Disclosure: Oni and I were invited out to the media day event at Field of Screams and were provided VIP passes to tour their houses and events this year–Oni was in LA at the time, so I brought with me some newbies to the event to see their reaction to what has historically been one of my favorite haunted attraction locations. They had some great set ups showing the history of the event:

When you enter Field of Screams, you immediately realize it isn’t going to be a run-of-the-mill haunted attraction location.

You are greeted by a friend:

Let Me Introduce You To My Big Friend

Every year Field of Screams updates their houses and hayride to keep things fresh, and this year was no exception. The additions made their already great line up of attractions even better.

What Awaits You

It’s hard to improve on their 2 great haunted house based attractions, Den of Darkness and Frightmare Asylum, but they always do. Both houses are some of the best designs I’ve ever been through–with Den of Darkness being a place I dream about just hanging out in. I spoke with Jim Schopf (one of the co-owners with his brother Gene) about it, and even suggested they consider doing some kind of premium “dinner in the haunt” type of thing there. I’d buy a ticket in a second….

Time For Your Health Check At The Asylum

Not Scared of The Darkness Are You?

The thing that makes Field of Screams so unique is they built both of these houses in real houses–so you go up and down multiple stories of the house as you pass through. It literally feels like you are traversing a real haunted house with real places and locations–the only other place even remotely like it is the attraction Hotel of Horror / Altered Nightmares (another favorite of mine), which is built within a real hotel. The range of horror goes from scary doctor based nightmares (and yes, dental horror and a morgue are present) through Silent Hill style areas and creepy dolls. There is something in those houses that will hit your scare meter….oh and as a side note, they will touch you (and you’ll jump like crazy if they grab your leg!)

There Will Be No Chill On This Ride

Field of Screams also has one of the most consistently good hayride attractions as well with their “Haunted Hayride”. They have a great combination of animatronics and scare actors. They have both outdoor and enclosed scenes, and these run the gamut of scary clowns, crazy hicks, and chainsaw massacres. They added a great new addition that I won’t reveal–but you’ll be quite a bit dizzy after you encounter it.

Your Guide is Waiting

The last and most recent addition to Field of Screams line up is Nocturnal Wasteland. This is a primarily outdoor walkthrough attraction, and it has had the fastest ramp up in quality I can remember for any haunted attraction I’ve been through. It started off strong just a few years ago, but this year it really came into it’s own. The big new addition is it’s sheer 3 dimensional platforming. They’ve added a crazy crisscross of bridges and connections that lets you look down upon others in the attraction. For those of you afraid of heights–this will really push you a bit. It’s overwhelmingly safe–but because you can see up and down, you feel immersed in a way that’s hard to describe without experiencing it yourself. Suffice it to say that it impressed me greatly–and I’ve seen a lot. I love all parts of Field of Screams–but this area was the breakout star of my trip.

My two associates felt the same–we went through Nocturnal Wasteland first, and they were astounded the entire time through it. The same was true for the other 3 as well, with the statement “We’ll definitely be back” being uttered over and over as we went through the attractions. It was great to introduce them to what I feel is one of the countries best haunted attraction locations, and have them find it as great as I have.

Let Everyone Know Where You Screamed The Loudest

One last note: Field of Screams has some excellent merchandise. I strongly suggest checking out their Scream Store and take home some of their items–I bought up the place–especially since this is their 25th year anniversary and I had to have those items for my collection. I only buy things from places that I love, and their hat is my new daily wear accessory.

The Band “The Undead” Set The Mood

If you haven’t gone to Field of Screams and you like haunted attractions you are really missing out. They can fill up an entire night of fun with their Attractions, Food, Games, and Live Music. If you want something a bit extra this year, they are doing a special 25th anniversary behind the scenes tour–you can get information on that on their site: https://www.fieldofscreams.com/attractions/anniversary-package