Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Attractions — Attraction in Town of Esopus

My girlfriend and I are "seasoned" Haunted Attractions goers down near the Jersey shore area. This was our first visit to Headless Horseman which seems to be so popular, we had to book a nearby hotel nearly a year in advance due to selling out every year.

We were very fortunate to have chosen Sunday evening to buy our tickets. The previous evening was completely rained out and I imagine there were thousands of ticket holders who were denied refund and had to choose another date.

We arrived very early to the grounds and found ourselves first in line for that evening's 7 pm opening. We were taken through security and then sent down a long fenced path to the first event which was the hayride.

I would place the haunted hayride as the worst haunted attraction. Reason being, due to the fact you are seated in the bed of a tractor truck that rides along a spooky trail (in and out of towns), you only see half the attraction since you are facing outward from one side. We found ourselves having to often twist our neck and bodies to the back in order to make out actors and scares from the opposite side of the vehicle.

The hayride lets you off at the bottom of a hill where you venture upward to start your new adventure on foot. Here is where you'll be walking through several spooky towns, houses, motels, sanitariums and corn fields.

The set pieces are all first-rate and on par with the very best I have seen at our local haunted attractions. While the event relies heavily on animatronics, puffs of smoke and firecracker noises over actual actors, we were still impressed by the few costumed kids that did an excellent job jumping out at (but not touching) us. Every building entered had its own story and the actors did a superb job telling its story and elevating the level of fear.

Though I heard reports of staff herding too many people together at once, we never felt our group was overcrowded. In fact, since we were the first in line, we let some people go ahead of us and soon we were completely alone in going from one attraction to the other (which put more scare emphasis on us).

Those in security including parking lot attendees were very friendly and always helpful in guiding you along.

We timed the entire event from start to finish to be about 75 minutes.

If there is anything negative to say is that this attraction is highly, highly expensive at $80 per ticket. From reading other reviews it seems this price has greatly escalated this year. Though we felt the family put on an excellent, well-executed attraction, $80 seems to be a bit too expensive. If you want to cut in line and not have to wait, it will cost you an extra $35 on top of that per person.

Another issue to consider here is that this is a weather-dependent event. The weekend of October 7th it rained all of Saturday and those ticket holders (which must have been in the thousands) were left out with no refunds. They had to scramble to pick another date and that can't be easy given the fact tickets sell out way in advance of the event. So, when you buying tickets, you are essentially spinning a chance wheel as to whether weather conditions will be permitting.

There are many veterans of this event who say the Headless Horseman attraction has lost its luster and become overpriced. As someone who has experienced it for the first time, I thought it was overly priced but had impressive set pieces and genuine scares. The entire event was extremely well put together. The only thing stopping us from returning would be the price but it is something we would...

We were a large group of 23 on a Friday night - booked well in advance through their “group discount” which gives you a whopping $2 off per ticket. We arrived on time and had to park pretty far away even though there was plenty of parking closer to the entrance. First, we had to wait in a long line at will call to pick up our tickets. We then stepped to the side to pass around the 23 wrist bands amongst our group and were rudely scolded by a male employee to “KEEP MOVING!!” We then stood in another long line to go through bag check and metal detectors. Throughout the parking lot there were various signs that say NO SMOKING, but these signs did not explicitly prohibit possession of cigarettes, vapes etc. I approached the security check in and was told I couldn’t have my vape in my bag and I said OK it would’ve been nice if there were signs that said that! The male working at the security desk said “there’s signs all around the parking lot” I said “oh yea the ones that say no smoking right? I’m not smoking so I don’t see the issue” and he just laughed and said I either needed to get rid of it or put it back in my car, which was parked far away. I then asked if my vape was a pack of cigarettes would he make me throw them out? He just laughed again and said he’s not here to argue with me. I stepped out of line and put my vape in a nearby pot/plant so I could pick it back up on my way out because I wasn’t walking 10 minutes back to my car each way. Just silly.

