Haunted Attraction Reviewed: Huston’s Haunted Hollow
Website: www.hauntedhollow.net
Location of Attraction: Rockwood, PA
Date of Review: 9/25/2021
Total Number of Attractions Available: 5
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 8/10
Entertainment & Food Rating: 8/10
Atmosphere Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Costume & Makeup Rating: 8/10
Overall Cast & Crew Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Feedback: Huston’s Haunted Hollow is a multi-attraction scream park located in Rockwood Pennsylvania, about 1 hour east of Pittsburgh. Haunted Hollow may have been a new-to-us haunted attraction, but they certainly aren’t new to the industry, as 2021 is their 25th season! We’ve been eyeing up a visit to Haunted Hollow for several years now, and we’ve finally made the trek to Western Pennsylvania to experience the attraction for ourselves.
We arrived on site at Huston’s Haunted Hollow around 9:30pm for what would be our 2nd haunted attraction of the evening, as we paid Crawford School of Terror (CSOT) in Connellsville a visit earlier that evening. Hoping to keep the adrenaline pumping after an exhilarating experience at CSOT, the Haunted Hollow DJ blasting energizing music along with screams heard echoing off in the distance definitely kept our adrenaline rush flowing as we approached the midway! Haunted Hollow possesses a rather large midway area highlighted with booming & electrifying music, several small bonfires, a few games, several photo-op booths, a small souvenir shop, Haunted Hollow Escape (15 minute escape room), and a small food stand. A perfect setup to entertain guests both inside and outside of the attractions!
Huston’s Haunted Hollow features five attractions - Bruner Boarding House, Milford Asylum, HollowWood Haunted Hayride, Toxic Wasteland, and Dead End Cornfield. We personally did not agree with HollowWood Haunted Hayride being advertised as a true attraction, we’ll explain our thoughts on this in more depth later in our review. Nonetheless, tickets are very reasonably priced ranging from $23-$30 depending on the night you attend. Purchase tickets online ahead of time and you’ll save an additional $5! The evening we attended happened to be their 2nd night of operation, so after purchasing tickets online we only paid $18 per person, which is quite unheard of for a haunt advertising five attractions.
At Huston’s Haunted Hollow the five attractions are experienced in linear fashion, meaning you’ll experience them back to back with little to no wait in between attractions. Linear attractions often mean a longer initial wait, which is where several roaming scare actors along with a ghost-hunting app come in to help pass time and keep you entertained. Patrons can download the “Go Ghost Hunting” app on their Apple or Android cell phone and then zap & collect ghosts while waiting in line & on the HollowWood Haunted Hayride. Submit your final score at the end of the experience for a chance to win cash prizes! Several of our members participated in the ghost-hunting challenge, it was certainly effective in entertaining us. Special shout-out to BeetleJuice, who was making his rounds in the cue line, engaging with guests and amping you up for the experience. After about a 20-30 minute wait it was our Squad’s turn to experience the Haunted Hollow!
Bruner Boarding House - Approach the front doorway to the Bruner Boarding House property with caution, are you sure you have what it takes to proceed? If so, knock 3 times and your ghostly caretaker will grant you access to the mayhem! After a short journey through several dark passageways we entered the front yard to the Bruner Boarding House. Towering above us was the ominous and elegantly crafted Bruner Boarding House. Audio and visual effects were utilized to effectively simulate lightning and thunder booming off in the distance. Prepare for an action-packed 10-15 minute journey through the Bruner Boarding House. You’ll traverse through all parts of the property, including the basement and main floor of the house! The sets within this attraction were of top-notch quality and clearly crafted with extreme detail. We felt fully immersed into an eerie haunted house. Scare actors were effectively sprinkled throughout the house, popping out of cleverly hidden areas to provide a fright. Various high-quality special effects along with animatronics were utilized to help keep you on your toes, creating a rather unnerving and hair-raising journey! Special shout-out goes to the plunger guy in the raunchy bathroom, that dude left a memorable impression on our squad!
Milford Asylum - The Milford Asylum may be a short attraction duration wise (~2-3 minutes), but it sure packs a punch! Head of security will grant you access into the Milford Asylum, where your first stop is a visit with Nurse Candy, a Frank-N-Furter-esque character who is sure to leave a lasting impression. As you proceed forth through the Milford Asylum you’ll encounter several energized and borderline manic scare actors - these folks were relentless in their attacks and possessed a rather sinister vibe. Like the Bruner Boarding House, the Milford Asylum featured realistic and top-notch set design along with various special effects which created for a visually pleasing yet horrifying experience! We’d love to see the Haunted Hollow team continue to expand this attraction to include more scenes, which means more opportunities for scares.
