What Lies Behind the Castle Wall at Hundred Acres Manor?
BETHEL PARK, PA — Venture 10 miles beyond the bustling city streets of Pittsburgh and into the rolling hills of Bethel Park, and you may just stumble upon a strange castle in the heart of the woods. This past September, we made our way to this castle and walked the winding path through Hundred Acres Manor - one of Pittburgh’s top-rated haunted attractions - for the very first time.
Hundred Acres Manor has been operating seasonally since 2003, making this its 22nd consecutive haunt season. In that time, the attraction has garnered a number of positive reviews and developed something of a reputation for being one of the more immersive, expansive and intense experiences in the Pittsburgh region. Actors will not touch guests (and guests should NEVER touch actors) but the ~18 minute walkthrough leverages particularly tight turns and cramped passages that allow the actors to get very close. We had only ever heard great things about the experience offered by Hundred Acres, so when we discovered that we were going to be less than an hour from the property, we made a point of building it into our schedule. We had no idea what to expect when we parked our car and walked across the street to the bustling midway and got our first glimpse of the castle wall; but with so much energy and activity in this central area, we could definitely tell that we were in for a full, fun night.
Tickets for Hundred Acres Manor begin at $30 and include the attraction itself as well as access to the midway. The upcharge experiences are priced separately - both the Maze and the Escape Game cost a flat $10/person, per experience, to enjoy. There are also variable tiers of ‘fast pass’ admission ranging between standard VIP (at $50/person) and Legendary Admission (at a whopping $90/person) with the lattermost of these including branded merchandise, carnival game tickets and admission to the Maze along with admission and aforementioned fast pass. As first-time visitors, we went in on the lowest tier of VIP ($50) which included only the one-time fast pass admission and elected to pay for everything else out of pocket if/as needed, and that wound up working well for us; but we can totally see how a Hundred Acres superfan could get a lot of value out of the Legendary pass!
Let’s begin by unpacking the many experiences that that the Carver Brothers Midway offers. Upon clearing security and making our way to the entertainment area, we were greeted by some of the many roaming scare actors that help to set the mood for the evening. Credit where credit is due to Trixx ‘R’ Treatz for personalizing the welcome wagon for us - we’d been following her Instagram page for some time, so it was something of a celebrity encounter to finally see her out in the wild. Elsewhere in this area there are a handful of carnival games, a 21+ bar (ID’s must be shown to enter), a gift shop and a number of food trucks and picnic tables. There are also porta-johns onsite with pump faucets, easily accessed and not too far from the main queue.
The midway also offers two upcharge experiences in the Maze and the Enigma Project Escape Game. The Maze is an aptly titled attraction in which you’ll have to navigate a labyrinth of hard walls and reach the exit unscathed - easier said than done with a few actors occasionally popping up to scare you in the wrong direction. This was a more challenging undertaking than anticipated, and it’s safe to say that some people will spend more time on this attraction than others. The Escape Game, on the other hand, is strictly timed (5 minutes) and would have been exceptionally tough without a few experienced gamers in the room with us. Of the two, the escape game is more immersive and better-themed, but the maze is more of a mechanism than a set and functions exactly as it needs to for its intended purpose. We spent about two hours’ time on the midway if you add up all the time we spent on the supplemental attractions before and after the walkthrough - though, to be fair, that figure also includes the time that we spent taking all the photos that I knew we would need for this post.
Above: Attractions like the Maze are upcharge experiences at Hundred Acres Manor, but offer additional entertainment at a lower price point for those wanting to make a night of the experience.
Now when it comes to the walkthrough, it’s only fair to disclaim that our experience wasn’t perfect. Like any haunt, the walkthrough at Hundred Acres Manor can be impeded by things like customer disruptions, inclement weather, technical failures and/or staffing. However, we’ve been to enough haunted attractions to be able to fill in some blanks. If an effect doesn’t fire as intended here or there, we can often see what was meant to happen and we never hold it against the haunt. With that in mind, it remains easy to see why Hundred Acres has built up a reputation as a top-tier attraction.
Set and costume design were key strengths. The walkthrough is divided into five legs or sections, entitled “The Sisterhood”, “South Valley Hospital”, “Folklore”, “Vodoh” and “Hallow’s Eve”, and every scene did an outstanding job of selling us on a new and immersive world, separate and distinct from the worlds that preceded and followed it. We wouldn’t dare spoil the experience with a play-by-play, but some of the standout moments included a full-size ambulance, an encounter with a larger-than-life yeti, a full bayou with floating walkways and a front yard that looked like it had been pulled right out of the ‘Trick r’ Treat’ cult classic. Actors hit their marks, had great exchanges and great skit lines and knew exactly how to get under your skin, especially in some of the tighter areas.
So having “done it all” on our first visit to Hundred Acres Manor, the question that you’re no doubt dying to ask - was the experience worth the price? Well, we only have the one visit to go on, but for us, and for the ticket tier we purchased (again, standard VIP at $50), we did feel that we had a full, fun night and got the value out of the admission and the fast pass upcharge. The actors were passionate and engaging, the midway had lots of fun to offer and the walkthrough was lengthy and immersive. Most of the sets throughout the haunt were handmade and you could tell that a lot of time was spent on the little details. Costumes were visually impressive and exceptionally frightening…one of our favorites was the actor dressed as a wild cat (whose character name shall be redacted for the purposes of maintaining a clean read), a tribute to the wild cat that recently visited Hundred Acres and left its mark on the property. The team has had 22 years to develop a properly haunting atmosphere and the various attractions really showcase an accumulated understanding of what works and what doesn’t. It was a long-overdue pleasure to be able to see and experience the haunt for the first time, and we look forward to seeing the attraction continue to grow as it nears a quarter century of spooks and scares.
Hundred Acres Manor (1 Hundred Acres Drive, Bethel Park, PA 15102) is open seasonally from late September to early November, with select days and nights allocated for ‘Kids Day’ and ‘Lights Out’ events. Parking can be found both onsite and offsite with free wagons (i.e. shuttles) running between offsite parking lots and the attraction entrance. The attraction will next open in September 2026 for the 23rd consecutive season. For tickets and details, visit https://www.hundredacresmanor.com/.
