Last weekend we were invited down with some other media outlets to Sir Henry’s Haunted trail on its opening weekend to see what the I4 haunt had to offer this year.
The event again features three haunts two Sir Henry trails and one by Ominous Descent. All offering a unique experience that is a must do for any haunt fan. The amount of effort that goes into this family run business is extraordinary.
Lets take a brief look at the history of the event before we look at this years iteration.
First opening the doors back in 2014 the event was brought to life by creator Zach Glaros. He had been creating haunts for Halloween in the front yard of his parents house for years but wanted to take it to another level. With the help of his father and using his grandfathers land Sir Henry’s Haunted trail was born. The event located at 2837 S. Frontage Road near Plant City remains in the same location to this day.
Bringing in his friends to act within the trail the events theme was based around a character Glaros had created. Sir Henry. This suave skeleton wears a vest, cane and a top hat and is self described as a cross between the Joker and a Michael Myers. The story line indicated Sir Henry disappeared after his wife’s death but reappeared years later to torment the living. Sir Henry’s full backstory can be found here. Around 10 or so actors would work on the events first year.
In 2015 the event would return and would promise to be bigger and scarier than the year before. The event would cover around 2 acres and take about 15-20 minutes to traverse. Using props and scenes built from hand by Zach and his father Steve, the trail would feature 8 scenes but this year would have over 25 actors.
Some of the scenes that featured along the trail were:
Sir Henry’s Graveyard | The place where Sir Henry and his bride are buried.
The pirate scene | A sinking pirate ship and maze hold surprises for wanderers.
A cabin in the woods | A residence where witches are conjuring.
The swamp | Hillbilly zombies rule this soggy territory.
Abandoned Mineshaft | Houses a killer on the loose.
The scarecrow scene | Engulfs visitors in its weed-filled path.
Clown circus | It’s the largest maze on the property.
Funeral | The final scene ties back to Sir Henry and completes the experience with his funeral.
The event would run throughout the entire month of October and be open only at the weekends.
2016 saw the event grow from one trail to two, both with a distinct theme although Sir Henry would still be the main focus. One trail would be called “Terror on the Tracks” where guests would be on a train bound for doom. The other trail would be “Nightmare at the Mansion”, where guests would wander through Sir Henry’s unlit mansion and estate armed only with a flashlight. This hand built trail would focus on Sir Henry with creator Zach wanting to have a main character to focus the haunt on each year. The team would rely again on volunteers to help set up and create the trails with construction starting as early as March.
Each year the trail would have a focus on giving to a local charity and even had discounted tickets for visitors who donated. The event would start at the end of September and run through to Halloween.
2017 saw the first major change for Sir Henry’s haunted trail. Creator Zach Glaros had heard that Bartow, FL based haunt Ominous Descent had suffered damage from hurricane Irma and offered to help his friends, Ominous Descent creators Chad Ashley and Eric Dodson any way he could. 8 months of work had been ruined by the hurricane. This led to Ominous Descent moving into the trail for the season and adding a third haunt for the event. It took about 9 days to fully build the haunt in it’s new location.
Sir Henry’s would have two trails one would feature one of Sir Henry’s ancestors taking revenge on an entire town and the other following Sir Henry coming back from the dead.
Ominous Descent would change its story to fit its new location and would be based on a character called Wade Harris who was infected by a creature called Ominous Grim. Ominous Grim would destroy Harris’ butcher shop and slaughterhouse which leaves Harris taking shelter in the woods to try and fight off Ominous Grim’s torturous ways. Guests would choose to go through Sir Henry’s two trails, pay for just the Ominous Descent trail or a combination ticket was sold for all three for $30.
2018 saw the return of Sir Henry’s haunted trail combined with Ominous Descent but it was now branded as I4’s premier fear park. Dodson and Ashley wanted to give back to their friend Glaros for the assistance the previous year. Under the premier fear park brand three trails would again feature as well as an escape game from the Ominous team and laser tag from the Sir Henry’s team. “The Carving” and “Silent walls” would be the 10-15 minute long Sir Henry’s trails while “Twisted Souls” would be the Ominous offering.
