301 Devil’s Playground 2020 Review
Another weekend… another haunt. This time it was three of us from the HRC who ventured to 301 Devil’s Playground located on Maryland’s northeastern side of the Chesapeake Bay in Galena. The haunt has four attractions: The House of Hell, 3D Phobia, The Barn of Torture, and The Harvest. This haunt really lives up to its name.
You start the night by going through The House of Hell. The design of the path through the house is laid out in a way that utilizes the space well. There are twists and turns everywhere, which make the house feel larger than what it probably is. The scenes throughout the house are detailed and very creepy. They use both animatronics and actors in the scenes. The path does not just stay inside. It takes you outside as well where more actors and animatronics are waiting to scare you. The placement of the actors and the animatronics, both inside and outside, complement each other well. There are many places for the actors to hide, so be prepared for them to jump out from places you may not even expect.
Between the house and the barn is the 3D Phobia attraction. A circus theme seems to be popular for these this year. The entrance for this attraction is unique from what we have seen at other places. As soon as you are out of The House of Hell, the path takes you around the front of a bus to the entrance doors. There they have an actor sitting in the driver seat admitting groups on and spacing them out again. This is a creative way to space out the groups again. Once you go in, you are given 3D glasses to wear for your walk through the attraction. There are designs, illustrations, and words that seem to pop out from every surface that you see. Things hanging from the ceilings are even painted. At times, this can make it difficult to tell if it is really there or just an optical illusion. The makeup and costumes on the actors are well done and help them seem more like props in the scenes. There are some actors who even pose in ways that make you think they are props. That is, until they jump out and startle you. When we went through, the actors would not always jump out at the first person. They waited just long enough to give the guests a false sense of security and to let their guard down thinking no actor was there.
When you come out of 3D Phobia, there is a staff member collecting the 3D glasses. You then make your way to The Barn of Torture. Again, 301 Devil’s Playground has a creative way to space out the groups. It is almost like a miniature attraction with a detailed scene you walk through as well as an actor to keep guests entertained. From there, you are let in to The Barn of Torture. From the get go, this attraction lives up to its name. Just like with the house, there are twists and turns everywhere. The scenes are well done with hiding spots for actors. Some scenes have an actor out in the open to get your attention so that another actor or animatronic can surprise you. The swamp scene is a popular one at many attractions, but here they have fog under the green light. This made it very difficult to see if there was anyone or anything lurking under the light waiting to get you.
The last attraction you go though is a corn maze called The Harvest. Not as many haunts have been doing corn mazes over the past few years, so it was exciting to see how they structured and designed their maze. For the most part, the path follows a specific route, but there are times when you have to pick the direction to go. Depending on the path you choose, you may or may not cross paths with another group or end up back where you started. You don’t have to worry about getting lost because there are actors throughout the corn maze to keep you going in the right direction. The actors blend in well with the scenes or the corn around them, so sometimes you won’t see them until they have already jumped out and startled you. One of the buildings you walk through is pitch black. You will want to walk with your hands out in front of you or you might walk right into the wall... or something else.
Just like other haunted attractions, 301 Devil’s Playground has added some safety requirements due to COVID 19. You must wear a mask at all times while you are at the attraction. There is a staff member checking each person’s temperature before you can go up to the ticket booth. While in line for the ticket booth and as you go through each attraction, you are given hand sanitizer. There is also supposed to be staff monitoring the line and asking groups to keep the six foot distance between them and the group in front of them. We purchased the Hell Pass, so we were not in the line long enough to see this for ourselves.
There’s still time to go out there and see for yourself what this haunt has to offer for the COVID 19 of 2020 season. 301 Devil’s Playground will be open for one final weekend on October 30th and 31st. Saturday the 31st is their lights out experience where you will go through the attractions with a glow stick. Buy your tickets ahead of time online or purchase them at the ticket booth. If buying them at the haunt, it is cash only and there is no atm on the property.
