The Haunted Orchard (Wooster, OH)
“An Apple A Day Will Kill You”
By Noah Wullkotte: Jollypumpkin@aol.com
Learn the dark history of the Melrose Apple at The Haunted Orchard. Don’t take a bit or you’ll suffer from the dangerous side effects. You might even go mad. The Haunted Orchard is an old school haunt in a sense. Its focus is mostly on acting and creepy scenes. If you know the haunt’s backstory, then the scenes make sense.
You’ll meet Freeman S. Howlett who cross pollinated the Melrose Apple with a Pharaoh Apple he received from an Egyptian scientist. The Melrose Apple didn’t taste too good, so he had no choicebut to cross pollinate. Freeman luckily had a friend who was a dentist and agreed to pass the apples out to to his patients. The toxins from the apple made people go crazy and start killing each other. This caused Freeman to go insane and he had to be placed in a mental hospital. He was eventually put in jail and sent to the electric chair where he fried like a crispy piece of bacon. This is the backstory in a nutshell.
You’ll explore different scenes such as a mental hospital where Freeman went mad. You’ll also enter a laboratory, the jail, an Egyptian Temple with mummies, a nuclear waste zone, a nursery, clown house, hall of portraits and much more. There were a a few actors that really stood out. The Jester in the clown house wanted to rip my heart out and shove it down my throat. The little girl who wanted to turn me into a doll was also quite convincing. Watch out for the dentist known as Dr. Pain Kill Drill who wants to operate on your pearly whites. The clown in chains did a great job at scaring people in the queue line. I was unfortunately asked where I was going by several actors which got old fast. But many of the characters get up close and personal which made the experience more intense.
There were a few props and effects that were eye catching. This included an animated ghost in the hall or portraits, glowing toxic waste, the classic electric chair animatronic and more. We were inside of the haunt for roughly 13 minutes. Tickets are $15 a piece. Proceeds benefit the Wooster Fireworks Foundation. There are plenty of concessions available such as T-Shirts, hats, apples and much more. The ticket building is pretty cool since it’s decorated with old signs. The queue line is decorated with tombstones, a casket and more. You might even see a skeleton in a bathtub. We enjoyed our time at The Haunted Orchard and we think you will too. There are some areas that need to be worked on such as set design and props, but overall it was a fun experience.
Length-7 Design-7 Props/Animatronics-7 Acting-7 Scare Effect-7
Final Stab: 7.0
www.thehauntedorchard.com