILETS here, which is a rarity in the haunt world, and we very much appreciated it. Once we left the building, we waited with other guests around a cozy campfire while the next tractor came to take us up to the entrance of the haunt itself.
Keep in mind, this is an outdoor trail and as such, it can get a little slippery in the rain. It seemed well maintained, but there were a few questionable spots. One of which was a muddy patch with no protection to keep you from possibly tumbling into the creek bed on your right.
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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Cir Chris, a delightful queue line actor and one of our favorites, milled around the queue line entertaining guests with his friend Mimi as we waited in line to get into Wicked Forest. He was giving out high fives left and right to patrons who chatted with him and generally keeping the mood light and fun.
Laser lights and fog danced around the clearing at the top of the hill while appropriately Halloween-y classic rock hits blared out for us to sing along and dance to.
Special Effects: 7.15
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 7
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 8
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 6.75
(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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Wicked Forest is a haunted trail quite literally in the middle of nowhere and as such, they were not big on sound effects or animatronics. While some lights were plainly out in the open, a few of them were hidden in the knotholes of trees or shielded by camo netting, which added a very spooky filter. We would have liked to see a little more lighting on the pet cemetery scene, which was very well done but just a little hard to see.
We were even offered refreshments halfway into our trip by a seedy-looking bartender handing out samples of ‘Blood Lemonade’ with the promise that in about 45 minutes, we’d look just like him. We learned from another ghoul working the midway that the blood they used is fresh squeezed from whatever the werewolves leave behind. Nice.
Theme: N/A
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?:
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?:
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?:
This score is left “N/A” when we believe the haunt is trying to target a random variety of themes or phobias, rather than a single overarching “Theme” or “storyline.”
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Wicked Forest doesn’t follow a single theme.
Scare Factor: 7.13
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?: 7
(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 7.5
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 7
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 6
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The soft sound of rain hitting the leaves above hushed most other ambient noise and allowed enough confusion in the dark that even if we heard an actor coming, we couldn’t tell which direction we were going to get hit from.
As we stated before, the actors made the best of their small numbers and stuck around for longer than was comfortable after their initial scare in order to keep the mood. There were a lot of new additions this year, including a school carnival and a ransacked campsite complete with tents and an abandoned car. The werewolves at Wicked Forest are our personal favorites, and we were really glad to see that they returned this year. We still aren’t sure how they manage to make those inhuman noises or how they move around the way they do, and we kind of don’t want to know. Some Halloween magic is best left a mystery.
Entertainment & Value: 8.43
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?: 7
(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 8.5
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 10
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 8
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Tickets to Wicked Forest are just $12, and improvements in the off-season added about 5 minutes of walkthrough time to the haunt. This gives Wicked Forest a value of 1.67 minutes of entertainment per dollar (above average) with the 20 minutes that it took us to navigate the dark woods.
They have VIP fast passes available for $17 and even offer $10 tickets for military and first responders, or for groups of 12 or more. The entertainment you get for your money is a fabulous deal and Wicked Forest is an absolute must-see for haunted trail fans.
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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