Field of Screams 2016
2016 Haunt season is here! Field of Screams, the original and only one in PA continues to be the pioneers for opening early in September. It was about 90* out on September 10th when we visited for our review. With the actors being in costume and heavy make-up, or masks, they were definitely sweating their socks off. That being said, not once did they break character. Not even in the Den of Darkness or Asylum. Those are both their indoor attractions. We were sweating just walking through, so kudos to the actors for handling that better than most! Field of Screams never lets us down. This year there seems to have been a focus on improving the customer experience overall.
Their roads are paved now, which is really nice bc some haunts send us down the bumpy, muddy unknown and it can be an unpleasant trip to reach the parking area. They've upgraded their entrances to the attractions themselves and added a much more efficient, user friendly line system. They have an entire mid-way area with tons of food and game options. They have carnival like game booth areas, and a really excellent free photo booth as well. They even have a FOS snapchat filter. The Den has seen some nice changes too. The rooms have had some new props and actors and there is one area that is entirely new. Freaked us out pretty well, something about crawling through unknown pitch black darkness that is terrifying. The Den was our favorite of the 4 attractions this year. The actors delivered a flawless show, even in the heat! The Asylum saw some changes as well. The special effects have much improved making us feel unsure of which items are props and which are people. Both indoor attractions violated our senses completely. The smells of sewage, death and even blood flowed all through both of them. Those small details are what makes Field of Screams stand out. Nocturnal Wasteland has grown in the last few years into its own true identity. This is an outdoor trail. It is so hard to fill space in an outdoor scene without it coming off as either way too many props, or way too many holes. Field Of Screams certainly sets the bar when it comes to walking outdoors for a haunt. They have really pulled this one together nicely. The scenes are incredible. Some may say electrifying. The actors did a great job at playing roles that match their scene. Speaking of roles and scenes... we have their Hayride. The Hayride for us was our 2nd favorite this year. The hayride added one new scene, but improved many others. Their use of the space they have there is really amazing. Each stop on the hayride is its own little show. The actors there really do a great job of capturing the audience and forcing us to look one way, so that we are unprepared for a scare the other way. Overall what we love about FOS is that this is an operation of passion.
The actors and managers are volunteer. Some often use their own funds to put towards making their scene come to life. We are already looking forward to what they will add next. They are open through September and October. We have also learned the extreme edition will return in November. See last year's review on that in the archives!
