For 2024, Scarywood will feature 5 haunted attractions, 10 scare zones, and 1 shows. Several rides are also open, including Timber Terror which runs backwards during the month of October. In this post, we give you our ratings for each of these attractions. (Updated September 8, 2024)
With all of this, 2024 will feature the same number of attractions as compared with last year, having swapped one show for a new maze. Although it may seem like a lot to squeeze into one night, we still think it’s very doable. The one major change appears to be the removal of the Hellbilly’s show, in favor of the new maze called “The Swine”. We’re not too disappointed to see Hellbilly’s off the roster, as it wasn’t exactly our cup of tea. Sure, it had a few moments, and it was nice to see the park attempting to add more entertainment to the mix, but we are much happier to see a new haunted maze added in its place.
We are not rating the “regular” rides that are, for all intents and purposes, operating as they would any other day of the year. If you’re interested in our take on those, check out our 2024 Silverwood Attractions Guide.
Chuckles’ 3D Sideshow – 8/10 – Returning from for its third year, this haunted attraction features – you guessed it – 3D effects and clowns. Housed in a permanent structure behind Aftershock, this maze contains several elements from the former 3Dementia, and Dr. Delirium. The 3D effects continue to improve each year, and the vibe of this particular haunt is always a lot of fun, and very different from the rest of the park.
Blood Bayou – 10/10 – This is the longest-running haunt at the park, now in its’ fifteenth year. Housed in the old Ice Palace building, this is by far the best attraction when it comes to theming. Despite its age, this is the stuff of legend, and we mean it. The forest scene alone at the start still blows us away as a truly Knotts-esque level of detail. It’s long, elaborate, full of scareactors, and will blow you away. Recent years have seen nearly all of the props in full working order, and no space was underutilized. Blood Bayou is truly Scarywood firing on all cylinders.
Planet Zombie – Lights Out – 8/10 – Theatrical walk-through maze featuring Sgt. Buzz as the lead character. This replaced (or perhaps was intended as a “sequel” to) the incredible award-winning Zombiewood Express, likely as a means to increase capacity. We’ll always have fond memories of the train ride, as it was a truly unique experience found no where else. But this is a surprisingly fun adventure in and of itself, and is a deceptively long and elaborate attraction. Although it falls just shy of Blood Bayou in the theming department, it sets itself apart with rich storytelling. You’ll really feel like you’re right in the middle of the Zombie Apocalypse. 2024 brings back the “Lights Out” feature from last year, where the story has now progressed. The electrical grid is out, and guests will be given a small red flashlight to navigate through the maze. It is a fantastic twist on an already amazing maze, so we’re glad to see it returning again.
The Swine – 9/10 – New maze for 2024 housed in the Pavilion area, themed to the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. This haunt brings back several elements from the “Freak Farm” theme that used to reside in the former Terror Canyon Trail. We absolutely LOVED that theme, and it made for a great application in this setting. The haunt starts out as a longer-than-expected corn maze theme, where you can take one of several different pathways through. There are a few dead ends, and a lot of very well placed actors throughout. Eventually you reach the home of the three little pigs, but this is no kids story. We won’t spoil the ending, but it was downright gross!
Pharaoh’s Curse – 8/10 – Walk through maze with an archeological/ancient ruins theme. The haunt has impressive sets, tons of scareactors, and even a few animatronics. Plus, the fog and dimly lit corridors can make for a very disorienting experience. We admit this one does seem to be a bit less staffed than other haunts, and as a result it feels a little more empty in some places.
Timber Terror Backwards – 10/10 – Being coaster geeks, this is actually our favorite part of Scarywood, and that should come as no surprise to all of you! Timber Terror is a fantastic ride to begin with, so the added thrill of riding backwards just pushes its excellence that much further. Even if you don’t like Halloween stuff, we recommend going to Scarywood at least once just to ride this coaster backwards. Our suggestion: hit this up first thing, as the line can get long very quickly.
