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By Kara

This year was my first experience with a corn maze. Let me tell you that during my first weekend of going to haunts this year I encountered 4 mazes at 4 different haunts. Let me also tell you that I’m tired of effing mazes!! There might not be any bigger whip in a haunt than a pitch-black maze that takes forever to get out of. Especially when there aren’t even any actors in there. It’s not good filler. To all haunt owners: Don’t be a jerk and try and fool your customers into thinking the haunt took a long time to go through by sticking a boring, aggravating maze in there. I guess I can’t speak for everyone (cause some people are just stupid) but we’d rather have quality over quantity. Of course ideally we’d just like QUALITY QUANTITY.

So now that I have that rant off my chest, lets get on with the Trail of Doom. Since this was my first ever corn maze and since I was so OVER mazes in general, I had very low expectations for this place. When I got there and saw a very “family” type atmosphere, I was expecting even less.

The Corn Awaits

There weren’t any lines when we got over to the entrance to the corn maze. When we entered, we were greeted with near complete darkness. However, there were electric currents running from our fingertips to the walls that provided a little light. Those of us who were touching the walls were getting the crap shocked out of us! It hurt like a mutha but it got me all hopped up for what was yet to come.

From that point on, it kept getting better and better. I mean, when you think about it a corn maze is nothing but “boo holes” – meaning the actors had endless possibilities of places to hide and scare the bejesus out of us (and you). The actors really did a phenomenal job. They all had different acting styles and they really mixed it up. There might’ve been two times someone jumped out and said “RAHHH!” at us. Otherwise we were spoken to in creepy tones or growled at or silently followed or gazed at from afar. And the corn itself was creepy. I guess cause I think back to Children of the Corn and Field of Dreams (dead people ghosts walking out of the corn, dude) and cause I couldn’t look all around me at all times. We were constantly scouring the corn to find the next monster and they were always where you wouldn’t expect them. And they moved so stealthily and silently through the corn that I was completely shocked most of the time.
I go to lots of haunted houses. It’s basically a part time job during Halloween season. Man, don’t you wish you had an 8-5 like that? Yeah, me too. Anyhow, so I don’t really get scared by any of the actors anymore. They’ll occasionally get me and I’ll jump. But this time I was actually screaming. Sometimes I was screaming with delight and other times they really got me. That’s saying something, folks.

And this corn “maze” isn’t really like a maze. We wandered around and there were different paths to take, but ultimately they all spit you out at the same place. So unless I’m mistaken, you can’t really get lost in this - if you’re drunk or short a few marbles maybe, but otherwise I don’t think the intention is to get you lost.

There were some great features at the Trail of Doom. They, for instance, have THE BEST vortex tunnel I’ve ever been through. This has become a haunted house staple and they’re always fun, but this was the best. If you go through, take your time. Notice how the fabric drapes more and how you feel dizzier and more sea-sick than other tunnels. There’s also a fun bridge for your group to walk over. One of the not great features, in my claustrophobic opinion will be found at the end of the haunt. This torture chamber is a new toy haunt owners have installed just in the past year or two. We went through several the weekend before and it sucked every single time. But for those of you who aren’t afraid of being stuck in tiny spaces, you might like it.
Another thing I usually disdain in haunted houses – chainsaws. They’re overdone and outdated. They aren’t scary and honestly I feel bad for the dudes who still have that station in a house cause it’s gotta be pretty boring. HOWEVER – the trail of doom has two actors who just might get you. I’m not saying you’ll be scared of the actual chainsaw, but their timing was impeccable and I’m kind of ashamed to say…..one of them actually got a squeal out of me. Kudos to you, dude.

Overall, it was one of the most fun haunts I’ve ever been to. There were a million stars in the sky, the night was peaceful and pleasant and the actors were some of the best I’ve seen

You can grab a snack and drink at the concession stand, you can pick a pumpkin or gourd to carve your jack-o-lantern out of and you can continue your night on the hayride – which unfortunately we didn’t get to ride on. It got late on our heads.

If you live within an hour of the Trail of Doom or if you’ll be in the area for a UT game, I highly recommend going. It’s an inexpensive haunt and if you walk slowly and enjoy yourself you’ll have a heck of a good time. Fun. Yay!

Trail of Doom Website

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