Lake Elsinore’s Diamond Stadium has crossed over to the dark side. The professionals at Storm Events, Twisted Scare and The Bloodshed Brothers have taken over the minor league baseball field and have created a Halloween haven way out in the far reaches of the Inland Empire. The appropriately named Field of Screams, now in its 8th year of scares, opened on Oct 2nd and we had a chance to go check it out last night.
The haunt features 5 vastly different mazes, all filled with young actors hungry for a scare. The mazes include Cannibal Island 3D, Exorcism Reborn, Holidays of Horror, House of Nightmares, and our favorite, the Roadkill Cafe. In between the mazes, monsters run up and down the concourse scaring up fun.
Cannibal Island 3D
Visit this tropical island where you, “the guest” are searching for an ancient artifact. Little do you know the island is inhabited by meat-hungry cannibals. This maze is in 3D!
This Chroma-Depth 3D maze was an interesting experience. The maze begins with the repurposed elevator simulator (for the VIP ticket only) and drops guests off into the jungle. Not sure how that made any sense but we move on from there into the maze. Wandering through we are hit with 3D painted walls with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Some aspects of the attraction were surprisingly fun, while others fell flat. One stand out effect was a bridge that stretched over a bubbling caldera. With the 3D glasses it looked as if the floor was literally swimming with molten lava. However, later on we cross another bridge near tanks of water. In this scene there was no discernible reason to have the path raised other than to do it.
Exorcism Reborn
Bear witness to unseen horrors that will test your spiritual strength and religious ideals. Call a priest. This ones gonna get ugly.
Again, screams, and lots of them. If you got to experience the mini haunt that Field of Screams put on at Scare LA you have seen the best part of this maze. We won’t blow the surprise for you but it works nicely.
Holidays of Horror
A storybook of traditional holidays with a morbid twist. Includes gruesome versions of Christmas, Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, and more.
It’s always fun to make the holidays take on a more sinister feel. In Holiday of Horrors we get to see everything from Christmas to the 4th of July made into something far more menacing. Yes, there are even killer leprechauns in the St. Patrick’s Day Room.
This maze was unfinished at the time of publication. Guests were allowed to flow through, the talent was there, but the sets were not fully dressed according to the event producers. This maze took a fun idea and ran with it. We’d like to see this again when it is running at full tilt.
House of Nightmares
This house has a sense of metal torture as you face your worst nightmares over and over again. Grab a Gantom Torch and head through this minimally lighted maze if you dare.
One of the more frightening mazes at Field of Screams is the House of Nightmares. Utilizing the Gantom Torch (flashlight) technology, we get to experience a whole new level of lighting effects and interactivity. Each guests is handed a Gantom flashlight upon entering the dark walkthrough. As visitors progress through the maze, the flashlight in their hand is triggered. The flashlight shoots beams of varying colors and even vibrates, depending on what each scene in the maze calls for.
Certainly a fascinating experience Nightmares was one of the standouts for us because of the innovation involved. Make sure to check this one out.
Roadkill Cafe
This run down 60’s themed cafe has reopened with a menacing new staff and menu. Rodents, household pets, and of course people are all on today’s special. Yum Yum Give me some!
Our stand-out favorite maze of the night was the Roadkill Cafe. Everyone has seen the usual cannibal cafe idea. This maze has a lot more fun with the idea, taking visitors through a cannibalistic cafe that slathers on the hospitality as they lure you to your demise.
Supremely silly, this walkthrough was elevated to a much higher level of lunacy and charm due to the superb job of its cast. All delivered lines and quips that had us chuckling as we ran for our lives. Great work by all in this maze.
Field of Screams has its feet firmly planted in the regional haunt category. The cast made up entirely of volunteers, benefits the Cops For Kids Foundation. The charity which works to better the lives and circumstances of underprivileged families and the elderly through police related community outreach. A worthy cause to be sure and one that helps to excuse the haunts less polished aspects.
Dates for Field of Screams are as follows
