Spend a little bit of time driving around Indy, especially on 465, and you will see them. The creepy billboards for Indy Scream Park. Although technically the haunt is in Anderson, not Indy, it is one of the best-advertised scary attractions in the central Indiana area. A group of Mojo Spook Staffers recently made the short trip up to Indy Scream Park to see if it lived up to all the hype. Using the standard Indy Mojo starting point, The Mousetrap, it is just a quick 35 minute drive into the countryside around Anderson.

As you approach the Indy Scream Park destination, you experience a norm for Indiana residents: going from developed land to straight-up farmland in the snap of a finger. Pulling into the park you start to get an idea of the sheer size of Indy Scream Park. When we arrived, it was already dark and about half way through the Saturday night haunting hours. Despite it being very early in the season, there was still a steady stream of cars pulling into the park. As we made our way up to the ticket booth, we could hear faint screams and shouts of the victims already in the various attractions. It is obvious that the organizers were prepared and organized, as we had our tickets within minutes and were in the Monster Midway immediately.

I didn’t know what to expect going into Indy scream park, but as soon as saw an actor dressed up as what looked like Jeepers Creepers and hissed in a man’s face, I was scared.

– Oakley Gianakos

The Monster Midway is the central hub to the park featuring various concessions, the bathroom facilities, several places to get group photos and a large area with plenty of seating for everyone to stop and get some food (or their wits back) after being terrified in any of the attractions.

The midway also featured a number of wandering monsters making their presence known and focusing especially on the more squeamish guests. There was also a paintball zombie shoot which feature a couple of brave zombies that would slowly approach the shooters; hopefully they were getting hazard pay.

Our group made our way to the first of the three indoor attractions, Brickmore Asylum. The Asylum features a cavalcade of creepy scenes from inside of a loony bin. With cages, operating rooms, experiments, and plenty of crazies running around it is sure to make you never want to visit a doctors office again. Capping off the Asylum was my favorite part of the haunt, which featured electricity and awesomeness. The scariest by far was the insane asylum. Very detailed, each room unpredictable, and something was waiting for you around every corner.

– Alex Rodman

Next in line was Bedlam 3D. Donning 3D glasses as we entered this brightly painted haunt, it was clear we were in for some absolute craziness. Never knowing if something painted in 3D was just paint or someone ready to pop out you, we were constantly on edge.

It was so colorful and vibrant.The clown theme is always a good idea.

-Kaleigh Bowers

The final indoor haunt Nachtmahr, which is German for nightmare, was more of a traditional haunted house. I would recommend going to this one first, because while it was good after seeing the first two, it seemed not quite as scary or exciting.

After finishing the indoor haunts, we took a quick break before heading to the outdoor attractions to end the night. First we entered Infected, which featured a corn maze peppered with a couple of military-style tents and also a farm house littered with bodies and signs of a bloody struggle. This was also where we finally found the giant flame tower that would periodically explode a huge burst of fire above the field.

Finally we arrived at the last event, Backwoods. As its name implies, much of this event is spent in the woods. A fun twist to this is that there is hardly any lighting on the walk through the woods and the only light you get is from a single glow stick given to one of the members of your group. My only complaint about this one was that as we were walking through we ended up getting very close to the groups both behind and in front of us, so some of the surprises were not as effective.

Backwoods always gets a few really good screams out of me just because of the desolation factor.

– Kayleigh Dye

Overall, Indy Scream Park definitely is worth the trip and the money. It is obvious that the proprietors of the haunt are dedicated and put a lot of money into making it not only scary, but also highly detailed. The outdoor events could have used a few more random people strewn about the corn fields and forest respectively, but it was still a fun romp in the woods. If you only go to one haunted house this year, I would highly recommend this one.

To read the full story and see photos, visit Indy Mojo.