RECAP:  Several roaming characters interact with patrons along the queue line, including a menacing, axe-toting brute; a tall, masked antagonist whose bloody chest has been split wide open; and Nurse “Enya Bottom,” who provocatively flirts and leaves little else to the imagination!  The attraction itself gets underway through the façade of a clown’s mouth, and into “Lolly’s” shop, that finds the disturbed Lolly chastising, “Don’t touch the candy!"  Obliging and departing her presence takes the course into a baking area, where humans are being oven-roasted a little too well-done, and a secret path is discovered through a closed refrigerator door that leads the way into a freezer of preserved bodies dangling from meat hooks, then into an occult room of fortune telling occupied by a Gypsy proudly proclaiming, You’re next to die!” as she points to an adjacent Ouija Board whose planchette (cursor) mysteriously moves around of its own accord!

From there, it’s onto an Insane Asylum that’s imprisoning a couple of maniacal girls, one of whom laughs hysterically as she strangles the other, then reverses the cell door trapping entrants inside a rubber room! Other sights include a deadly room of dolls, and a deplorable kitchen highlighted by a human carcass oozing and dripping bodily fluids into a blood-filled sink!  A tag-team duo of savage fiends holding lethal machetes defy progression onward while deciding whom to victimize next, and sending sparks shooting forth as you attempt to elude their presence.  Escape through a light-limited corridor yields into a wooden maze hiding various freaks reaching and clawing through openings in the boards, honking horns, interacting and misdirecting from their obscurity that permits them to be heard but never seen!  Liberation ushers in the first of a series of parallel, entrapments that mirror each other inside a pick-a-door room of potential get-away routes all numbered “2,” and terrorized by masked goons and clowns armed with chainsaws!  One of the incorrect exits loops back around, returning the entanglement right back into the clutches of the rabid chainsaw assailants. Trying a different portal detours through a 3-D disorientation, and into a second pick-a door ensnarement, this one further complicated by a wildly spinning floor, and a treacherous female clown with “XXX” on her forehead grasping a hammer, and madly banging it up against the wall!

Eventually locating an unlocked passage guides furtherance across an uneven, tilting bridge, and into a circus of fun and games, most notably "High Striker," where competitors can lend a helping hand, or in this case a head, to help an overzealous clown test his strength, and ring the bell. Departure through split building blocks soon brings about yet another pick-a-door captivation reflective of those prior, and again harassed by persecuting, chainsaw-wielding clowns!  This time, door #2 vents through spider-infested woods into the presence of an intimidating, sacrilegious Priest named Father Pyro, having the Sigil (symbol) of Baphomet (inverted pentagram) on his forehead at The Church of Infernal Torment, the décor of which displays a portrait of the aforementioned Sabbatical Goat, and whose ceremony begins with a splash of unholy water he claims contains animal urine as its main ingredient, and climaxes when he breathes fire out his mouth in a wretched effort to ignite his congregation, then raising his arms prompts incinerating flames to burst skyward from surrounding coffins!

A green, laser-lit, vortex tunnel illuminates the trek back the forest, where cannibalistic hillbillies are none too pleased to learn trespassers have stumbled onto their land riling the wrath of “Pa,” who comes crashing out of an outhouse loudly firing a shotgun in hopes of procuring his next meal!  Running for our lives brings about an initial encounter with an oversized bunny named Lucky anxious to deliver an assault with a Taser-like zapper, then a thicket of road-blocking, scarecrow-like characters transforming a cheerful birthday party with a sinister version of, “Happy death day to you!”

Still to come are skirmishes with more killer clowns packing chainsaws and barbed-wire covered baseball bats, and a “Dark Carnival” area of upside-down signage stalked by a Venetian masked ghoul, and a warning that, “It’s time to get chopped up!” just as a homicidal, chainsaw-revving jester pounces into contention via a hidden door in advance of a double chainsaw chase-out of Backwoodz Oddities - The Last Carnival!

ANALYSIS:  The event begins entertaining customers practically upon arrival with multiple queue line interactions. Design of the haunt itself is appreciated for cleverly incorporating several secret passages (refrigerator, split building blocks, etc.) into the course.  Pick-a-door segments are likewise admired for their brilliant ingenuity and similar looking door #2 entrapments, as well as for looping back to their central access areas where chainsaw assassins eagerly await.  OVH Award winning spinning floor remains a favorite.  Father Pyro's satanic Church is outstanding this year with the segment making good use of “unholy” water and fire, and offering immediate intimidation and anticipation as the domineering Pyro can be seen from the approaching path standing in the midst of his scene facing his next “victims” (patrons) prior to their arrival!  Hillbilly confrontation is also very well done.  Sparks, blood-filled sink, and tilting bridge provide memorable contributions to the overall experience.  MAUL traveling actors are on hand professionally supplementing an already talented cast.

Cost of admission is only $10 making this the best bargain in the entire Ohio Valley region!  A more adult themed “Hell Night” is annually presented after midnight one Saturday during the season for $5 more.

Backwoodz Oddities – The Last Carnival is very conscientious when it comes to protecting its workers AND customers from Covid-19, and will not only be requiring masks, encouraging social distancing, and frequently disinfecting surfaces, but will also be checking visitors’ temperatures upon arrival via a contactless thermometer!

The attraction's primary beneficiary is Southern Ohio Survivors, but they also donate to other local charities including animal shelters, schools, food banks, and a summer league baseball team.  OVH recommends lending your support by paying them a visit!  You'll be glad you did!