We then waited over an hour for the lamest hayride I’ve ever been on. Seriously no scares at all. They really missed on an opportunity to have more jump scares at least. The woods were dark and spooky and would’ve been the perfect scene for some actors to…idk ACT SCARY?? We then were dropped off and waited in another line to go in a motel style haunted house. Again, not scary literally at all. My friend even made a comment to me asking if everyone had clocked out for the night because there were maybe 2-3 actors in the whole motel attraction. We would walk through rooms expecting someone to jump out, but no one did for multiple rooms in a row. We then walked through various other house/attractions and still, barely any actors.

We purchased donuts from their donut shop and although they were advertised as $2, I paid cash and was charged tax lol. I don’t care about the $.16 but come on, that’s like charging tax at a concession stand. You’re really gonna hand me $.84 back? They sold other snacks and items throughout but they came at a high price - $3 for a bag of chips that would cost a fraction of that at a corner store. They really take advantage of the convenience factor here, while prohibiting you from bringing your own lite snacks or even water in, which is ridiculous considering how long you have to wait in their lines.

The most annoying part of the evening was when I left, someone had taken my vape from the pot, which I’m sure they couldn’t care less about. Due to the excessive waiting times, several people in our group had to leave early as it was approaching midnight and we hadn’t even gotten through everything yet with a 9 PM ticket (that we arrived at 830 for.) I drove up from NYC so between gas, tolls, the ticket and having to replace my vape, I’m out close to $200 for a subpar experience. This was NOT money well spent whatsoever and I will absolutely not return, which is a shame because I LOVE Halloween activities and haunted...

"Stragglers don't do well."

.. Was how an actor taunted me after I was fed up with anticipating every move and every scare, and then decided to move way ahead of my group. In a horror movie, I'd either be the first one to get killed or the heroine. My 50/50 odds are good.

I went with a group of 9 and I am telling all of you thrill seekers that this is not good idea. Always go with less people if you want a real surprise. Otherwise, you can literally anticipate when and where the actors will be hiding. This is no fun. If you're too chicken $hit to go alone or even with a small group, then maybe I'm going to hide in your closet and scare your pants off.

I did zero research on this place before I came to avoid spoilers. There's a ton of acreage, plenty of opportunities to create elaborate stages for haunted environments. I went this past Sunday around 7pm and the lines were longest to get onto the hayride. Other than that, every line moved pretty smoothly for my group.

The best part was the hayride, which is essentially the first leg of the horseman experience. Sit on the edges; my recommendation for the business is to not allow any middle seating. I was one of the unlucky few who got stuck in the middle. Only people on the edges will get action. The hayride took us through very nicely done sets; there was a theme to it all, and I was impressed by one part that did shock me.

Once the ride is over, you are led to the first of the house attractions. I was hyped since the set designs were so great on the ride, and I was expecting the same within. The scares, however, were minimal. Like I said, the large crowds acted as bad spoilers. Secondly, the actors could have been more committed. Lastly, while the backdrops were immaculate, primed with even mechanical structures, the actors were in very poorly done makeup.

Most of them had minimal pale makeup and the occasional blood trail on their faces; they looked way too human- and not even in a zombie makeup type of way. The most that they carried was a small baby prop. There was nothing frightening whatsoever. It was very disappointing.

The corn maze was another let-down. It was so brightly light and very sparse as well. You could literally see down the rows and find the moving structures ahead of the game. This area offered little hiding spots for the actors. There was literally no point to this section except for the long stroll/exercise from walking. Did I mention the crazy guy who stopped to have panel discussions with the cheesy mechanical dogs and whatnot? At least he was entertaining.. until he became annoying.

With so much land and details everywhere, they slacked in the most important element: the human element. They literally need more actors- some people were recurring in different buildings. The $40+ price tag was too hefty for what we got; I feel $25 would have been more appropriate. However, I still made the most of my time by watching as my friends shrieked and ran from the frights. I even joined in to help scare them. I'm a great friend as...