HollowWood Haunted Hayride - After bolting out of the exit to the Milford Asylum guests will be loaded onto a covered wagon featuring plastic-wrapped hay bales as seating. Right off the bat we were quite concerned about the hayride experience that lied ahead, as the covering to the wagon blocked a lot of your sightlines. Unfortunately we’d soon learn that the HollowWood Haunted Hayride acts just as transportation to the Toxic Wasteland trail. There were no scenes or spooks encountered during our 5 minute ride from the Milford Asylum to the Toxic Wasteland, and same goes for the 5 minute ride from the Toxic Wasteland to the Dead End Cornfield. The only source of entertainment on the HollowWood Haunted Hayride was another opportunity to participate in the ghost-hunting. We were quite disappointed that the hayride was advertised as an attraction, and we weren’t the only patrons confused by the misleading advertising. Theoretically we’d love to see the Haunted Hollow team convert this into a true haunted hayride attraction with several scenes and frightening spooks. But until then, we feel Haunted Hollow should strongly reconsider wording the HollowWood Haunted Hayride as an attraction offering.
Toxic Wasteland - After our 5 minute wagon ride we arrived at the entrance to the Toxic Wasteland. Located on a rather quiet, desolate, and dark portion of the property, the Toxic Wasteland has an eerie atmosphere to play off of! We were quite bummed that our entire wagon of 20-25 patrons was funneled into the attraction as one large group. Fortunately we were able to just slow down our pace and separate ourselves from the other patrons. Sending groups of 4-6 patrons through the Toxic Wasteland every few minutes would certainly allow for a more immersive and nerve-wracking experience. Nonetheless, the first scene kicked things off on an exhilarating note, as several energized and crazed clowns were encountered in the carnival/circus themed scene. After receiving a quick jolt of adrenaline we were sent forth into the dark woods! The pathways were dimly lit with glowing skulls, allowing spooks to effectively lurk in the shadows. We were amazed when we encountered a well crafted swamp scene with a somewhat unsturdy-feeling bridge that had us thinking we were one wrong step away from being a new ornament in the swamp. The Toxic Wasteland featured simple but effective set design, they played perfectly off the dark and eerie aspects of the woods. Scare actors were few and far between at times, which did allow for some areas of dead space. But those we did encounter were merciless at times, providing several spine-tingling startles. The “bones” are certainly there for the Toxic Wasteland to become a top-notch attraction like the Bruner Boarding House, but for now we feel there's still some work to be done to improve the overall attraction experience. Nevertheless, the Toxic Wasteland still provides a simple yet eerily effective experience.
Dead End Cornfield - After another 5 minute wagon ride you’ll stumble upon the dark and ominous cornfield. We were pleased to see Haunted Hollow staff pacing the entry of groups into the Dead End Cornfield, entering in a smaller group certainly heightened the attractions overall effectiveness in providing a spooky fun experience. As you traverse through the dark passageways beware the inhabitants that lurk in the cornfield - they’ll pop out when you least expect it to provide a spine-tingling scare. About halfway through the Dead End Cornfield is where things become rather disorienting. Several dead ends along with numerous different pathways had our group all twisted around and feeling bewildered. Just when we thought we figured out the “puzzle” we realized we made another wrong turn. Several chainsaw wielding maniacs throughout the cornfield certainly helped to disorient us further. Eventually we’d find our way through the Dead End Cornfield. As we traversed through the final scene we were greeted by a ginormous man-eating pig, which delivered one final startle!
Huston’s Haunted Hollow certainly possesses everything necessary to become one of Pennsylvania’s premier haunted attraction scream parks! The midway is lively and features ample activities to entertain patrons outside the attractions. Although, we’d love to see the addition of more food vendors/offerings. The Bruner Boarding House and Milford Asylum attractions are second to none, providing an aesthetically pleasing, engaging, and blood-curdling experience. With some additions and enhancements to the Toxic Wasteland and Dead End Cornfield, these two attractions could be right up there with the Bruner Boarding House & Milford Asylum. Transforming the HollowWood Haunted Hayride into a true haunted hayride attraction would be the cherry on top! There’s certainly some work that could be done to enhance the overall experience at Haunted Hollow, but as is they still provide a frightfully fun experience that’s sure to please all varieties of haunt goers! We look forward to returning to Huston’s Haunted Hollow in a few years as we’re sure they’ll continue to enhance their offerings and provide an even bigger and more frightening experience!
Individual Attraction Ratings:
Attraction Name: Bruner Boarding House
Overall Attraction Rating: 9.5/10
Cast & Crew Rating: 9.5/10
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 9.5/10
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 9/10
Attraction Name: Milford Asylum
Overall Attraction Rating: 9/10
Cast & Crew Rating: 9.5/10
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 9.5/10
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 8.5/10
Attraction Name: HollowWood Haunted Hayride
Overall Attraction Rating: n/a
Cast & Crew Rating: n/a
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: n/a
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: n/a
Attraction Name: Toxic Wasteland
Overall Attraction Rating: 7/10
Cast & Crew Rating: 7.5/10
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 7/10
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 6/10
Attraction Name: Dead End Cornfield
Overall Attraction Rating: 6.5/10
Cast & Crew Rating: 7.5/10
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 6/10
Scare/Thrill Factor Rating: 6/10
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