As the sun sets over Port Penn Road and darkness creeps in over Middletown, the ghouls come out and play.
At least, that’s what folks at Frightland want you to believe. With plenty of scares up its sleeve, and even more lurking around every corner, this local haunt has secured its place as a spooky adventure for any Halloween lover.
Frightland opened in 1996 and continues its hair-raising fun from late September until early November.
Wondering if Frightland is really all it’s cracked up to be? Three DelawareOnline/The News Journal reporters put their fight or fright reflexes to the test on a recent chilly October night to answer just that.
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While Frightland may be celebrating its 26th season this year, the spine-chilling antics are far from rusty.
“It seems to be a lot of businesses tend to get slower as time goes on, and we’re just getting better,” said Kyle McMahon, marketing manager for Frightland. “It just gets more insane every week. It’s just nuts — and I love it.”
McMahon has worked at Frightland for 12 years and assists with some of the set design and scares featured in attractions. A self-proclaimed horror buff, he share memories of visiting the attraction as a kid. Frightland’s charm has only increased as he’s witnessed it grow over the last decade, he said.
“Frightland, in order to survive, has to keep up with the times,” he said. “I think the owners and the build team have done an incredible job doing that, and I think that’s why people come back year after year.”
One attraction undergoes a major remodel each season, while other areas get smaller updates.
So what does a Frightland ticket get you?
A Frightland ticket grants access to all attractions across 1800 acres, including the Horror Hayride, Haunted Barn, Idalia Manor, Fear, Ravenwood Cemetery, the Attic, Zombie Town and Zombie Prison. Sites share a common theme and relate to a backstory, details of which can be explored on the haunt’s website.
Aside from the eight attractions, the grounds also are home to a full-service carnival with rides, games and classic carnival foods.
On the evening we visited, fans anticipating Halloween were embracing all Frightland has to offer.
“I liked everything,” said Colton Hobbs, 8, who went to Frightland last year and returned for another round this season. “It was very scary.”
Among Hobbs’ group of scare-seekers was Avery Haber, 9; Gavin Arnold, 8; Cameron Hobbs, 10; and Mia Arnold, 11, all of whom raved about their experience and gave the haunt glowing reviews their second time around.
Mi’a and Avery thought the Zombie Prison was the scariest place of the night, while Cameron and Gavin said the hayride was their favorite.
As someone who was terrified on the hayride and indulged in plenty of screams, Cameron’s advice for Frightland visitors is to avoid looking scared so the ghouls won’t mess with you.
An army of ghouls — staff members dressed as zombies, goblins, and other creepy creatures — wander around the attractions. Frightland has about 150 ghouls, two-thirds of them returning members, who are major horror-lovers themselves. The cast features a wide range of ages and includes lawyers, teachers and doctors. The diversity reflects the audience Frightland serves and helps make the experience unique for all who dare to go through it, said McMahon.
And if you’re wondering how scary a bunch of people in costumes and makeup can be, let’s just say McMahon is no stranger to seeing guests wet their pants or vomit throughout the night. Don’t worry, all accidents are taken care of before the next set of guests arrive, he said.
A night at Frightland
Frightland was named one of “10 great Halloween haunted house attractions across the U.S.” by Forbes and one of the “top 5 scariest haunted attractions for millenials” by HuffPost. HuffPost also featured a documentary on Frightland that includes information about the real haunted history behind some of the attractions, with a spooky happenings caught on camera.
Staff reporters Hannah Edelman and Molly McVety joined me when I visited Frightland a couple weeks shy of Halloween to why Frightland is so popular after all these years.
All three of us have been to haunted attractions in the past but it was our first time going to Frightland. Knowing Saturdays are the busiest nights, we opted to go on a Thursday and went for the VIP FrightPass option which allows all VIP ticket holders to skip lines.
After lining up for the haunted hayride, our night of horror officially began.
If you’re expecting to be eased into the experience, think again. Before the hayride starts, all guests are sectioned off in small groups to fit onto tractor trailers. This made the night more exciting because we could converse and discuss theories with other guests, and helped create camaraderie and a sense of unity, both of which were very helpful later in the night …
Our wait was periodically interrupted by TV monitors displaying creepy videos related to Frightland’s backstory; the monitors were present throughout the experience and enhanced the eeriness of the night.
