Legends of Fear at Fairview Tree Farm is Again the #1 Halloween Attraction in New England (5 stars PLUS)
Nobody does it better. What a thrill. Although it’s a 2.5-hour drive from Boston, it’s worth it. Legends of Fear at Fairview Tree Farm is the best Halloween attraction in New England.
The attraction has two parts: a 26-minute hay ride that is perhaps the longest in New England, and also a woods walk, along forest paths and then encountering buildings along the way. Parking is free and you’ll find a gift shop. Portapotties were clean and easily available. You can buy food and just hang out waiting for your friends before you go in.
In the hay ride, you sit on benches on a flatbed trailer, without hay, that is pulled through the forest by a real tractor. You encounter a truly astonishing series of fog effects, a green laser with fog making a vortex cone, fire effects, and scenes played out by actors on raised stages, so that they can be easily seen from both sides of the hay ride. I did see a hint of laser lake but it wasn’t functioning when we went through.
Each stop along the route has a story, a special effect, and even choreographed music and visuals, and actors in costume have real scenes to play out, not just jump and scream. In some places, actors come right up onto the hay ride to torment visitors in person, especially the amazing clowns. (How these clowns still had so much energy after 3 hours I cannot imagine — truly going beyond the call of duty.) And you’ll see a dragon beast and so many more animatronics. An actor ziplines overhead, giant plumes of fire spout into the sky, with video projections and so much more. It’s mind-blowing.
Then you walk a path throughout the forest, which can take up 30-45 minutes. You’ll encounter even more special effects, including another green vortex laser, and entire structures such as an asylum, evil summer camp, and evil church. The trail was completely open for its first 20 minutes, but a short line did finally form at The Asylum, not too bad considering it was very late. (So after an entire evening of people piling up became only a 5-minute wait to get inside.)
The forest trail was completely cleared of tripping hazards, which is very difficult to achieve. But if I am allowed just one complaint, the woods walk has several buildings that you enter with a small step up, and exit with a small step down that are not properly lit or warned. It’s mostly just 1 inch drop, but for example, there’s a 6-inch step down in Camp Melonhead in the darkness. It’s too much.
Read details in my previous 5-star reviews from 2019 and 2021.
Legends of Fear is professional from start to finish. Their real staging, real costuming, real special effects, and real acting is then matched by their professional crowd control and how the attraction is organized. It’s a must-see for anyone in New England who loves Halloween. I’ll again give it my rare 5 stars PLUS, which I’ve only ever given to two other Halloween attractions, one of which has closed and the other is outside of New England.
For more, see legendsoffear.com.