Haunted Shadows Lake Trail

Took my son here for his first haunted house (haunted trail) experience and it was perfect.Setting the scene, since there are varied reviews over time:- My son's 10 and was very scared quite a few times, gripping my hand like he never does anymore and enjoying himself at the same time. At the end, he loved it. He can't stop talking about it.- Oct 2022, so most folks are back out after covid. - The place was well staffed - plenty of actors, IMHO.- Oct 14 entry, shortly after the 7:30 pm open time, so hardly any wait. Basically no wait.- $25 entry but $3 off via coupon from their website.I don't want to spoil anything, but I thought there were several really good characters and setups. Lot of screaming out there and plenty of attendees who were clearly scared. And the actors were clearly into it, enjoying their roles.Being outside, at night, in the woods - helps. The setting alone helps a lot. Heck, a lot of movement we heard were legit critters running along in the brush. Added to the effect nicely.When I saw $25 entry, I was pretty dubious - but it's LONG. Like, 45 minutes long. Impressively long. So I thought $25 (actually $22 after coupon) was worth it, for how long it was.I'll do this again for sure.

The Good:1. The trail takes about 30-40 minutes to walk so my fitbit goal of 12,000 steps was achieved!2. Staff gave my friend a birthday shoutout...The Bad:1. We waited in line, on a Saturday night, almost 2 hours. (It goes by really quickly when you've gulped down a couple bottles of champagne).2. About $20 overpriced. Well over $50 for 2 people to get their workout on...The Ugly:1. The staff's costumes looked to be from the "picked over" selection at the dollar store. Cheap and not impressive....2. Maybe 3 scares total. No jumping out, no nothing. Yes, I get it, we have to be careful during Covid 19 but there are many ways to scare the pants off of people without getting close.3. There are a few small shacks you walk through on the trail. No flickering lights, no music. The perfect spot to frighten someone unsuspecting...but no....NOTHING. The reviews were exceptional, so we gave this place a try. They HAVE TO BE "pre-COVID-19" experiences....

This "haunted house" is actually a tail through the shrub-land along Lake Lewisville. Parking for this venue is located at the Blue Sky Soccer Complex, which is also where you pay the $20 admission fee. They will also guide you to where the trail entrance is. Be sure to wear proper foot attire, and if you are easily spooked, I would suggest bring a flashlight. They do provide you with a flashlight upon entry, but it is pretty dark out there. That was actually the scariest part of the walk - the darkness. There are a few "actors" who are dressed up and jump out of the woods or follow you and your group around, but no one is very scary. There are a few structures you have to walk though, and that was pretty fun. There is one structure at the end that I can only describe as what it must feel like to walk through a fleshlight. No, that is not a typo. We went here the weekend before Halloween and waited in line to get in for too long. An employee at the front lets in groups one at a time and issues your group's flashlight. I'm not sure if this haunt was short-staffed the night I went or if everyone was on a break, but there weren't many actors jumping out of the bushes. It was more of a night nature walk. I was on the look-out for alligators rather than spooks. For $20, and a long-ass drive out to the sticks, I expected a bit more. If you want to drive far away for a real scare, there are much better places to go.

We went for the first time, and neither of us get scared very easily (from previous experiences at other haunted houses). The signs are visible that point to where to purchase tickets, parking was easy and close to the ticket booth. We waited in line for about 20 mins to get the tickets (on Halloween), which was pretty quick. The cashier volunteered that it will be 1.5 hour wait, and we were okay with that. She pointed us out to how to get to the location. Obviously it's a field as it said on their website and google, so wearing the right shoes should be pretty self explanatory. The staff at the entrance gave us a good, brief run down of what to expect as she took our tickets. It was very well planned and everyone was friendly. Great props and acting to add to the experience each step of the way.I joked with the police officer if he was going to come with us, and he said he's "not going in there!" As we walked down the trail, there was just enough moonlight to not need a flashlight but dark enough to cast plenty of shadows to not see actors hiding in the surroundings.They were extremely scary as they came out at us, and creepily following along behind me. I was scared frozen a few times! Many haunted houses and shacks to heighten the experience of the unexpected. The trail of grass mats were fairly easy to follow and didn't take much to stay on track. Already recommended to my friends and do plan to return! Thank you for an awesome experience!!!

My boyfriend and I stopped here on the way home last weekend without really planning to go to a haunted house, or trail, that night. This place was absolutely amazing! There's screams AND laughs. All the actors play their roles exceptionally. The interactions are perfecto! Thanks for an unexpectedly awesome time! We have some great memories now that we like to re-enact randomly. Highly recommend to give this place a try for the Halloween spirit.

The trail was extremely muddy although we were told hay would be laid down. It's not that the hay wasn't present but they neglected to reapply more hay as trail goers walked the paths. The mud was such a distraction it actually was the scariest part of the trail....terrified to slip. Meanwhile, the scares came far and few in between, workers probably distracted by the mud as well. Our group felt as though this "haunted trail" relied heavily on the "woods" factor. If more speakers playing scary sounds and music were present that would help tremendously......The best part was the last guy at the end of the trail I think he was an evil jester.

This is my 4th time going...we were not impressed...a group of 9. The experience has gone downhill. Not scary at all!!!! It's time to hire the person back who created the clown barn and the little house we walked through a couple of years ago.

This place is dog don't waste your money false f#kin advertising full of all of these building with no actors no scares and all you here is generation X brianrot from the groups that go there don't expect to be by yourself you will end up walking slow because they can't separate there groups properly so it's a gaurentee you see the 3 scares coming through out tho whole 1 MILE long trail that felt way shorter than that also most of the actors wear headlamps see you can see them coming the only thing that was good about this place was the baddie working at the front desk don't waste your money

Worst haunted house I've ever been to wasn't scary at all low budget not worth 30$ lots of little kids and hardly any scares would not recommend at all ur not likely to get scared at spirit Halloween then this dump

This trail is phenomenal!! My kids LOVED it!!! It is worth every penny. HIGHLY recommended. One of the best I have ever been to. So many good actors, the forest and props were all authentic. SOOO good....