Haunted House Review: The Barns of Horror

Our Second stop for the evening was The Barns of Horror out in Locust Fork Alabama. Definitely off the beaten path, but the drive to this can definitely help set the mood for being scared.  You can find directions and more info on their website http://boogiebottoms.com/index.html

We got there and one of my friends had worked here previously so she introduced me to a few people.  Again, being on a Friday night while the high school football games were going on we didn't have a very long wait.

Now, this was the first night that The Barns of Horror was open this year, so they are constantly working to make it even better!
Three floors of terror await you at this scary barn in the middle of nowhere. They boast 3 stories, 12,000 square ft. full of the scariest, creepiest most terrifying horror!  The cost is $10 per ticket.  The money made from the haunt goes to support Boogie Bottoms park, drive in, and other rallies and events they have there.

As we waited, there were a few monsters that came out and through the entrance area to menace the crowd, and I must say, one of them had a very awesome costume. Very tall, what seemed like almost 7 feet tall, and something a cross between The Scarecrow and a swamp monster. Someone even said the smell was authentic too!

So we handed in our tickets and we went inside. "Granny" who is a long time resident of the scary place told us a story about the happenings of the Barns of Horror and what makes them so scary, but I won't give it away. Needless to say it was interesting.

The Ratings I go on the 5 ★ system. 1★ not so good 5★ is great!

The Staff ★★★★
What few staff I got to meet and talk with were pretty busy trying to keep things going, which is definitely what they need to be doing. They did take a few minutes to talk to me as I introduced myself and talked with them.  At the end, we spoke with Marty, who was very friendly and we bounced ideas off each other and we got a laugh out of his "son" Snoopy, a small dog with a LOT of attitude that enjoys 'helping' the patrons find their way to their vehicles. Snoopy feels he's just as much a part as the rest of the actors!

The Trail ★★★½
The trail was pretty good. A little lacking in action, but as I spoke with the management they were a bit on the short handed side. Overall, I think they've got a lot of trail and not enough filler, but that can be worked out as the season goes on. You go up stairs and down stairs so make sure you can do that before you even consider going out there. Due to the nature of this matter, it is not handicapped accessible unless you can use stairs. There's no theme to this haunt, so you're apt to experience many different things in almost every room and you won't see any patterns.

The Actors ★★★
They had a shortage of actors on opening night, which isn't necessarily a good thing but it's understandable. The actors are volunteers, which means they are not paid. This unfortunately hurt the haunt in that there were a lot of dead areas that you just find yourself walking through looking at the scenery. There were also a couple scenes we walked through where people were there, but not wearing any kind of costume. Also, we approached several scenes and heard people talking before we got there, and that can work against an actor when people walk in to their area.  That being said, there were some good spots where some good startles appeared scaring the folks that were with me, and a few points that had us befuddled so good all I could do was stand there and laugh (that part was a good thing!) Some of the areas, the costuming did not make sense with the scene. I almost had the feeling of 'hey grab anything that fits you and put it on'.

The Props ★★★★
Some of the scenes were impeccable. They had a few things that I've never seen before and it worked out great!  Again, this is one of those haunts that spends more time making props than buying props and I admire that. They had a very good variety of things to mess with your senses and befuddle the mind as you're getting scared and walking through the haunt. A few of the rooms had me reeling and trying to figure out which was was up and which way was out, and I found that very amusing. I will say though, there were a few points I felt an over excessive use of strobes.  Strobes have become a staple to haunts these days, but there is something to be said about too much of a good thing.  That being said, the props and use of the props through most of the trail were very good.

Overall
The Barns of Horror has been around for quite some time, and they put a lot in to it. As I stated previously this was opening night and there are always a lot of bugs to be worked out so I won't be overly critical on that. I do think the actors should pull it together a little more and be conscious of their areas and work to getting outfits and costuming more fitting to their scene, or consider using the costumes they have in a scene more fitting to them.  Whereas there is a lot of room here and not a scare around every corner, it definitely had it scary spots, it's tricky spots, and all out fun. It works on all the senses as you go through the trail. So where it may not be really scary to some, I'd say there's a little of something for everyone at the Barns of Horror.  Good job folks, keep up the work. I'd say it's worth the price of 10 dollars.  ★★★½

Scurry Face approved!

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