2009 The Dark Side Haunted Adventure Event Reviews

This was freakin awesome.The best haunt i have been to this year.The wait wasn't to long about 45 minutes.My favorite part was the haunted hay ride.It was great my friend got the crap scared out of her.It was a little scary with the tractor that was pulling the wagon because it was so muddy we were worried we'd get stuck of tip over.Which only helped with the scare factor.Awesome actors and pyrotechnics.My 2nd favorite part was the mine shaft.When you go inside and down the narrow passages what you encounter towards the end would freak anyone out.

I loved this haunt! We got lost on the way there, so watch the highway signs carefully. Believe me it is worth the trip. We waited a little more than an hour. But they have a great snack area with plenty of stuff to eat and drink. This is not your normal haunted house, it is so much better. They start by telling the story of the farm and then you find yourself standing amoung flaming torches outside this abandoned mine shaft with fog rolling out and screams coming from within. (the group ahead of us had to be walked around to the wagon ride). If you can force yourself to enter you will be treated to a unique and terrifying experience. I loved the bonfire while we waited a few minutes for the next wagon to arrive. I loved the wagon part of the Dark Side. There is crawly stuff on your butt and your face, fire, explosions, sparks, trains and hanging bodies. Oh yah, an endless supply ghoulish characters attacking the wagon. Another bonfire as you are dispatched into a black pine forest filled with screams. The grave yard scene is great but the cabin, well I could not scream again after I left the cabin. I could have been done after the forest trail but we had to survive the corn field to finish. I think it was more than an hour and 15 minutes from when we started. We went to four very different haunts for the price of one ticket.

WOW!! Wisconsin we have a new World Class Haunt. I live in the fox valley and travel a lot with my job. I make a point of visiting haunts all around the country every year. A colleague from Milwaukee called to tell me about the Dark Side haunt. My wife and I drove the nearly 3 hours to get to the middle of nowhere. Boy was it worth the trip. The setting is perfect. The abandoned mine theme for the haunted house portion of the event is great and the detail is wonderful. The house is not your normal room scene after scene but more like an adventure through a mine or cave which gives the actors unique access to the guests. The second part of this haunt is the hay ride. I know many people don’t go to hay rides because they can be lame. (It is hard to get a scare on a wagon full of people) Not so at the Dark Side. The wagon is not a hay wagon at all. It has seats like a theater, a soundtrack that matches what is going on in the scene, and special effects you might find in a Disney Theatre. They use the known location of their guests on the wagon to execute some great pyrotechnics. The third phase of the haunt is a trail through a pitch black pine forest. Again their attention to detail in the scenes is great and the actors use this unique environment to scare the crap out of you. We had several people in our wagon load that would not go through the pine forest after they heard the screams coming from the darkness. Even if you duck out at this point you have already got your monies worth. The final phase of this incredible adventure is a trail through the corn. What they lack in props here is made up for in scares by the actors. The three young girls behind us nearly ran us down screaming in an effort to escape the relentless attacks. The closest haunt I have seen to this, is one of the huge east coast haunts called Bates Motel just outside of Philly. And even they don’t have the pine forest trail. And you would pay $60.00 to see all three of their haunts on a Fri. or Sat. night. The woman in the store told me the two guys who created all of this have already begun work on next year’s attractions, I cannot wait!

Holy. Crap.

*No spoilers, read on*

Amazing. Really freaking amazing. My fiance and I just got back, and sweet christ. They really know how to scare people- it's no joke. They have amazing pyrotechnics, and you definitely get your money's worth. We went to Bear Den woods for Halloween night last year, and we agreed that this trip was even better. You get a sort of 'haunted house' with the mine shaft, and a great nighttime hayride. I'm 25, and this one was definitely not for the faint of heart- definitely not for young kids either. From the time we got there to the time we left, we spent about 2 hours. Waited in line about.... 15 minutes maybe?

Tips: With respect to the actual event... we loved it! It was fantastic- best money we've spent in a long time. However, we did get lost for an hour trying to find the place- be careful to follow the directions closely once you get within 15 miles- it can be easy to accidentally miss the turn-off for 67N. There are also some loud noises in the mine shaft- I won't give away where they are, but if you have sensitive ears there was a loud hissing noise that rendered us deaf for a few seconds.

Not a spoiler, but just a general watchout with respect to the hayride- watch out for tree limbs and low-hanging beams. Basically tall people and people sitting on the side of the hay-cart beware of nature- I have a couple of welts because we were in the very back of the cart and got whipped by the people in front of us letting the tree branches go- plus it's pitch black so you can't see anything and you're suddenly whipped in the face. And like I said about the tall people- there are some man-made things you will travel under, that are specially made to be close to the cart, but I'm pretty tall and I almost knocked my forehead into some of them unfortunately, so pay attention to what's coming.

The corn maze at the end that is included in the haunt isn't really a maze at all- pretty short in fact, so if you're chilly like we were by the end- it's not very far to the end once you enter the cornfield. The actual cornfield maze apparently takes 2 full hours to get through, and isn't related to the haunt- it's just a maze people go through at night with flashlights; so if you're interested, just realize that it's separate from the haunt, isn't haunted at all, and they stop letting people in a lot earlier because it can take people a long time to go through.

And get the hot cider for waiting in line- it's chilly out there!

This haunt is great! Friends of mine recommended this haunt last year, am I sorry I did not get here until this year. Just going to the haunt is unnerving especially when you cross the old wooden bridge at the entrance to the farm. They have a covered waiting area with all kinds of things to eat for sale. The wait was not long, they take large groups up the hill to the old mine shaft. It really feels like you are going down into a mine shaft. The laser vortex thing at the bottom of the shaft is great. There is a swamp like area that make you feel like you are sinking in. The actors scare you the old fashioned way, none of this breathing in your face which is just annoying. The mine shaft would almost be enough, but it is only the first of four parts to this haunt. After a short wait around a bonfire we were loaded on to a wagon with a soundtrack and special effects. We went way back into the dark woods (don’t ask me how the driver knew where he was going in the blackness). I loved all the pyrotechnics; you don’t see that in a haunted house. Even the expected chainsaw attack on the wagon was memorable. Sit on the left side to get the best effect. After a couple of miles on the wagon we were dropped off in the middle of a pine forest. Here the grave yard scene is spectacular. And don’t skip the abandoned cabin in the woods. The final part of this adventure is a trail through the corn field. As you would expect from this haunt it does not disappoint. By the time we were done it had taken more than an hour to complete this haunt. This is a great haunt for a group of friends because with the bonfires between the different elements it allows everyone to recount their favorite parts before taking on the next challenge. . They also have a corn maze that is open at night. I was sorry we arrived too late in the night to do the maze.

first time through, never been there before, get effects throughout the mind shaft, and through the woods. Actors are into doing there job. Great atmosphere.