Dillusion – An Eternal Encore – 10/10 – This is Nick Norton’s special Halloween magic show. Putting Nick Norton back on the stage in 2018 was the perfect move, in our opinion, especially with the Zombiewood Express no longer in operation. Dillusion features everything you would expect to love from a Nick Norton magic show. Fantastic acts, great humor, and top notch showmanship. The Halloween-time version features most of the same acts that you’ll see during the regular summertime show, with a few special magic acts for this time of year. The recurring acts also feature a few creepy twists and some well-placed adult humor. This is another “Do Not Miss!” on our list.
Some of Scarywood’s Scare Zone themes are very obvious and easy to identify; others are not. We’ve done our best here to indicate which is which, but we might have gotten a couple of them mixed up.
Clown Town – 10/10 – Well themed, awesome lighting effects, terrifying props, tons of fog and lots of scareactors. This is everything you want in a scarezone, and consistently our favorite of the bunch.
Anarchy 7/10 – Located on the pathway from Lindy’s to the Magic Show theater, this dark walk through the trees provides for a lot of easy places for actors to jump out and surprise your group. It’s a bit light on theming, but the darkness makes up for that. It’s usually the first zone that guests experience after entering the park, which is a ton of fun to watch. And, as the name suggests, it is pure chaos.
Steampunk 6/10 – We *think* this is the zone situated after the exit to Blood Bayou and near the coffee house. It’s got a few props, but the overall location, narrow path, and queue ropes doesn’t lend itself well to a lot of good scares.
The Dark Forest 5/10 – Our best guess is that this is the zone between Tremors and the Thunder Canyon entrance, passing by the picnic pavilion area. It’s definitely a dark area, and has some great hiding spots for actors, but the theming is very minimal.
Freak Farm – 7/10 – Themed to a farm/pumpkin patch with bales of hay and corn stalks scattered around the pathway. As far as we could tell, this was essentially the entrance area to the new haunt The Swine. It follows the pathway through the picnic pavilion area, and serves as a nice shortcut over to both the Swine and Chuckles’ 3D Sideshow. This used to be over in Coaster Alley and was a lot longer, but moving it to the pavilion area does have some advantages. Namely, the much darker pathway made for a much creepier vibe, and made it much easier for the actors to hide!
Los Muertos 8/10 – Situated near SpinCycle, this scare zone features walk-around actors dressed up in traditional Dia de los Muertos “Sugar Skull” attire. We especially loved the actors that were walking around on stilts!
The Toybox 9/10 – Placed throughout Coaster Alley around Panic Plunge, this scare zone features actors dressed up as creepy dolls and toys that have come to life, scattered among life-sized toy blocks and other props. What makes this scare zone fun is seeing how well the actors play their parts. Some times it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake!
Trick or Treat 4/10 – Another one that we aren’t 100% sure of, but we’re gonna go with the area between Thunder Canyon and Clown Town. There’s a couple spots through here where scareactors are strategically placed, but the area is too bright for anyone to be well hid. As such it doesn’t make for a very good spot to be scared.
Phobia 8/10 – A long spiderweb tunnel in between Stunt Pilot and Panic Plunge that is full of creepy crawly critters and fog so thick you can barely see your friends next to you. Although not as large as other scare zones in the park, this one has always had a very effective and chilling vibe to it.
Quarantine Zone – Review and rating coming soon. A.k.a. we have no clue which scare zone this may or may not refer to!
Planning a trip to Scarywood? Be sure to check out our Scarywood Haunted Nights Trip Planning Guide as well as our Scarywood 1-Night Itinerary posts to help you get the most out of your time in the park!
How would you rate the haunts at Scarywood differently? What are your favorites/least favorites? Let us know what you think in the comments below! Last but certainly not least, let us know what other topics you'd like to see covered.
The official Silverwood Theme Park website can be found at: www.silverwoodthemepark.com. All business-related questions should be directed to this site.
Anyplace for older people to sit down in the park while attending?
Yes, plenty of benches throughout the park as usual. If you’re looking for a place to sit down inside, we’d recommend Lindy’s or the Magic Theater.
(LONG RAMBLING POST SORRY!)
I just went last Night and it was sooo much fun I absolutely love the atmosphere and near everything about the event!
