Scream Acres Haunted House & Trail 2021 Haunt Review

On Friday, September 17th, Scream Acres opened their doors to their first unsuspecting victims for the 2021 Haunt Season, which would feature 2 Attractions, a haunted house and a haunted hayride with a haunted trail portion.

Scream Acres Haunted House and Hayride, LLC has been in operation for more than thirteen years, as one of South Carolina’s top rated haunted attractions and in 2008 we were honored to be added to haunted attraction magazines top 25 must see haunts. Our main goal, is to give back to our local community as much as possible. We strive to make our attraction as entertaining, and to keep our patrons coming back for more. Year after year we at Scream Acres try to improve our haunt, things are always changing……..have you found it yet?

This was our first year attending the attraction, and if we’re honest, which is what we strive to be, it was a MAJOR let down for us. Did it have some redeeming moments? Sure. But they were few and far between.

Why was this attraction such a let down? Why did we leave feeling less that satisfied? Was it the staff that made our experience so miserable? Or the attraction itself? Lets find out if we can get to the bottom of this mystery as we unravel…

Scream Acres Haunted House And Hayride

For this year’s haunt review, we have broken down each haunt that we are visiting into

6 Categories: Sets, Costumes/Makeup/SFX, Technical Effects, Scares, Pacing, and Actors.

Each category is rated on a scale of 1-5 Screams and then averaged out to give an Overall Rating. This new system is to ensure that we are not in any way biased and are giving each attraction that we visit the same fair and equal treatment that they each deserve.

With this new system in mind, let’s break down each of our 6 Categories for Scream Acres’ 2021 Haunt!!

Initial Thoughts – Upon arriving at the attraction we were very excited about what we were going to find as we did not get to experience this attraction last year. However, upon going through both attractions, we found that we would end up leaving very disappointed and certainly feeling as though our money was wasted.

Sets – House (5/5) & Trail (4/5) – 4.5/5 Screams – The sets in the attraction were nothing to crazy, but they do deserve some praise. The sets in the house were very detailed and impressive to look at. You actually did feel like you had entered into this old farmhouse somewhere. Everything in it was as it should be and definitely gave an eerie effect. The hayride was not necessarily the same story. Throughout the hayride there were several sets that your trailer would ride through. On the average some were impressive and others not so much. There were several mini sets that you drove by but were clearly just there for decoration. Overall, the sets did pretty good and scored a 4.5/5 Screams. They definitely were not the worst thing at this attraction.

Costumes/Makeup/SFX – House (1/5) & Trail (2/5) – 1.5/5 Screams – Most of the costumes just looked like boring masks. There wasn’t a whole lot of detail done on any of the costumes and everything was pretty generic haunted house quality. It was either a clown mask or some boring face paint. Nothing about the costumes, makeup or the special effects was even remotely close to what we have seen at countless other haunts this season.

Technical Effects – House (3/5) & Hayride (2/5) – 2.5/5 Screams – The technical effects in the house played very well with creating an ambiance of dread and creepiness. The lighting inside this area was done very well and the audio helped out with that as well, but other than that there wasn’t a whole lot being done in here. Out on the Hayride, was the same story. There were some good uses of the lighting and audio, but then there were some really bad uses of lighting and audio. One of those instances being in a scene where the audio was some 2000’s pop music. Honestly that just ruined the scene for me and did not fit the aesthetic in my opinion.

Scares – House (1/5) & Trail (1/5) – 1/5 Screams – Neither aspects of this attraction were scary at all. Honestly, this felt like it was a kiddie fun park compared to some of the other places we have visited this season. Inside the house we didn’t get any scares and it seemed the only way that scares were delivered were by screaming in our ears and deafening us rather than scaring us. Truly disappointed by the lack of effort on the team’s part to scare. Then on the trail, there was nothing scary about it. Everything honestly felt like it was more of a show for people. Nothing scary happened on it at all except for maybe the 2021 Pop Music they played. That will live on in my nightmare’s forever. They should’ve done some grunge music or rock – something that truly helps set the tone. There was just nothing scary about Scream Acres and it honestly is overrated as hell.

Pacing – House (1/5) & Trail (3/5) – 2/5 Screams – The pacing of the house sucked. It was not long at all and you were done with it before you even started. Maybe this has something to do with Scream Acres being known for their hayride rather than their house, but if you’re going to charge people $20 or $30 for speed pass, then you need to do better with all aspects of your house. I honestly felt like I was in the house portion for all of about 5 minutes. It was not long at all. The hayride on the other hand was a bit longer, but unfortunately because of the way it is setup, you lose the quality of it. You drive around in a dark forest for WAY TOO LONG until you FINALLY come up on a scene. By that point you are pretty much disinterested in doing anything further because all this has turned into is a way to rest your feet. Truly disappointing with how much space there is between things.

Actors/Team – House (2/5) & Trail (1/5) – 1.5/5 Screams – The actors in the house did not do a whole lot of anything except scream in my ear the entire time I went through. Maybe this had something to do with there being a small child in my group who would not SHUT UP but nonetheless, I do not feel that haunted houses should cater to little kids crying. I’m sympathetic to the small children being scared, but if you as a parent think that your child may more than likely get scared going through a haunted house, then maybe you shouldn’t be bringing them, just saying. Then out on the hayride, there were several flubs as I call them. There was one particular actor who jumped onto the trailer and talked to his friends breaking character. This was something that I was very disappointed to find out. Then to make matters worse, he took off his mask and sat down like he was a guest rather than going back to his post. The attraction was already light on actors as it was, so there really is no reason that an actor should be breaking character and riding along with the customers. Whether they are paid or not, they should be committed to doing the job they are there for, not messing around with their friends.

Overall Rating: 2/5 Screams

Overall, our experience at Screams Acres was not a good one at all. From issues ranging to the length of the haunt to the unprofessionalism of the workers, this place had issues. Honestly these are a lot of things that they can easily fix but they need to do it quick, because surely I can’t have been the only person to come through and be disappointed with my experience. There’s no reason I should be running into other people who brag about the attraction being great each year and then come and have the worst experience ever this year. Several of the same people who have come in the past said that this year was NOT up to par! I wonder what Scream Acres did differently. Be sure to go try and visit and let us know how your experience is, but do be warned, it may be even worse than what we experienced.

Scream Acres Ticket Info:

You can purchase tickets when you arrive at Scream Acres, or you can purchase a FAST PASS ONLY on their website.

General Admission - $20 – Includes the House & Hayride

Fast Pass - $30 – Grants you Front of the Line Access to the House & Hayride – This ticket is date specific if you purchase online

Scream Acres will be open on select evenings from September 17th – October 31st

Follow Their Social Media For More Information & To Keep Up With Them:

Facebook: Scream Acres (@screamacreshauntedhouse)

Instagram: @screamacres_official

Website: http://www.screamacreshauntedhouse.com/index.html

Location: 1137 Old, Camden Rd, Bishopville, SC 29010

Be Sure To Go Check Out Scream Acres

This Season And Let Us Know What You Think!!

Maybe You Don’t Agree With Our Rating!

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And Play Along At Home As Well!!

We’d Love To Hear From You!!

Until Next Time,

Be Safe Out There,

Don’t Text And Drive,

And Be Excellent To Each Other!

Take Care Everybody!!