O’Ville Trail of Terror (Owensville, OH)
“Sparks Will Fly”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
O’ville Trail of Terror isn’t an actual haunted trail. It’s a haunted house at the back of the Clermont County Fairgrounds behind the horse barn. The majority of the haunt consists of black plastic walls with props here and there. General admission was $15 the night we visited. The next night the price was dropped to $10. I’m guessing this was because they saw that they weren’t getting much of a crowd charging that much. $15 is way too much for a haunt of this caliber. O’ville Trail of Terror reminds me of a home haunt that friends and family put together. There’s barely any lighting to speak of. Most rooms consist of strobe lights or no lighting at all.
Scenes include a zombie invasion, graveyard, fun house and more. There are some characters along the way which are a werewolf, devil, chainsaw maniacs, zombies and so forth. You enter and exit scenes through black plastic which can be confusing at times due to the lack of lighting. I have no clue what this haunt was like when it was a haunted trail. I can only assume that it was much better. Just because you can build a haunt doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a quality haunt.
There’s very little signage pointing to where this haunt is. We had to ask several people where it was. Once we bought our tickets, we walked to the entrance but there was nobody there. So, we had to go back to the ticket booth and they had to call someone to let us in. This is a very amateur haunt. Numerous times we could hear actors talking to each other after we exited a scene. When you tour a haunt, you’re supposed to suspend disbelief. That’s impossible at O’ville Trail of Terror.
I personally hate writing reviews that are this harsh, but I have to be honest. I owe it to the visitors of City Blood. This isn’t a good haunt in any shape or form. There’s a lot that needs to be done in order for it to be worth $10. Total tour time is 11 minutes. There are crafts, jewelry, soap and other things for sale. Christian illusionist Jake Lindsey will perform live from 7pm-10pm on October 23rd.
Length-6 Design-3 Props/Animatronics-3 Acting-3 Scare Effect-4
Final Stab: 3.8
www.facebook.com/OvilleTrailofTerror