“I started getting scared the second we started to line up for the first attraction,” said McVety. “The ambiance definitely gets spookier as you go – even in the lines!”
The horror hayride exposes guests to several types of scares along a 1-mile journey, with an array of effects that could only be described as an assault on the senses. While some props are difficult to see in the darkness, that also worked in Frightland’s favor when they needed to deliver a big scare.
Riding in the tractor provided a bit of a security blanket, but that ended once we resumed walking to the next attraction.
Our VIP passes allowed us to go through the attractions fast. This also meant we had less time to get our bearings before being thrust into the next round of mayhem.
After a few attractions, the scare-meter of the group had significantly increased.
Each minute spent in an attraction had all our senses on edge, and longing for a calm view of the starry October sky over the cornfields, our reward for making through each portion of the night.
McVety says not knowing what to expect next added to the anxiety, while Edelman said visual effects of the Fear attraction made them more scared.
Fear is described on Frightland’s website as a building the demented Dr. Idalia, a main character, used to conduct experiments on his patients. Frightland warns guests to “be prepared to face your own worst nightmare as you enter Fear,” such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders) or coulrophobia (fear of clowns).
Among the jump scares we encountered were ghouls shrieking in the distance, loud bangs and pops set off at close-range, smoke blasts and a mysterious substance that rained down from above.
For me, the walk through the cemetery is where the paranoia started to set in. This was the first attraction where night had fully fallen and it could be difficult to see the path ahead.
Once we reached the Attic, our walking group had dwindled by half, as some visitors stopped for bathroom breaks or lingered at earlier attractions.
McMahon describes the Attic as one of Frightland’s non-traditional haunts, and more extreme than your classic haunted house setup. Our group would wholeheartedly agree. Guests must feel their way through it in complete darkness without the slightest clue as to what they could be touching, what or who they might be standing face-to-face with, or where they were going.
And this is exactly how three adult reporters ended up walking through the darkness clutching each others’ hands like schoolchildren and grabbing onto strangers for support.
This made us eager to escape, but of course we had no way of gauging how far we had traversed or even where the path led us.
The Attic is a must-experience for all!
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Ghouls, gore and guts
On our first visit to Frightland, we were all impressed by the attention to detail put forth in every aspect of the night.
“By the time we were a few attractions in, I was honestly just shocked by the production value,” said Edelman. “The set design was fantastic! I honestly wish we had more time to look at everything.”
Each attraction incorporates an element of Frightland’s storyline, and the respective set designs and ghouls fell in line with ample attention to detail.
McVety shared this impression. She added that Idalia Manor, her favorite attraction, has cool themed sections and the haunted hayride had high-tech decorations and animatronics that were scary.
It might be worth reading through the descriptions of attractions ahead of your visit to Frightland to be caught up on the storyline to maximize your enjoyment.
Ghouls we encountered had intricate costumes and makeup, and remained in character. While some served as guides, others are there for the sole purpose of scaring the wits out of you. They whisper in the corners, yell from above, grab you from the walls. They even follow you through the attractions whether you realize or not. You’ll question if the voice you heard was a friend whispering or your mind playing a trick on you. Or if the hand that brushed your arm was the person behind you or a ghoul lurking in the shadows.
The final haunt
The last attraction was the Zombie Prison. Having navigated seven earlier attractions that seriously tested us, it’s safe to say we had no idea what else could be thrown at us with the final portion of the night.
Unfortunately for McVety, the zombie prisoners chose her out of our five-person group to enter the prison alone.
“The last attraction was definitely the scariest for me,” she said. “There was a lot more interaction with the ghouls and it seemed to last a lot longer!
“I did shake and cry going through the haunted prison by myself …” she confessed.
When the rest of us joined her, we were submerged in darkness yet again. Unlike the Attic, this attraction did have various flood and strobe lights, but they did not aid our ability to see but made it more difficult to get through the prison.