The I4’s premier theme park would keep this winning combination into 2019.
The event situated just off the I4 at Plant City is easy to get too and around a 45 minute or so drive from the Disney area of central Florida.
The event features three haunted trail which each have their own backstory. Sir Henry’s haunted trail brings this year “The Harvester” a scarecrow about a famine hit farming village and one family’s determination to provide for their own by any means necessary.
“Reapers Haunting” would be about the Harris Family funeral home and all the tragedy that had come before the burial of Sir Henry’s wife.
“The Breed” would be Ominous Descents trail which would have about 2500 sq ft would be added compared to the previous years version. This year the Harris family are waiting to greet you at the farm with their southern in hospitality as you witness the family’s torturous ways.
Once again the event would have a themed escape game about the kidnapping Wade family with 5 minutes to escape the room. The escape room would tie into the events of the Breed trail. As well as the returning themed Laser tag game called Sabotage featuring clowns from a freak show on the Sir Henry’s side.
All of the trails are easily 10-15 minutes long and only allow you to enter with 6 or fewer people at a time. There is a regular queue and a front of line pass so queue times can get quite long quite quickly.
We started with the escape game called Vanished. This 5 minute long experience resulted in our group being split up into two groups to try and successfully escape the themed room. Both of our groups failed to successfully complete the experience however one of us was a lot closer than the other. An explanation on how to escape was given once our times were up. The experience featured an actor terrifying us inside while trying to solve clues using keys and numbered locks. A very fun start to the evening however it’s worth noting that on busy nights this experience may move slowly due to the limited size of the groups allowed in at once. This is also not included in the base price and is an up charge that can be bought once inside the main common area.
First up for our group of 6 on the trail front was The Harvester. This trail fused great sets, both inside and outside, with hidden scares throughout the forest as adult and children actors relentlessly scared and terrorized throughout the trail. Great costumes and make up gave a look and feel of scare crows throughout. A corn themed hedge maze area is just one of the few surprises to feature in the trail with one claustrophobic scene at the end a perfect topper to this relentless house. A very scary start for our group of haunt veterans with even the toughest member of our group feeling slightly hot and sweaty after this trail.
Next up was Reapers Haunting. This trail had a very impressive house facade worthy of a theme park haunt and was packed full of actors. The eerie trail featured detailed sets throughout with impressive actors of varying ages. Be prepared to be terrified by children in this house. A good amount of this trail was inside with very tight and intense scares found. More spooky and ominous than the previous trail, this relied on more subtle scares. The trail features are very impressive fog maze and an ending that is sure to startle even the most seasons haunt goers without spoiling too much.
Next up was Sabotage the laser tag. After some issues with the guns this attraction faces 2 teams against each other with infinite lives. This short experience is also joined by a clown who fights against both teams for added fun. This is an up charge activity that costs 5 dollars each.
The final trail of the night featured the longest queue. The Breed from Ominous Descent. This house is long, gory and very very intense. It features movie quality like sets throughout the Wade farm and a bunch of gore. This trail features many actors and loud scares, chainsaws, puppets and you name it. Ominous Descent really has found it’s home at Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail and the Breed was another smashing trail. It was a perfect way to cap off the night and you bet we will be returning next year.
It say’s something that the 6 people in our group couldn’t agree as to what the best trail was. 2 voted for The Harvester, 2 for Reapers Haunting and you guessed it, 2 for The Breed. Each trail offers a different type of scare and something different for all haunt and horror fans.
I can’t recommend Sir Henry’s Haunted trail and Ominous Descent enough. If you haven’t been be sure to check it out before the haunt season is over and check below for more details from Sir Henry’s website.
Have you been to Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail before? What did you think? Did you enjoy this new way to get history of an attraction in a blog post? Let us know in the comments below and we will see you next time.
Tickets for the event vary depending on the event and more information about the event can be found here:
Check out their Facebook here and give this impressive haunt a like.