I first started going last year, and although I had seen everything that I possibly could, the Hellbilly’s show wasn’t playing on the nights I had gone (I don’t know if they didn’t have all the actors or if the show being up front at the entrance was causing problems or what.) so that was my biggest regret. This time thankfully they had it going at the Pavilion area, and I was able to catch it (I went to the area like half and hour early after seeing this years Magic Show) and I made sure to be right up front. I assume they change the show each year, for this one they killed a couple of obnoxious people, and had to deal with the horrifying terror of Artificial Intelligence (In an alluring form!). If you are at the front you will likely get sprayed with the fake Blood just so you know.
The Magic Show was great as always, but it seemed a bit shorter this year, and without the audience participation, and certain aspects were changed a bit, but I assume they change it a little every year to keep it fresh.
For the Planet Zombie Lights Out Haunted Attraction (I assume the “Lights Out” thing is meant to be their replacement for the missing Total Darkness attraction.) there was a new video added in the other queue videos (There are quite a few, I don’t know if they add a new one each year?) with Sgt. Buzz explaining it. The Flashlight they let you use is a little Red Keychain Flashlight. I think the walkthrough was pretty much the same as last year besides most of the Lights being out. They make some good use of suddenly turning certain Lights on in your face loudly as a fun scare (They might have done that last year, but I remember it more this time from the lights being off.). My favorite part was when I shined my Light on Sgt Buzz (I think it’s meant to be him.) in his Gun Tower/Turret thing, to try and get a better look, and he started “shooting” at me.
Chuckles 3D Sideshow seemed pretty much the same as last year complete with the “Princess Clown” hanging around in the queue line, I didn’t notice if anything was really changed in the Attraction.
Blood Bayou also seemed the same as what I remember last year but there’s soooo much to take in for these Haunted Attractions, that I’m not really sure.
I didn’t go to the Pharaoh’s Curse this time, as I get ready to leave after 11:00 PM (I’m worried about everyone rushing out of the Park at once if I wait too long. The first time I went to Scarywood last year I went about half an hour after it opened and the Line of Cars stretched into 95 quite a bit. So I try to avoid the reverse situation going out.) but I’m planning to go again within the next couple of weeks (I prefer going twice, and having a more leisurely experience so I don’t have to try and rush to see everything). I’m assuming it will be pretty much the same as the other returning Haunted Attractions though.
For the Scare Zones it was pretty much the same as what I remember from last year, but I think the “Los Muertos” area was new as I don’t remember it, and I can’t bring up the Scarywood Website from 2022 to check. There was also the listed “Steampunk” area that I was looking around for, but I think maybe it’s just the area around the front of the Park (Main Street and the Train Station basically). For the “Anarchy” zone I noticed at least one of the Actors was wearing one of the Legion’s Masks from Dead by Daylight which I was happy to see as I’m a big fan of the game.
Anyways that’s all I noticed different from last year, I had a blast! I’m planning on making Scarywood one of my traditions for each year they have it, I’m just sad that I never went in the past despite living here since 2006.
Thank you for the awesome trip report, Joshua! Sounds like you had a great time at the event. We will be there this coming weekend and this makes us even more excited!
Thanks for the reply! I went again on 10/13/23 (Friday the 13th!) like I was planning. I used your advice of going to the back of the Park first, and it worked great! I went straight for Planet Zombie Light Out first, and went in immediately. After that I headed to Pharaoh’s Curse but it was so early that it was actually closed! So I went to Chuckles 3D Sideshow which also had basically no line, after that Pharaoh’s Curse was open (With almost no line). The only thing I noticed different from last year was that the Anubis Scare Actor at the end was standing around the room on Stilts. Last year he had been in the Pit on the side of the room, but this year they had an animatronic body flailing around over the pit so I assume that’s why he wasn’t in it. After that it was about 8:00 PM so I went to Blood Bayou which had the long line (I assume it will always have a bit of a line since it’s right near the entrance of the Park). I spent the rest of the Night redoing the Haunts I wanted and walking through/eating in the Scare Zones.
Thanks for the comment – glad you found our advice helpful! That’s very interesting that Blood Bayou had such a long line that early, but that also makes sense. We tend to get to that one a bit later in the evening, and the past few years there has been little to no line around 10-11 at night.