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Review: Dark Harvest Haunt

For Halloween 2021, the creators of The Fleshyard and Perdition Home Haunt present a new spine-tingling walk-through among the corn stalks of Frosty’s Forest Pumpkin Patch in Chino – their second year at this location. Last Halloween saw The Fleshyard installed in what would turn out to be its final resting place. After sowing its seeds, a year later they have borne fruit.

The end result is Dark Harvest.


Dark Harvest 2021 Scare Zone

Free scares while you wait! While you’re in line for tickets or to get into the haunted corn maze, Dark Harvest’s scare actors will almost certainly not leave you alone. In true Fleshyard queue line tradition, you receive a good mix of scare actors independent of the maze. This keeps you guessing as to what the true overall theme of the attraction is.

New this year, there’s a step and repeat backdrop for photos and a freshly painted “Dark Harvest” marquee for photos. The great thing about this Scare Zone is that it acts as your chicken-out card: if you’re already scared, then maybe this maze is too much for you.


Dark Harvest 2021 Maze

The walk-though leads inside a cornfield with giant stalks surrounding you. The trail is perfectly arranged so that you cannot see what’s hiding in the dark; all that is visible – barely! – is the path until you reach one of the many buildings housing an assortment of scares. Each one adds to the overall theme of the corn maze.

Like all horror movies having to do with a “harvest,” this haunted corn maze defines the word to mean a “sacrifice.”  You’ll pass an impressive prop of a downed chopper with the bloody cadaver still inside. You’ll encounter the people of the corn, staking claim to their land and making you very unwelcome.  You’ll come across a downed spacecraft, presumably crash landed in this field and now the monsters/aliens on board are out and about! The only room that does not make sense contains clowns: we’re not sure how they played a part into the “harvest” storyline; nonetheless, it was a fun room.

Perhaps the most memorable room – which gave us quite the heebie jeebies – featured a deranged cult member worshipping a God-like figure which was really a body made of sticks with a decapitated head with a crown attached. This is a grisly scene, reminiscent of The Wicker Man (1973) and Midsommar, evoked some seriously bad memories – the kind that haunt us. If you watched those two movies, you can envision the feeling captured inside this room.

The final room is our favorite: it makes sense with the theme; it offers some insight as to who or what is behind this Dark Harvest; it has nice eye candy and the most scare actors within a small space. Most of all, it gives the sensation that the harvest is complete, and whatever sinister thing has been growing is now ready to come to life!


Dark Harvest 2021 Conclusion

Mazes at pumpkin patches are always convenient, because people without the stomach for a haunt can do the kiddie rides and enjoy the food while wait for you to emerge from the walk-through. Also, there are family-friendly activities at Frosty’s Pumpkin Patch: a petting zoo, a kiddie corn maze, and photo ops. For the non-squeamish who want the full-scare experience, you’ll find that the Dark Harvest theme is very on point with the surroundings compared to The Fleshyard.

It’s great to see somebody doing an actual haunted corn maze, which are hard to find. Dark Harvest also paces groups that enter the maze, giving you the opportunity to enjoy the experience and props and not have a gazillion people in front of you like many pro attractions. Highly recommended.

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Dark Harvest Rating
95%

Bottom Line

Bigger and better than the Fleshyard, the rebranded Dark Harvest is a real treat that provides Halloween fans with something hard to find in Southern California: a great outdoor walk-through.

Dark Harvest is open select nights from September 30th through October 31st.  Thursdays and Sundays 7-11pm and Fridays and Saturday’s 7-12am.  Tickets start at $30 for the haunted corn maze.   Event tickets for Frosty’s Forest as well as Dark Harvest are all available on site.  Frosty’s Forest is located at 14861 Ramona Ave, Chino, CA  91710.  Parking is plentiful and free.

*Note: The author of this post is a close acquaintance of the creator(s) of this haunt.  However, this review is still written from a haunt-goers perspective and from a purely objective point of view.

Warren

Media Correspondent, Videographer, Photographer @Hollywood Gothique, Halloween Fanatic.