REVIEW: dark harvest

OCTOBER 14, 2022

review: dark harvest

Years ago we randomly stumbled across an Anaheim pumpkin patch that contained a very intense maze named The Fleshyard. This haunt took us through tight spaces which included crawling in water and mud while manic clowns chased us. Since then, The Fleshyard has been moving to different locations and engaging in various creative collaborations.

In 2018 they joined Horrorworld, a multi-haunt complex spearheaded by Into the Black’s Larry and Cheryl Bones which brought a group of haunted houses to the Puente Hills Mall. Once that disbanded in 2020 they went on to create the first iteration of Dark Harvest , which took place at Chino's own Frosty's Pumpkin Patch, with the Perdition Home Haunt for last years haunt season. For 2022, while Perdition remains at Frosty’s rebranded as “The Haunted Harvest”, Dark Harvest has now returned to The Fleshyard’s earlier roadside pumpkin patch location in Anaheim, teaming up this season with Orange County’s legendary haunt The Pirate’s Cave.

If you have been following us for a while you might recall last year’s review of The Pirate’s Cave haunt. This completely unbelievable multimedia experience incorporated everything that we love in haunts - animatronics, illusions, storytelling, and more. This haunt was so extremely impressive that co-founder Jacob Larson was hired by Knott’s Scary Farm on the day he turned 18. The Pirate’s Cave is no longer at its original home haunt location, but instead has joined forces with Dark Harvest to create a spectacular outdoor maze, “Shady Pines Asylum ''.

The maze looks small from the parking lot, but once inside you realize it is a massive space. You begin by entering into an asylum where things quickly become chaotic. As you begin your "tour" of the hospital you encounter demented patients and staff members, and clowns. The highlight of this tour was the "spare parts department" - a room filled with bloodied dismantled human body parts. Within it a deranged character uses a prop head to deliver numerous puns at a machine gun pace. Eventually the facility begins to explode and you are rescued by "security" who help you escape through a prop elevator. However things go terribly wrong and the elevator malfunctions and falls down a shaft to the charred tunnels underneath the hospital. (If you went to Pirate’s Cave in 2021 this was a very clever reuse of their amazing mines.) As you follow the path to escape you exit through a creepy swamp full of lifelike trees, horrifying animal sounds, and a disorienting amount of fog. Be careful to not be eaten by the massive, roaring animatronic alligator or be seen by the creepy woman burying a dead body!

Dark Harvest is a wonderful blend of The Fleshyard and Pirate’s Cave combined talents. Together they have created one of the most exciting haunts in the OC this Halloween season. Don't miss out on a trip to Anaheim so that you too can experience this epic and horrifying descent into madness!

VC

October 14, 2022

Hauntsofla.com

#darkharvesthaunt #thefleshyard #thepiratescave #orangecounty #anaheim #hauntsofla