The Black Bog-“You’ll Never Make It Out Alive”
We decided to head out to Spingboro Ohio to go through their haunted hayride and Black Bog. The weather wasn’t looking very good, but we were in the mood for some Halloween fun. Surprisingly it was pretty packed considering it was only their second night of operation for the season. We parked the car, got our tickets and were ready to experience two haunts we look forward to every year, Springboro Haunted Hayride and The Black Bog. We would be going through the Black Bog second.
Length-8: Your walk through The Black Bog will take around 20 minutes to finish. There are many interesting scenes and scary rooms along the way with very few areas where little is happening. This is an interesting haunt that is both spooky and exciting at the same time. You never know what to expect at The Black Bog.
Design-7: The first part of The Black Bog has you walking through a creepy building consisting of various scenes. This includes a child’s play room infested with burnt and dirty bunny rabbits that decorate the wall. Watch out for the actor in the bunny suit who blends in the scenery. You’ll eventually take a ride on the Hellevator which leads you down to the 13th floor and outside. This is when The Black Bog changes from a haunted house into a haunted trail. Scenes outside include an old town with facades resembling old buildings.
Other areas include a wooden bridge leading to hillbilly shacks and different structures, a reenacted Ring Scene, an insane asylum, a haunted bus and a variety of rooms that should please most people. The night we visited, it was raining rather hard making the ground muddy and some of the scenes wet. It also had an effect on how the fog moved. Instead of being spread out, it was isolated in one area. Some of the rooms can be creepy, but if there was more detailing in the walls to make them look aged or more decor bought to decorate rooms, many of the scenes would be more memorable.
Props/Animatronics-7: There isn’t a huge amount of high end props at The Black Bog. Most of the decor is what you would expect from most haunted trails. This includes foam sculls, severed body parts and more. The standouts of the evening were of course the spinning vortex tunnel and the one and only Hellevator. The hellevator seemed to be more intense this year with improved lighting and sound. The Black Bog’s vortex tunnel is also great, but is a bit noisy. Overall there are some impressive decorations, but nothing you haven’t seen before.
Acting-7: Most of the monsters you’ll encounter rely on yelling or jumping out from the darkest corner in order to scare you. A big trend at many haunts these days is to always scare the girls first. They are an easy target, but I want to have an actor scare me also. The actors obviously enjoy what they are doing, but could use some work on the dialogue they use. There’s just nothing original about what the actors say or do. The standout actor of the night was the guy who played the wolfman. Even though we weren’t scared, He tapped on our shoulders before He walked past us to scare the girls that were a head of us. They didn’t expect a thing.
Scare Effect-7: The Black Bog is a spooky haunted trail. It’s always a scary feeling walking on a haunted trail alone at night. The group of girls in front of us was petrified every time we entered a room. It was quite amusing to say the least. There are scary moments at The Black Bog, but the scenes could be a little more intense.
Customer Service: The night we visited The Black Bog, it was very rainy and the wait in line was rather long. Considering it was only its second night of operation, the line was pretty long for this haunt. The staff at Bull Run Farms is very friendly, but it seemed a little hectic the night we visited. It may be because of the weather affecting some things at the haunt and the staff needing to fix certain things. More than likely the trail should have been closed for the evening because of the rain, but if this was to happen there may have been a riot from people waiting in line. Once you exit The Black Bog you will enter into a large 1800’s barn which has nice wooden benches to sit in and a variety of concessions. These include candy, hot dogs, soda and more. Please make sure to bring some extra cash with you since the parking is $2.
Fright Value: The Black Bog by itself is only $8 a ticket, but if you purchase a combo ticket for both haunts at Bull Run Farms, you are only paying $16. This is a very good deal for almost an hour’s worth of fall fun. Make sure to purchase a tasty snack or refreshing soda at the concession barn.
Final Stab-7.2: The Black Bog has always been one of my favorite haunted trails ever since it debuted years ago. Since then there haven’t been a lot of changes made, but it’s still a quality haunt none the less. Make sure to head out to Springboro Ohio to experience Springboro Haunted Hayride and The Black Bog. They are 2 frightful haunts that you will surely enjoy.