RECAP:  Located at Kirkwood Camp & Adventure Park, Twisted Trails is comprised of four different attractions secluded in the dark woods – a pair of haunted trails, Muck Manor, and Twisted Town, the latter of which is first on the agenda.

TWISTED TOWN is brand-new to the site for 2025 relocated from it's former home at Entertrainment Junction. This indoor haunt strings together four mini-attractions into one winding experience — Crazy Caper, an old Oak Island-style mirror maze, Curtain Chaos, and a haunted manor!

The Crazy Caper kicks things off with a spinning vortex tunnel and a few animatronics aimed at disorientation. From there, guests wander into the darkened mirror maze, where low light makes finding the correct path surprisingly tricky. Curtain Chaos is fairly self-explanitory — a labyrinth of hanging curtains and some dead ends that creates a sense of uncertainity, even if only for a moment. Finally, the haunted manor serves as the finale, featuring a brief walkthrough of creepy rooms and a mechanical guard dog surprise.

Overall, Twisted Town leans more toward funhouse-style entertainment than true terror. With only two live actors in the entire attraction, scares are minimal, but the maze elements keep it engaging. Adding more performers would elevate the tension and increase scares much more effectively. The mirror maze is the best of its kind — tricky, confusing, somewhat difficult, and lots of fun! Twisted Town is a nice addition to an already enjoyable haunted attraction making a positive impact on the overall experience.

- 8 minutes, 2 actors

MUCK MANOR:  A sinister bellhop introduces the cursed estate of Baylor Von Muck — a collector of rare specimens, some of which he even stole from the witches who, in turn, cursed his land. Now, his creatures have gone missing, and as the story unfolds, family portraits eerily morph into skeletal visages, setting a chilling tone right from the very beginning.

Entrance down a dimly-lit, spiderweb-infested hallway leads to an old, rickety elevator that plunges riders into the afterlife, landing in a solid white room that's hiding a sudden startle. From there, the journey descends into a toxic contamination zone comprised of collapsing barrels; sparking, short-circuiting electrical fuse boxes; and a deadly electrocution that delivers an unexpected surprise when the victim refuses to die! The horrors deepen with a projection sequence straight out of The Ring, where Samara claws her way out of an ominous well. Fog fills the air as the course makes its way through a lengthy, murky swamp where living monstrosities spring up out of the quagmire, slithering snakes reside, a ghostly boat has capsized, and a massive rat attacks prior to the escape from Muck Manor.

- 8 minutes, 7 actors

UPPER TRAIL:  The journey begins along Witching Way and weaves through a brief corn maze, where a hooded figure shares the tale of how Baylor Von Muck stole the witches’ fortune and land. As punishment, they cursed him and banished his soul to the afterworld! Travelers are cautioned not to anger the witches that reside within the forest about to be explored!

As the path creaks across an unstable wooden bridge that spans a seemingly bottomless pit, mechanical beasts lunge out of the shadows making their presence known to those brave enough to embark upon this doomed, secluded excursion. Glowing cauldrons line the path as wicked witches materialize from the shadows, casting fresh spells on innocent bystanders!  Massive hands belonging to some unknown behemoth whose face is embedded in its chest abruptly erupt from out of the darkness aggressively clawing at passersby!  Detouring through an isolated cornfield exposes a pumpkin-lined fence that guides advancement into a parked motorhome that's stalked by a deranged rabbit-like creature.  Back outside, sinister scarecrows arise, as does a colossal, 12-foot tall Grim Reaper clutching onto a deadly, oversized scythe and peering downward with piercing, red eyes!

The Bad Seed Pumpkin Patch is next on the horizon, controlled by a hulking, green-eyed Jack-o’-lantern and a Kürbis-headed trickster eager to play hide-and-seek. A suffocatingly tight passageway spills victims into the arms of a horned, six-eyed beast having eight thrashing tentacles protecting entrance into a cobweb-laced graveyard that's crawling with gigantic spiders, and where half-human arachnids emerge to prowl and scamper about the premises.  A horn-blasting finale delivers one last jolt before releasing customers from The Upper Trail.

- 13 minutes, 11 actors

LOWER TRAIL:  The fourth and final attraction, The Lower Trail, begins in a foreboding graveyard where caskets shake and rattle on their own under the watchful gaze of a sinister Crypt Keeper who warns, “If the witches ask for anything, give it to them or you will no longer be safe!”  Sending us on our way, he bellows into the woods behind us, “Death is coming!”  Squeezing beneath low ceilings and through a pitch-black maze, the trek enters into the forest, where zombies lunge their way into the path from both sides. Thunder and lightning crackle overhead, heightening the fear as an antagonistic figure demands “I need spare body parts!”  Eluding his request sparks the wrath of an enormous bat-like creature that spreads its massive wings overhead among whispers of, “Your time has come!  Your soul is mine!  There is no escape!”

A claustrophobic mine shaft with waist-high passages winds into a twisting maze that emerges onto an unsteady wooden bridge.  Foggy shacks harbor a rabid pack of howling, red-eyed werewolves that compromise the approach to Granny’s home, and her kitchen of inedible Grim Pies.  Narrowly avoiding becoming ingredients and being baked alive inside her oven of smoldering coals, we make a run for it only to come across The Carny of Souls, a twisted traveling circus where chuckling jesters sneer, “Your lives will never be the same!”  Bubbles fill the air en route to The Big Top, a disorienting maze lined with grasping hands and inhabited by high-spirited clowns all too happy to provide misdirection by repeatedly pointing the wrong way until another claustrophobic squeeze is eventually discovered, no thanks to the clowns, permitting the one and only escape

Concluding through a haunted cornfield, a crumbling, uneventful building exits into a waiting area, where a tractor-pulled hayride shuttles survivors back to the main staging area, leaving the evil spirits of the Lower Trail behind.

- 18½ minutes, 16 actors

ANALYSIS:  The Kirkwood Camp & Adventure Park creates an outstanding atmosphere for seasonal Halloween fun anchored by 4 haunted attractions.  Additional activities along Bayou Boulevard contribute to the overall experience including Bayou Blasters, a glow-in-the-dark shooting gallery, Ghastly Greens mini golf, festively decorated selfie stations, a gift shop, drinks, snacks, and more.  The new Twisted Town makes its debut and is a great complimentary addition!

Lighting is exceptionally good, especially in scenes on The Upper Trail where illumination contributes to a spooky, mystifying environment.  Projection of colorful lights in the trees surrounding the trails is outstanding and really impressive!  However, several trip hazards remain throughout as mentioned in last year's review that could stand to be better lit out of safety concers.  Soundtrack provides excellent background effects.  Performer interaction is good, although dialogue is weak outside the initial characters in each attraction.  Twisted Town Nix, Bellhop, and Crypt Keeper are favorites.  Witches and Spider Walkers are visually impressive.  Lantern waver is missed, as is Werewolf abducting a live victim, which was present a few years back.  Additional cast members would prove beneficial and raise the score!

A large variety of actortronic props are appreciated as are the site’s big, mechanical monsters that likewise supplement scares.  Fog is put to good use.  Lasers, claustrophobia, sparking fuse box, elevator, bottomless pit, and chained caskets are memorable. 

Price of general admission has been reduced to $25 if purchased online ($35 at the door).  Fast Pass costs $40 online ($50 on site).  FREE Admission is offered on Fridays for all active police, fire, EMT, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals with valid photo ID, along with a badge, or government issued ID.  Members of the military and veterans are admitted free of charge on both Fridays and Saturdays with presentation of proper ID stating specific duty.

Fun-filled, seasonal scares are waiting for you at Wilmington's Twisted Trails!