Black Orchard Haunted House (Shelbyville, KY)
“Family Is Forever”
By Noah Wullkote: jollypumpkin@aol.com
Black Orchard Meats is serving up the finest meat products that Shelbyville, Kentucky has ever tasted. Black Orchard Farm isn’t your typical pig farm and theses filthy animals love the taste of human flesh. You don’t want to eat what the butcher is serving. Silas Black and his backwoods family run the farm and their elderly mother lives on the property. The legend is true and this murderous clan isn’t too fond of strangers. Family is everything and you’ll soon discover what’s in the barn.
Black Orchard Haunted House has been around for 3 years and it’s made an impact in a short time. This is a twisted haunt that reminded me of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Enter a large barn with rusty equipment, dirt covered floors, bloody body parts and slaughtered livestock. You’ll feel very uncomfortable as you experience each scene. There’s a sense of dread that lingers.
Black Orchard Haunted House has some of the best victims I’ve seen at any haunt. One second you’ll see a helpless woman being carried off by a large psychopath and the next second another woman is screaming in terror as she cries for help. It’s intense. This haunt does a good job with their lighting. It’s just the right amount of lighting to highlight detail in its various scenes. There are plenty of scenes with unique characters. Cross a bridge with a pig faced killer. In order to exit, you must walk underneath his legs. A crazed lunatic with a hammer will force you to sit down in a chair and let the fun begin.
You would think that a chicken coop would be a safe place to go, but watch out or a beast might just attack. The red foggy swamp will consume you and you never know what’s hiding. Will you be the next victim in the body bag chamber and what will become of you in the sewing room? Black Orchard Haunted House is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on Steroids. It’s an old fashioned haunted house with some scary characters. It’s gritty and realistic and one hell of a good time. Yes, there were some dead spots, but that’s a minor complaint.
Tickets are $20 and Fastlane Admission is $30. Military/veterans and students get a 10% off discount with proper ID. Save $2 when you bring 2 canned goods that are donated to Kentucky Harvest. If you get too scared then say “Monsters Be Good” and the monsters will leave you alone. Blackout: Psycho Edition takes place on November 2nd and you’re just given a flashlight to light your way. That night Black Orchard pays tribute to Norman Bates and it’s from Dusk till Midnight. Their Christmas event called Silent Night takes place on Saturday, December 7th from 6 PM – 11 PM. Please visit www.blackorchardhaunt.com for all the information on special events like Blackout and Silent Night. This includes pricing, dates, hours and more.
Total tour time was around 9 minutes which is somewhat short. It’s truly the biggest negative of this haunt. There are various characters that interact with patrons on the outside of the haunt. Earlier that night, they payed tribute to the late great Sid Haig by playing House of 1000 Corpses on their movie screen. An actor dressed as Captain Spaulding stalked the crowd and he was a dead ringer for the character Sid Haig made famous. Black Orchard Haunted House has chips, candy, drinks, haunted house merchandise and more at their concessions area.
Black Orchard Haunted House is a haunt that does an excellent job with its theming. It’s a bloody, bizarre and fun experience. The creepy barn is intimidating and it’s where evil dwells. Will you mysteriously go missing and have your corpse placed on a cross for everyone to see as they wait to enter Black Orchard Haunted House at Red Orchard Park?
Length-6 Design-8 Props/Animatronics-7 Acting-9 Scare Effect-8
Final Stab: 7.6
www.blackorchardhaunt.com