It’s spooky season in the Buckeye State and we’re always looking for new experiences. One Saturday in late September, Marina and Natalie were available for some autumn adventures so I took to the internet to find a new haunted experience.
Both of the girls like haunted attractions. Me? Not so much. They’d already visited a number of Ohio’s haunted attractions, including a haunted farm in Fairfield County, the Haunted Hoochie in Pataskala, the Factory of Terror in Canton, the Ohio Reformatory Halloween event and others. It was time to branch out and find a new fright.
I stumbled upon Terror Town through a Facebook group and headed over to check out their website. it seemed like a great visit for the girls and I. I could visit the town, which seemed very mild, while the girls walked The Trail.
Terror Town Online
If you’re looking to visit Terror Town, start with the website. There’s a complete back story on the attraction. Knowing the story (fictional of course) can only serve to elevate your experience.
You’ll also note that the admission to Terror Town exists at different levels. If, like me, you just want to visit the town, there’s a discounted price. If you want to take on The Trail, you can walk the trail for one price. For a slightly higher price you can purchase a wrist band. A yellow wrist band means that, although they won’t touch you, they can throw things on you like fake blood, mud, etc. A red wrist band is what I would call “full contact.” With a red wrist band, the ghouls can drag you to the stockade, force you into mud puddles and humiliate you in other ways. Participants can remove their bands at any time if the experience becomes too intense.
Finding Terror Town
Terror Town is near Williamsburg, Ohio. If you don’t know where Williamsburg is, it’s okay, I had to find it on a map myself. Our drive was about two hours from the Columbus area.
We didn’t cut through the tiny town of Williamsburg (population approximately 2500) itself. The attraction is on a country road and the GPS was spot on for the location, though there were a few moments we weren’t certain. It’s about 45 minutes east of Cincinnati near East Fork State Park.
The Town
We prepaid for our tickets online which allowed us to skip the line at the gate. When we checked in they took a number for the group so they could text us when it was time to walk The Trail.
We’ve been to several haunted attractions over the years, but this one was a little different. I liked the idea of the town surrounding the actual haunt. It was really unique that your wait time was actually an experience all to itself.
I didn’t get the name of the band playing the saloon in town, but I thought they were pretty good. My review may be influenced by the fact that they were playing some eighties throwback Def Leppard as we walked into town.
The town is set up like an old west gunslinger town and you can spend your time wandering into and out of the shops and bars. Every now and then some undead creature would wander through town interacting with visitors.
There was your usual assortment of touristy shops selling t-shirts, bath soaps, candles and more. Our favorite was the chocolate shop where, in addition to the usual confections, you could buy full size chocolate skulls and candy teeth. Then they had out of norm stops, such as one that sold homemade brooms.
Hang the Witch
The actors did a good job of maintaining character and at one point showed up in the middle of town for a good old fashioned witch hanging. The mayor, accompanied by two torch bearing deputies, made a loud announcement in the middle of the town square that there was a witch in our midst.
We were all compelled to join him in rooting out this evil. Townsfolk and visitors alike followed the mayor and the torches to a church where the witch had holed up.
As we watched, the men entered the church, captured the woman and exposed her to be the witch. With that, our entire group was off to the gallows. Here the witch was tried and hanged. When that was enough, she was quickly dispatched by a bullet.
The Trail
The girls received the text that they were ready to start the trail and I set up camp at a picnic table near the town square. I tried to keep a low profile so as not to arouse the interest of the undead legions roaming the streets.
The girls gave me a review of the trail compared to their experience at other attractions. They were impressed with the actors, saying that they stayed true to the Terror Town story and maintained character throughout the experience.
They didn’t feel like it was as scary as other attractions they had visited in the past. The focus, they felt, was less on scares and more on punishing the patrons with the wrist bands. At one stop, those in red arm bands were made to eat grass. At another stop, visitors with yellow and red bands were sprayed with blood.
The Terror Town Experience
All in all it was a good visit. I really liked the idea of a town centered around the attraction. Instead of just visiting a haunted trail and leaving, you could spend much of the evening in the town; shopping, dining and drinking. The town was meticulously decorated and the actors really enhanced the experience. The live music was an added bonus.
We didn’t so much enjoy the full contact component, although I concede that some might and it did seem to be a popular option. Even if you choose the option to only visit the town, there were full contact interactions there as well. I saw a few red banded visitors put in the stockades, one that was compelled to roll around in a mud puddle and another get an old school paddling from a ghoulish nun right in the middle of town.
While the girls didn’t find this attraction to be as scary as others on their list, keep in mind we visited in mid-September. The crowds were, I’m sure, much lighter than you might find in October. I feel like visiting this attraction, and many of the others in Ohio, later in the season would add to the spooky factors.
FindingOhio
Autumn is one of the most magical times in Ohio and my favorite time of the year. What are your favorite Ohio fall finds?
Do you love being scared? Marina wrote an article last year about her visits to the Factory of Terror and the Ohio Reformatory, both of which she considers must-go stops for an Ohio spooky season. Or, if you’re looking for real Ohio haunts, the Moonville Tunnel is rumored to be one of the most haunted places in the state (although it didn’t seem scary at all on a Saturday afternoon).
Looking for something a little more tame and perhaps family friendly? Check out our article on some of our favorite pumpkin patches in Ohio. Do you have a favorite patch? We love a good road trip!
If you’re into festivals, there are several. One of the most famous is the Circleville Pumpkin Show, which has been held every October for over 100 years.
No matter how you choose to experience Ohio’s most magical season, check back with FindingOhio often. We publish a new article at least once every week. Until then and as always, we appreciate you sharing our content to your social media. We want to share the magic of Ohio with everyone!
