Let’s start off by taking you on a little journey to the past. It’s 2014, Scurryface was fairly new around the Southeast. I stumbled onto a haunt called Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern. I thought to myself, “Ruby Falls has a haunted attraction? I love Ruby Falls, but how would that work?” I decided to make the trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee to see for myself.
Arrived at Ruby Falls and found out that you take the trip down into the cavern and then a bus ride to a 2nd haunt on the property. I remember the bus driver wearing a cowboy hat telling a story to us riders. Skip to the end, I was so incredibly blown away by not only the haunt inside the cavern and the 2nd portion outside, but by the insanely detailed backstory of everything. Afterwards I was able to meet Tim Green, who is 1 half of the owners of the haunt who also was the one driving the bus while telling the story. I unfortunately didn’t get to meet Todd Patton, who is the other owner of the haunt. He was walking around the queline acting that night. I was so intrigued on how they put the haunt together and how they came up with the storyline. I was so hooked on this haunt that I ended up giving the haunt a perfect 10 as a final score. Out of the 11 years of SF, only 2 haunts have ever received a perfect 10. This was the first season we began doing rankings and ended up ranking Ruby Falls #1 that year.
I was invited back out the next season and ended up coming on opening night and I remember walking up to the counter and there was Tim and Todd standing with their arms crossed and greeted with, “you had to come on opening night?”. It was a good laugh and it turned into somewhat a joke going forward where I would always return on opening weekend just so I could get that same initial greeting from them both.
Fast forward a handful or so years, they decided to move the haunt down the mountain into a closed down grocery store and rebranded it “Dread Hollow”.
I loved the changes they implemented and loved the fact that Tim and Todd could finally spread their wings and fly with their ideas and visions.
Since the move I really enjoyed Dread Hollow and the stories that they told but they never could quite touch how I felt in 2014.
Until now, Dread Hollow’s 2022 show had me feeling exactly how I felt in 2014. I walked out of the haunt in complete shock at how great it was. My heart was still pounding with excitement and adrenaline from the consistent barrage of actors throughout.
I had my Scottish friend Vice with me on this trip and we were fortunate enough to be the only ones in our group and the first ones in. It seemed as if every step forward there was an actor jumping out or portraying a character or something in the scene would come alive. There was ALWAYS something to keep us on our toes.
Dread Hollow stays true to their back story and they keep adding to it like it were a TV series that’s in its 5th season. I’ll tell you this, most haunts will create a backstory to promote on their website or for their promos but when you get to experience the haunt. The story seems to disappear or become non-existent. Not at Dread Hollow, the scenes are built for the story line, the characters are dedicated to the story line, some characters are using lines to help bring the story to life. They stick to it and they do it very well. Vice and myself could not stop talking about this year's addition with the Toy Factory. The way they brought that to life was simply incredible.
We also could not stop praising the actors in this year's show. Their performances, their timing on their scares, the way they interact with the patrons in the queline. Simply spot on and amazing.
Here’s a funny little story while in the haunt. Vice and I were walking into a scene and she suddenly stopped. I said, “why are you stopping?” she pointed to a corner and asked “What is that?” I replied, It's just a curtain, keep moving before a group catches us. She took a few steps forward and stopped again and yelled, “No, it moved”. Right about that time, a light comes on and this massive puppet comes out and scares the living hell out of her. So much screamed and literally fell back on me and I had to catch her and put her back on her feet. She then turned around and blamed me for setting her up and then she punched me in the face. Now remember, she is a Scottish chick and that’s how they apparently handle things over the pond. But I was laughing so hard, I didn’t care one bit about getting punched by the Scottish chick. I even thought I heard snickering from behind the puppet after it happened. It was so worth getting punched by my own friend to see that scare unfold. Kudos to that actor on the timing with that scene, you couldn’t have planned that out more perfectly!
Before the haunt we had the opportunity to try our hand at one of their escape rooms. This was Vice’s first time ever doing an escape room and I simply suck at them. But Vice decided to do the Factory room because the name reminded her of the Saw franchise. I’m not going to give away secrets about the room or any of the rooms for that matter. But I will leave you with this. We had an absolute blast in this room, yeah, we sucked at it but the point is we had so much fun in this room that we honestly wanted to do another one. The tricks and clues were cleverly thought out and it was difficult. Well for us it was anyway. I highly recommend booking you a time and giving them a chance. Bring your thinking caps because like I said, they are not easy and you have to think outside the box on them.
In Closing:
We’ve been coming to Dread Hollow for years and it’s never once disappointed us. Sure, some seasons were better than others but there has never been a season where I was like, “meh, not that good this go around.”
This year, we both were completely blown away by every aspect of this show. I honestly wish I could go back and experience it one last time before they close the doors for 2022.
If I decided to retire from Scurryface this year. I would be completely okay with it because this recent experience with Dread Hollow was that good.
This was a quote in the car from our Scottish SF Rep, Vice Versa;
“Dread Hollow is the stuff of nightmares. It’s gonna haunt me all the way back to Scotland!”
I hope it haunts her all the way until next October when she makes a return visit!
To Tim and Todd and the entire Dread Hollow crew. Thank you for the amazing hospitality and for the incredible show. You all truly outdone yourselves in 2022!
Dread Hollow is a roller coaster of horror that never slows down!
This seriously was the best experience I ever had at Dread Hollow. We strongly urge you to visit them and see for yourselves!
*Fun fact, I did NOT come on opening weekend this season. That made Tim and Todd extremely happy*