We spent the first few minutes shouting in a desperate attempt to locate McVety, who we eventually found wandering alone in the depths of the prison.
After encountering more than enough zombies, we broke out of the prison and finished our Frightland experience. Perhaps a little worse for wear, but in one piece, nonetheless.
Our visit lasted about an hour and a half from start to finish.
Frightland prohibits the use of phones or flash photography while in the attractions, so most guests keep their phones away the entire time.
I hadn’t touched my phone since entering the hayride and had no concept of how much time had passed while going through the attractions. That aided in the experience of being out of control and subjected to whatever Frightland threw at us.
“I was shocked by how long it was but I think it ended before it hit the ‘too long’ threshold,” said Edelman. “That being said, I’d probably be exhausted by the end of it if we had to wait in long lines between each attraction.”
Guests choosing the standard FrightPass option should be prepared to spend time waiting, especially if visiting on a high-volume night or during a special event.
Overall, the haunt portion of Frightland gets the OK from us as a great festive activity. The effort put into the production is evident in the design of each attraction, and that attention to detail helped us have fun and immerse ourselves in the experience whether we were scared or not.
“I would recommend it just on the details and set design alone,” said Edelman. “I literally felt like I was on scarier version of a Disney World ride!”
Speaking of amusement parks …
After a night of edge-of-your-seat trepidation, Frightland’s fun doesn’t have to stop with a prison break. Each Frightland ticket comes with access to the site’s full-service carnival.
Colorful rides like a Ferris wheel, Zipper and bumper cars light up the night, beckoning you to stick around and explore for a while longer.
If all those scares made you hungry, you can indulge in classic carnival fare such as deep-fried Oreos and funnel cakes with tasty toppings.
You can also try your hand at winning a prize in a series of carnival games, and maybe score a stuffed animal to comfort you after your frightful night.
If you do plan on checking out the carnival, make sure you bring cash or have a card on you to retrieve cash from the ATMs on-site.
With constant scares and a curated environment that is terrifying and exhilarating at the same time, we just have one piece of advice for Frightland guests: Watch your back. And your front. And beware of what’s lurking in the dark …
All in all, a night spent at Frightland is sure to be everything you imagined and then some, whether you end the night begging for mercy or begging for more.
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Visit Frightland
If hearing about our night of screams didn’t scare you away, plan a visit to Frightland to check out the horror-filled fun yourself:
Frightland is open Thursday through Sunday this week, and again on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5.
A standard FrightPass includes all eight attractions and a free unlimited rides bracelet for the amusement midway. FrightPasses are $40, except on Saturdays when they are $50. Cash discounts are available on site and major credit credits are accepted with a $2 processing fee.
A VIP FrightPass grants guests access to the front of the lines and includes all eight attractions plus a free unlimited rides bracelet for the amusement midway.
FrigthPass group tickets include the same offerings as standard FrightPasses but are discounted at $36, or $46 on Saturdays, for groups of 15 or more. Group tickets must be purchased online.
For those of you who prefer to skip the haunted attractions but still want to partake in seasonal fun, Frightland offers unlimited rides bracelets for $25 that grant access to the carnival only.
Tickets can be bought online but must be secured by 3 p.m. for the date of your visit. All online ticket vouchers must be validated and exchanged for a physical FrightPass at the ticket booth between 6 and 9 p.m., extended until 10 p.m. on Saturdays.
This season, Frightland will be host a blackout event on Friday, Nov. 4. It offers the same experience but with a wicked twist: The entire site go dark.
“This is where you see everybody in that group freaking out. It is just totally fun,” said McMahon.
If complete darkness is too scary to handle, Frightland will offer glowsticks for guests to use during the adventure.
Frightland does not grant refunds, but closings due to inclement weather allow ticketholders to use their FrigthPass any regular night the business is open this season. Stay updated by visiting their Facebook page.
Each carload requires $5 cash for a parking, with proceeds benefitting the Leukemia Research Foundation of Delaware. If you do not have cash, a service fee will be added to any electronic donations.
309 Port Penn Road, Middletown;https://frightland.com/
Staff reporters Hannah Edelman and Molly McVety contributed to this story.
