Hanna Haunted Acres (Indianapolis, IN)
“Farm Raised Horror”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
Hanna Haunted Acres consists of 6 attractions. These are Hanna Hated Hayride, Bitten, Stalker Farms, Cannibal Chaos, Dark Echoes and Freak Show. The attractions are over the top in terms of detail and props. We first toured Cannibal Chaos. You’ll enter a variety of rooms such as a chicken coop, doll playroom, tool shed, taxidermy room and much more. There’s plenty of eye candy like an animated CGI Video of a zombie getting its head blown off, a massive moose, a rising ghoul, killer werewolves and more.
Bitten is a vampire themed haunt. Cry Little Sister from the Lost Boys is its soundtrack. You’ll see a ceiling open up, a shaking dinning room table, haunted portraits, caskets and lots more. Most of the props are furniture that move by itself making it appear as if the building was haunted. Our favorite scene included a church made of blood.
Hanna Haunted Hayride is the most popular attraction at Hanna Haunted Acres for a reason. It’s fun and it’s great to see the reactions of other people on the wagon. They’ll either scream, hide their face or laugh their head off. You’ll experience scenes such as a vampire castle, slaughter barn, attack of killer spiders, T-Rex attack, invasion of demons, slaughter barn, a pumpkin barn and more. This hayride mostly focuses on high end animatronics and unique special effects. The train crash was our favorite and the combine chase was wild. The Headless Horseman makes an appearance. Next Up is Dark Echoes. This haunt is quite dark. You’ll explore caverns, corridors, a red swamp and more. This is the shortest haunt at Hanna Haunted Acres lasting only 3 minutes.
This year the Haunted Cornfield has been improved. It’s called Stalker Farms and resembles a small haunted trail. This is the least effective attraction at Hanna Haunted Acres, but it’s a big improvement from previous seasons. The actor portraying a pumpkin creature was our favorite. Next up is Freak Show. This circus themed haunt might be terrifying for those who have a fear of clowns. Just like most of the attractions at Hanna Haunted Acres, this one is over the top in terms of design. You’ll explore a dark carnival, a game of Wack A Ghoul, a barrel room, hall of mirrors and a clown dressing room. This is a really detailed haunt with props you have to see for yourself. My favorite are the caramel apples that look like baby heads.
Hanna Haunted Acres offers a lot in the way of high end animatronics and beautiful sets, but the acting needs some work. We appreciate the fact that the cornfield is more of a full fledged haunt instead of a maze. The haunts are rather short at 4 minutes long. Hanna Haunted Hayride is 12 minutes. There are plenty of photo op stations, a fortune teller, axe throwing (aka Haunted Hatchets), buried alive coffin ride, virtual reality experiences, food concessions, Apple Silo, tavern and much more. They call this area the Boneyard. There are various roaming characters. My personal favorite was the freak with a cattle prod.
Tickets are as low as $28.95. They’re $6.05 more if purchased onsite. There are online fees. There are so many ticketing options that it would be hard to mention them all. Please visit www.hannahauntedacres.com for prices on the Unlimited Ticket, Fast Pass, Single Hayride Ticket and more. Tickets are much more during the weekend. Blackout takes place on November 8th and 9th.
Hanna Haunted Acres has some of the best designed haunts in Indianapolis, but it failed to impress us with the acting. The makeup, masks and costumes are great, but the character interaction is poor. But it’s still a fun place to visit during the Halloween season. It just needs more direction as far as acting goes and the attractions could be longer.
Length-7 Design-9 Props-9 Acting-5 Scare Effect-6
Final Stab: 7.2
www.hannahauntedacres.com