Madhaunter's Madhouse - Purcellville, Virginia

sean crimmins

My wife and I LOVE Halloween and let me tell you...you DEFINITELY get a great Halloween experience at this haunt. You really get your money's worth. First, the "Lobby" had a great party atmosphere with a fire-pit, stage and pyrotechnics, great music, actors and other scary props as well as food and drinks, both for youngsters and adults. It was a spooky carnival atmosphere that made me feel like a kid again. There was a real energy celebrating the spirit of the holiday!

Then there was the precursor. It was good and I would recommend it for the small extra fee as something to enjoy while you await the main haunt.

Then, the main haunt, which was absolutely fantastic and loaded with amazing displays, fun rooms and plenty of scary ghouls and monsters scaring the hell out of your wife or girlfriend (and I'll admit, a few gave me chills, as well). It isn't some fast rip off either. It's a long, intricate maze with plenty of great settings and frightening effects that must have taken years to evolve into what it is today...which was impressive to say the least! Wear comfortable shoes because your getting in some steps...like I said, you get your money's worth!

Finally, the staff and actors. Those that interact with you from the ticket stand to the folks running the haunt...all are courteous, engaging and seem passionate about giving the patron the best experience possible. Then there are the monsters, ghouls and freaks!!! Their costumes, acting and energy was amazing! They were professional but not cold...you could tell they were enjoying what they do and wanting us to have a great experience. They were scary and relentless but never "aggressive" or threatening. They all deserve a glowing review. They were clearly enjoying what they were doing and knew we were having a blast. A few of them were also funny, especially if they had to help us navigate the maze a bit.

5 stars is an understatement. This will become a new Halloween tradition and next year we will arrive a bit early to enjoy the atmosphere of the lobby area which alone seems like it is worth the price of admission. We couldn't recommend with any more enthusiasm.

-Sean & Emily

Storm Fox

This was my first time here, and I can say that most of the other negative reviews are accurate, I was there 10/19/24 at 9pm. Actors in the waiting area and bon fire were great. Hence, there were minimal actors on the trail. Along the way, a couple of them broke their character to argue with others in my party about nonsense. My group of 10 was broken down into two groups even after we let the person know we were together, and they sent us with another group of 4 random people, which made it 9. Like why not let the 10 of us go together. It's not worth the drive and time. Go elsewhere.

Hey Jeff, there's always room for improvement. The verbiage coming from you, the owner, is really unnecessary. I had different expectations of this place, and I leave the reviews where needed. So just fix the problem and stop arguing with the guest of your business.

ReeForLife

This haunt was amazing! The trail lasted forever and the scares did too. The staff were nice and the actors were amazing at what they do. The queue area was a great vibe with corn hole and a fire! The actors never broke character and there was a little girl in the trail that was super funny! The designs for the trail were great, the whole trail had elements that I could never think to make. Great design, great haunt. Overall I’d recommend this haunted house/trail to anyone in the area.

Lauren Peterson

This was the least scary haunted attraction I’ve ever been to. I don’t usually write negative reviews but this was just so bad. I was excited, especially seeing that it has accolades for how good it is. I decided to take my 8 year old son because he really wanted to go to a haunted house and I decided he was old enough even with them suggesting only 13 years or older. He was so disappointed. He said it was so lame and I feel guilty as a parent choosing this place to be his first haunted house.

The venue had such great potential too. Like if the actors had been hiding out in the woods by the cemetery and jumped out it would have been worth the $30 entry fee but instead they were just standing around where you could easily see them and then scream in your face. I’m used to the actors at these types of things actually hiding and having the patience to jump out as you’re walking by. Will not be going back.

To the owner: there wasn’t a single jump scare and I’ve been to volunteer fire department haunted houses that were scarier, so yes it was absolutely the attractions fault. Sorry but my group was disappointed and it wasn’t about me criticizing my own parenting but the fact that I chose such a non scary attraction to go to. You guys couldn’t even scare an 8 year old.

Stephen Walker

First, people need to understand that when you operate a business correctly and pay your actors and employees what they’re worth, the price is going to be higher than you expect. Second, I’ve spent $30 on way worse and less fulfilling things like filling up the gas tank these days. This place is worth every penny, every visit. My wife and I visited thrice this season and were thoroughly entertained every single time. We’ll be back next year, and every year they keep this going. Don’t listen to the haters who want to spend $10 a person on something that’s worth way more. It takes 30-40 minutes to walk through the trail, that’s $1 or less a minute. Many haunted houses in the area are the same price for 15-20 minute experiences. Love this place! Keep it up Madhaunter’s!

natasha 321

I literally just got out of the maze not going to lie this was hands down one of the best haunted places ever !! Slash/steve accommodated my sisters needs as she had a special medical condition and they didn’t once take away from the experience! We were scared as hell the whole time ! The crew are really good at hiding and scaring us I think I lost my voice from how much I have screamed ! Wait time was not bad at all either ! Just wear warmly as your gunna sweat inside but freeze while it’s ur turn😂 I LOVED THEM AND THE ACTORS WELL DONE I WILL FOR SURE BE COMING BACK !

Alicia Hogan

Unfortunately, this haunted trail was disappointing. It started out great. The atmosphere while you wait for the opening act and main event to open was fun with photo ops, games, fires, and actors walking through the crowd. The actors and costumes are fantastic! We did the precursor and we are glad we did because after that it was all down hill from there.
The line for the main trail wasn’t too bad but we would have rather waited longer to get a better experience.
Once inside the trail, we maybe encounter 10 actors total. We quickly caught up with group ahead of us and the group behind us caught up to us. None of us were getting scared by actors. There were periods of time where we walked for 3-5 minutes at a time without any interaction. When we did get actor interaction, it was not a jump scare because they didn’t have enough time to reset and we could see them as we approached the area.
About half way through the trail we were actually wishing it was a shorter experience or that there was a way to exit the trail early because it ended up being an expensive walk through the woods.

Gregory Craven

Wow! The best I've ever been to. This is better than Universal or any of the theme park ones by far. Everyone stayed in character, and the setup was long and original with several things I've never seen from a haunted house (trail). My kid demands we go again next year. Great job!!!