Highway 50 Fright Field (North Bend, OH)
The Way of the Wendingo”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
Highway 50 Fright Field is North Bend, Ohio’s eerie haunted trail. 2019 will be its 7th season of scares. This will be our 2nd year touring the haunt and we were excited to see what new and exciting things they had in store for us. A casket mysteriously opened as we waited in line and a skeleton began to talk as fog formed. A werewolf stared at patrons as they waited to enter. New this season is their corn cob cannon. You’ll get to see people launch corn cobs off into the distance in hopes of hitting a target as you wait in line.
This season, Highway 50 Fright Field starts inside the 1830’s farmhouse that’s right next to another beautiful home that was built from the ground up. You’ll learn the dark history of the Wendingo which is a man eating mythical creature. There’s a reason why the farmland has been cursed for centuries and you’ll soon find out why. This was a great way to start off the haunt and really got us in the mood to get scared. You’ll meet a character named Matilda who does a great job interacting with patrons and explaining the history. I was the leader of the group and was given a small flashlight to light the way.
Highway 50 Fright Field doesn’t follow a specific theme. It’s a mixture of this and that. You never know what to expect at this haunt. There are various horror movie recreations. This includes Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The only issue is that there wasn’t an actor playing Freddy Krueger. There was a realistic Freddy Krueger statue which was pretty cool.
There are your usual scenes like the county insane asylum. A crazed mental patient laughs maniacally as you try to get out of his way. There’s an ancient Egyptian temple that features a mummy that will place a curse on you. The mummy animatronic wasn’t working properly unfortunately. One of the coolest rooms at Highway 50 Fright Field is their school bus. This is a very unique take on a typical scene. Instead of having dead school children or a crazy bus driver, they instead feature a circus full of killer clowns and much more. The fortune teller machine on the outside was pretty neat.
Highway 50 Fright Field does a good job with making your every day scenes into something that’s a little different. The doll room features a corpse inside a baby carriage. Get too close and you’ll be sprayed with water. There are also some disgusting scenes that might make you up chuck. The walk through outhouse is full of filth and it stinks to high heavens. You’ll experience other hair raising scenes like the morgue, a bloody guillotine death and more. It’s a fantastically fun haunt.
Yes, it would be better if they incorporated more of the legend of the farm into the attraction. But overall Highway 50 Fright Field is going to appeal to teenagers and those looking for a good scare. Some of the actors’ timing was a little off. This was probably because of how large the groups were that were being let in at one time. It was harder for some actors to scare 7 people instead of 2 or 3.
You’ll purchase your tickets in the Buckeye Trading Post. They sell oddities, masks, Halloween crafts, outside fountains and more. You could spend at least 20 minutes just checking out what they have to offer. Tickets are $15 and Children 5 & Under get in for only $12. The Zombie Paintball is $10 and refills are $5. The new Corn Cob Cannon is $5 for 3 shots. Hit a target and you win a prize. The combo ticket for the trail and paintball is $23 and children 12 & under is $20. A Triple Threat Combo with all attractions is $27 for adults and $24 for children 12 and under. There’s food and refreshments available at the concessions trailer. This includes chips, candy, hot dogs and more. If you want to get a photo op then you’re in luck. There’s a Frankenstein’s laboratory scene, a large clown head and more you can get your picture taken in front of. The sign that read “Halloween Special!!! Bodies Buried $10, Really Deep $20” was a nice touch.
Highway 50 Fright Field has become quite popular in 7 seasons and it’s easy to understand why. It’s just the right amount of scares and it’s fun. We definitely recommend that you check them out.
Length-8 Design-7 Props/Animatronics-7 Acting-7 Scare Effect-7
Final Stab: 7.2
www.highway50frightfield.com