The Haunted Road Returns!

The Haunted Road (one of my favorites from the 2020 haunt season) is back with a brand new story and experience! Running select nights from September 30 – November 7, this year offers some of the creepiest imagery (and surprising effects) I’ve ever seen in a Central Florida haunt! Orlando Decoded was honored to preview this year’s show during a special media night. Thank you, Haunted Road, for inviting us out!

The Story of The Haunted Road

After launching the 2020 show, The Haunted Road’s cast and crew began to notice some truly strange happenings around the property. Interrupted radio stations, odd sounds, and the occasional ghostly apparition plagued event staff through the entire run. Over the last year, The Haunted Road crew has learned how to identify and create on-demand ghost sightings to thrill and delight horror enthusiasts. But don’t get too comfortable! Are these spirits friend or foe? There’s no way to reliably tell – until it’s too late!

The New Haunted Road Experience

Along with a brand new story comes a brand new experience – with improvements to the process and changes to the overall feel of the event. Without too many spoilers, let’s walk through what happened during our ghost-sighting journey!

Arrival

Upon arriving at The Haunted Road, you’ll need to display your valid QR code (both for the date and time of your show) and potentially your license and insurance information. Be sure to have all of these documents handy to keep things moving!

Shortly after checking in, you’ll receive two items. The first is a bag of “consecrated dirt.” Do not mess with this bag until the appropriate time, or you might anger the spirits!

After safely stashing away your bag of dirt, it’s time to receive your walkie-talkie. While this device won’t be traveling with you, it will briefly connect you with Farmer Dave – the owner of the land, opportunistic businessman, and keeper of vital information. He’ll give you a little bit of the Road’s story before explaining important rules and safety tips for your journey. Finally, Farmer Dave will explain that you can’t just enter The Haunted Road, you must request permission from the spirits to begin your ghost-sighting adventure! More about that next!

The Ritual

As Farmer Dave describes, you will first need to complete a series of ritualistic tasks before entering The Haunted Road. Drive to the appropriate headstone, stop your vehicle, and then one person from each car can get out and approach the grave. Sprinkle your consecrated dirt around the stone and yell, “Spirits, let me pass!” Eventually, you’ll receive a signal that it’s time to pull forward and proceed towards your first official ghost sighting!

The Ghost Sightings

Much like last year’s show, vehicles follow a prescribed path and enter scenes in groups (as opposed to entering scenes individually). Ghost sighting areas are clearly marked with a signage that tells you which radio stations are most likely to be interrupted for maximum paranormal potential!

When you enter each scene, cars will either pull into parking spaces (a big improvement for visibility over last year’s operation) or simply drive forward until you either see a Stop sign or you’re parked behind another vehicle. Each sighting lasts a few minutes before you move forward to the next ghosting area – for a total experience of about 40 minutes.

Unlike last year, you are not watching a cohesive story unfold (like following Rapunzel through her misadventures in well-known fairytales). Instead, you are the star of the show! This journey is all about your personal encounters with the ghosts, apparitions, and other paranormal phenomenon trapped on this haunted and tortured land. It’s a creative approach to this type of attraction and totally different from anything I’ve seen before!

The more that I sit with this experience, the more I appreciate the innovative storytelling and creepy imagery The Haunted Road offers its guests. As I said last year, you shouldn’t expect The Haunted Road to behave like a haunted house. It won’t, because it isn’t a haunted house. It’s an entirely new breed of attraction. Yes, there were some jump scares, but startles aren’t the point of the story. This attraction is about experiencing the awe, terror, and discomfort of an actual ghost sighting (or at least as close to it as most of us will ever get).

The Barnyard

If you’d like to add a little more creepy entertainment to your evening, consider upgrading your Haunted Road tickets to include a visit to The Barnyard. For $79 per vehicle, The Barnyard includes a walk-in haunted experience called The Abandoned Butcher Barn, live entertainment, vendors, and access to premium food and drink like Body Parts BBQ and the Ol’ Watering Hole!

Abandoned Butcher Barn

Of course, the best part of The Barnyard is a walk-in haunted experience called the Butcher Barn!

In the 1800s, a local butcher and his neglected son lived nearby what is now the site of The Haunted Road. Tired of his father’s unkindness and seemingly out of options, the son murdered his father, chopped him up and spread his pieces around the rural land. Even though this terrible event happened over a century ago, the tortured ghost of the son still inhabits this ground. Enter the barn, if you dare, and summon this terrifying spirit!

I was told not to take pictures in the barn, so I don’t have any images to show – but let me tell you that this experience was SO AWESOME! My friend and I were paired with a few other parties (for safety, of course) and asked to step inside a salt circle drawn in the middle of the barn floor. Once the door closed behind us, we all chanted together “Butcher, Butcher, where’s your father?!” It didn’t take too long for the spooky stuff to start happening. I won’t give anything away, but the experience was delightfully creepy using special effects, jump scares, and live actors to bring it all together!

Live Entertainment

Throughout each evening, The Barnyard will feature live, pop-up entertainment such as dancers, dark comedy performers, or even fire breathers. You never know what you’ll find!

Refreshments

After experiencing all the spookiness of The Haunted Road (and the Abandoned Barn, of course), you might be ready for a bite of food or a refreshing drink. In The Barnyard, you’ll find a food truck with BBQ “Body Parts” available for purchase as well as a stocked bar. As an added bonus, there’s lots of gorgeous dining space available in and around actual farmlike buildings!

Vendors

Each night, The Barnyard will feature local vendors selling a variety of spooky merchandise. During our visit, we saw Aztec Death Whistles, artwork by Leenee Art, creepy dolls by The Other Other Job, and more! It was so fun to browse the market area and see what treasures we could discover!

Help Grant Wishes at The Haunted Road

As dedicated members of the Central Florida community, The Haunted Road has devised a creative way to give back. For every person that volunteers an evening of their time to work at The Haunted Road, the company will donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation! With enough volunteers, The Haunted Road will be able to donate enough funds to cover one incredible wish for a child suffering with a life-threatening illness. As someone with a background in nonprofit management, I think this is such an awesome fundraising solution! To participate (and help grant a wish!), fill out an online application!

Visiting The Haunted Road

The Haunted Road runs select evenings through November 7. Admission to the event ranges from $15.99-$30.99 depending on the date and timing you select. Certain nights will sell out, so buy your tickets ahead of time!

The Midnight Drive

If you’d like to save a little money on your passes (or you enjoy late night excursions), choose the Midnight Drive! For $10.99 per person you can experience the exact same journey as the earlier Haunted Road time slots – just after midnight!

November Tickets

Another tip: If you and your group choose to visit The Haunted Road on one of the valid November dates, your ticket will include admission to The Barnyard experience!

Freaky Thoughts: The Haunted Road

This show is incredibly different from any other haunted attraction I’ve ever experienced (including last year’s version of The Haunted Road)! I loved the creativity, innovation, and interactive nature of this event. If your car’s in good condition and you’re looking for a creepy evening – The Haunted Road is a great choice for you and your group!

Another big THANK YOU to The Haunted Road for inviting us to preview their 2021 event! We had a blast!