Every fall, Scary Acres is open to the public until the end of October. It’s one of the most popular haunted attractions that Omaha has to offer. On Thursday, October 22, I went to Scary Acres for the first time, eager to see if it’s worth the hype.

Scary Acres is located at 17272 Giles Road. It has three haunted attractions to choose from: Master’s Castle, House on the Hill and Haunted Woods. I decided to go to House on the Hill. If you want the full experience, you can pay $25 for the super combo ticket, which allows you to visit all three places.

Due to COVID-19, Scary Acres is limiting the amount of people allowed inside, so I arrived early to buy my ticket.  According to their website, Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest evenings, so it was best to go during the week. The decorations in the admission area set the eerie tone with old, decaying wooden fencing and a faint, ominous glow from hidden light apparatuses. Actors and actresses were lurking around in various monster costumes, seemingly eyeing their next victim to scare. People visiting Scary Acres were required to wear a mask. On the contrary, the characters weren’t wearing masks, but I didn’t really mind.

After purchasing my ticket, I went to a fence gate where a large sign hung over that read “House on the Hill.” Past this fence was another dirt trail that led up to the haunted attraction, a house with its front door lit up by a light. The house itself gave me run-down cabin vibes, as it was built out of old wood. Coming from the inside of the attraction were screams. I was in line waiting to enter the house by myself when an actor opened the front door and pointed at my shoes with a stick. I looked down and he said, “made you look!” then shut the door. I thought it was a neat twist how the employees could interact with people while in character without being scary. I wasn’t feeling scared, so I was hoping for a good fright once I got inside the house.

Another employee let me into the house by myself and the same actor from before was walking around. He was dressed like a butcher, with a dirty apron wrapped around his shirt. The room was decorated to look like a butcher shop and an unsanitary one at that. I headed the wrong direction, and the guy redirected me with a smack of his stick on a barrel. So far, I was just eager to see what the rest of the house looked like. The next room, decorated to look like a slaughterhouse, fit the theme of the butcher shop. Bags with bodies inside of them were hanging from the ceiling, contributing to the creepy vibe. Maneuvering through the bags gave a good sense of isolation because I couldn’t see what was past them. A character pursued me until I reached a hallway.

Monsters were popping out of nowhere in the hallway, blending into the shadows well. I was almost scared by a silent one that creeped up on me from my left side, but I didn’t jump or audibly react. I eventually caught up to the group in front of me, who was entering a room with a screaming actress. Her costume looked deranged, with black hair, black clothes and a pale face, and she sat still on a bed. Traversing around the bed to the other side of the room, I went through a doorway and the actress gave a very loud and impressive blood-curdling scream. Despite the scream, I was still calm.

After that, the other group and I walked on a wooden bridge where an employee followed the group. Eventually, he had me go in front of him and a few seconds later, I reached the exit, which was a ramp that led outside of the house. I thought the House on the Hill was a short experience and could be longer, but it was entertaining nonetheless. After exiting, I walked around and looked at the different picture booths, one of them having writing saying “I survived Scary Acres.”

Overall, Scary Acres was a decently enjoyable experience. It was exciting to walk through the House on the Hill and traverse through the different rooms and see the actors and actresses. My favorite part was the screaming actress on the bed because of how well the scream sounded. Although the attraction as a whole was lacking in the scare factor for me, I would consider going again to get the full experience with some friends, and I rate it a 3 out of 5 stars.