Nightmare Acres’ Haunted Attraction is a seasonal outdoor haunted trail of horror open to the public up until the first weekend in November of 2025.
Upon entry, customers walk through Nomads Outdoor Adventure Park in South Windsor towards the area of Nightmare Acres. It is open on weekends in October at 7pm, with the admission price beginning at $25 the first weekend, progressing to $35 for the final two weekends. In the facility, the entire premises is covered with spooky lights, signs, decorations, and actors.
Before even entering the trail, in the line roaming amongst the customers, actors dress up as horror characters and interact. Costumes such as clowns, nurses, and morticians are particularly alarming for guests. The actors’ makeup, outfits, hair, masks, and acting contribute to the horrifying feel that sets the scene for the trail to come.
“The scares were incredible,” junior Max Stoddard said. “They were heart-shaking.”
Throughout the trail itself, there are many different horror scenes for the customers to walk through in groups. From a meat chop shop, to a pitch-black chamber, there are many environments to make your skin crawl.
Nightmare Acres has remained a topic of conversation during the Halloween season for years, but despite its popularity it has received mixed reviews.
Issues with finding the facility, paying for parking ($5 cash only), general admission price, and dispute on the management over the volume of customers has been a controversial topic.
In addition, there are reviews complaining about due to the amount of people per group on the trail, only the first few in the front got jumpscared while the rest walked through unphased.
“It was dense with customers, but for good reason,” Stoddard commented.
The entirety of the environment is undoubtedly decked-out with decorations of terror, and the actors clearly give their best effort to deliver a scare and a night of horror. Nonetheless, the lines did stream for what felt like forever. A fast pass to skip the lines is purchasable for a price of $15, on top of the general admission price.
As a high school student, the personal experience was impressive. I was in a smaller group of four, and we were all equally terrified around each turn. The actors kept us on our toes during the wait in the line, and the scary music and lights set the ambiance and left me terrified.
Nightmare Acres is a very well known and popular location for teenagers, and that appeal along with the desire to experience a haunted attraction is what drew me in. Without the fast pass, we waited for about an hour in line, starting at 7:45. As we were leaving, the line was at least double the size as it was when we arrived. To my group, the experience was worth the wait.
The walk throughout the trail lasted about 30-35 minutes, and it was undoubtedly scary. The themes of each room were clear and provided an array of spooks to appeal to a variety of different fears.
However, the price of admission drew our concern, the weekend that we went was $30 per individual.
“I think for a lot of teenagers, it [the price] definitely turns them away,” senior Sophia Gordon added. “But it’s worth it, I’d say, for a one-time thing. It was really fun and there was a lot of production that went into it.”
Regardless of the controversy, it’s no debate that Nightmare Acres is a local and seasonal scare that’s filled with screams and memories of a fun night. It’s a wonderful depiction of a haunted environment for a Halloween experience.
