Frightmare Farms Haunted Scream Park — Attraction in Town of Palermo

A phenomenal experience from start to finish, with reasonably priced VIP tickets to help you spend much less time in line.

After being thoroughly impressed by Frightmare Farms in 2023, a group of friends and I made it a mission to return in 2024. Lightning struck twice, and we somehow managed to have even more fun the second time around.

From the moment you start walking up to the event, the immersion kicks in. Since the haunt is located outdoors, you can hear the screams, machinery, music and laughter from the parking lot to build anticipation. Then you actually reach the grounds to experience what should be the standard for a "Scream Park".

A projector plays horror movies if you just want to sit around and enjoy the vibe. Vendors are spread out but easy to find, selling things from food and drinks to merchandise. Actors walk around outside of the haunts and through each of the queues, interacting with guests in ways that provide enjoyable memories. The lines for each attraction are very well contained, preventing overflow into the main area. Then, there are the attractions themselves.

To this day, Frightmare Farms has the best hayride I've been on. The details are impressive, cart interactions are entertaining, the tractor's pace is just right and there were several genuine surprises throughout. Riding earlier in the month this time around was also a treat, since we got to experience a steady fall of leaves as we transition into autumn.

Their haunted houses are also among the best I've had the pleasure going through, brimming with detail and taking advantage of all the space they've got. Utilizing the land's terrain instead of relying on concrete or wooden flooring makes each much more immersive. You'll often start on a flat surface, then end up walking over steady dips and inclines. Sections with lowered ceilings, slim corridors and tight corners create a more interactive walkthrough too, with its actors making the whole thing even better.

Frightmare Farms' actors are top notch across the board. Many park and queue line actors don specific names and personalities that you remember even after interacting with them. Meanwhile, there isn't a single actor within a house that isn't full of energy. The scare tactics are efficient at getting people regardless of where they stand in their group, and there are even attempts to space groups apart to...

I made the long trip out to Frightmare Farms this year with my kid in tow to see if this place was really worth it. Overall we left pretty satisfied. The place is well run and very adequately staffed. The staff was friendly and helpful. There were adequate bathrooms and areas to relax/chill/eat/drink while not in line for an attraction. I didn't sample the food but there seemed to be a good selection of snacks and grill/fryer food.

As with many of these places they can suffer a bit from their own success. A couple times I was shuffled in with a larger group, or sent too quickly after a group and ended up catching up with them. Which then results in a lot of the scares being spoiled for you. This is somewhat mitigated by their cast of actors who seemed to have no shortage of nooks and crannies to pop out of. It still however, does not feel great to me, when you are shuffling through a house slowly as a group of 10.

The hay ride was a little on the short side and honestly not that scary. Certainly not as involved as some of the other ones such as Verhulst and the one in Williamson. But that's OK, I mention it more as an FYI to anyone reading that the main attraction is really the 3 other exhibits.

I did not pay for VIP (and honestly kind of loathe these pay-extra-to-skip-the-line options) and the lines moved pretty quickly. My advice is to bring friends that you don't mind chatting with to pass the time with and don't worry too much about them.

What would have made this a 5-star review? -Better pacing in the haunts -More creepy actors randomly showing up (there's a couple there that seem there to show off their costume but aren't really scary) -Better scares on the hayride (have more people get on the ride and get all up in your face!)

Overall my experience was very positive and I will definitely consider going back in the future, the only drawback for me was that it's so far away for me but it was still worth it, and my kid had a good time too. It's definitely something you could make a night of and hit up a couple attractions, then grab some food and...

Definitely the best haunted house/hayride in the area. Hands down. And not that expensive either (tickets/prices are online). However because of that reason it's overwhelmingly crowded, so arrive early!!! Thankfully they sell VIP tickets with separate line access (think fast pass/lighting lane), which we did so we only waited in line for mere minutes compared to people who wait for over an hour/hour and a half for some of the attractions. There are 5 different main attractions and some of them have shorter lines. I will say some of the less popular attractions/the ones with shorter lines (the mine trail and labrynth) feel under staffed, like there were spaces where there were supposed to be people, but the space was vacant and we went a few turns without coming into contact with characters (but this is most likely due to how popular this place is and the first big year coming off of COVID, it's got to be difficult finding the specialty staff).

We did the adrenaline rooms, which are new this year and those were awesome (they are different and not included in the 5 main attractions, so you need a separate ticket for these). Super cool and they will only get better in the years to come. Think an escape room/puzzle solving while simultaneously avoiding a live actor zombie, who if you're touched by, you lose points off your total.

I do wish their attractions had more breathing room, everything feels really congested, especially when the line just to get tickets crosses into the main walking areas and into the concession/food/drink lines (yes, the lines get that long). But I'm not sure how much of surrounding properties they own. It feels like they've tried to expand to serve the growing hordes of people but have limited property space, so they've had to get creative with the space they have. I for one, would move the haunted mine trail or the labrynth across the street to the property where their hayride is, since it seems like there's more space to work with over there in the woods? Not sure. But this spot is great! I love...