Located in the Old Country Roads truck stop along the former Route 35 (now 817) just north of Winfield, this haunted attraction is in its first year of operation and I gotta say...for a newly opened haunted house, they've done a really great job!
The 817 Haunted Truck Stop is open Thursdays from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. until midnight, with dates running through until November 4th. Thursday admission is only $8 with a donation of canned food and Friday/Saturday admission is $10. Concessions are available on-site.
My friends and I arrived Friday night around 7:30 p.m. and were pleasantly surprised to see that plenty of parking was available. It was a short wait to buy our tickets and be taken through the maze. Our group of three were taken in by ourselves, which made for a nice, intimate experience. And, like I said earlier, for being its first year in operation, I was really impressed.
Each room or scene wasn't too overly gross or gory, which I really appreciated, but some areas did seem a little...sparse...something I'm sure will be improved upon as this haunt continues to grow. But whatever was lacking with props and stage setting, the scare actors certainly made up for it! Each one of the dedicated volunteers really had an innate knack for knowing where to be and when. They did a great job with distracting you and focusing your attention in another direction....and then popping out where and when you least expect them. I'm not usually one that gets startled easily, but there were definitely a couple of times where I was knocked off guard. And I have to give bonus points to one of the youngest actors in the haunt---she played her role perfectly and was the embodiment of spooky and unsettling, lol.
One thing I would have liked to have seen was a little more cohesion in the theme from room to room. It did flow just fine, but this place was an actual truck stop at one point. I would LOVE to see that unique aspect utilized more, especially with the sounds of truck horns, headlights coming at you, and out of control truckers running around. Clowns and Freddy Krueger are certainly frightening, but when there's a CLEAR story line running through the entire location, it just bumps the whole experience up a notch.
Everyone we dealt with in connection to the haunt was very nice and professional, an aspect that made the evening all the more enjoyable. I loved the small group size as well, which is great for customizing the scares a little. It can get a little spookier for the adult-only groups, but then the actors can back off a bit if there's a group with younger guests...and there were plenty of younger guests in attendance that night. I guess since this is a no-touch haunt where the actors do not rely upon screaming obscenities, and the scenes are not overly gory or inappropriate, it does make for a perfect experience for someone visiting such an attraction for the first time. That doesn't mean it isn't scary, though! As evidenced by the tally board in the ticket area, plenty of guests are experiencing the FULL haunted house experience!
As a paranormal investigator, though, I'm always looking for REAL haunts and scares...and like many other haunted house attractions, this one might actually be haunted. According to the entry on the WV Ghosts Halloween Attraction Index, the truck stop is haunted by the ghosts of several truck drivers who passed away and a cook who died in the kitchen area. I'm not sure if that was just part of the fabricated back story or a hint at some real activity...but I hope to find out and maybe get the chance to bring HPIR in to investigate! If you have any details as to whether or not this place has a true haunted reputation, please let me know in the comments below or over at Theresa's Haunted History Facebook!
Anyway, there are a couple more weekends to come and experience the 817 Haunted Truck Stop for yourself before the close of the season and I highly recommend that you give it a shot if you're in the area! It is well worth the price of admission. As an added bonus, this haunt is just a short drive from the Fear on the Farm attraction on the other side of Winfield, and of course, Scareview, located in nearby St. Albans. If you time it right, you could hit up all three in one night!
*Photos are from the 817 Haunted Truck Stop Facebook page. You can also find them on Twitter and on Instagram*
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