The Reaper

The “Back 20” at Panic Point might be the strangest plot on the property. We suffered a series of maulings in 2023, in what turned out to be a pack of werewolves. Exterminated.

2024 brought on a sort-of “Zombie Petting Zoo” we called a Safari. Who could have predicted THAT would go off the rails like it did?

In 2025 we are reaching beyond the realm of monsters & myth, and tapping into the very real and very unsettling world of contact with life forms exogenous to earth – whose presence has been well documented and is now largely accepted. We need to give them a reason to come out of the shadows. So hop on, have a seat, and join us on a fun, informative, and generally good time on the Howling Hayride at Panic Point!

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The Haunting of Roanoke: In 2025, the enigmatic James Lee returns to contemplate The Crypt’s most chilling chapter. He hopes to combine everyone’s dark energy to finally solve one of the oldest mysteries of the Tar Heel State – The Lost Colony.

Everything hinges on a relic, a few ghosts, and the other-worldly energy of the Crypt. 

Lee cares not for “The Establishment” who has stripped him of his credentials. He needs believers. Followers. Devotees. Souls who will encourage his single-minded passion for the truth. So join the “semi-mad” armchair archaeologist, for about 7 minutes, as we will peel back another tear-inducing layer of the hellish onion that is “The Carny Crypt”.

The History of The Carny Crypt:

In the mid-20th Century, the Blauer Bros. Carnival made annual stops in Youngsville. Notorious for dangerously decrepit rides and slum-like conditions for performers, no one was surprised by the rumors that it was haunted. After a fire tore through it in October of 1961 the Carnival closed for good because the Blauer Bros. disappeared into the ether. To this day, no one has heard from or seen them again.

Their makeup trailer was the only structure to survive the blaze, but it was badly damaged and was dumped in the Louisburg Railyard, where it sat for over 40 years. In 2010, during a rail yard clean out, the trailer was earmarked for the landfill; but Panic Point rescued and restored it. For the first couple of years it served as the park makeup trailer but after several… incidents our artists and actors refused to step foot inside. In 2013 it was converted to a Haunted Attraction known as The Carny Crypt. 

The incidents kept happening. So, in 2021 when the trailer was again in need of repairs, we gathered every old photo we could find, and we restored it as best we could to its original form as a Carny Makeup Trailer.

In 2021 we played an old tape recording we found that was made the night of the fire. In 2022 we called in Atlas Paranormal to make contact with the specters who allegedly inhabited the trailer. In 2023 we took it a step further an attempted to team up with them, but the events inside the trailer were so bloody and deadly that we called it off. In 2024 the strangeness continued, with James Lee and his otherworldly puppets.

This Attraction is not included in General Admission, and requires a separate ticket. The Carny Crypt Experience is about 5 minutes long. Tickets are $7, and may be purchases online when you buy your Panic Point tickets, or inside the venue.

The Haunted Trail is the attraction where you will find the most scenes, haunters, and screams at Panic Point. 12 distinct scenes over the dim half-mile trail challenge your readiness for mayhem and fright. Make your way through the Butcher Shop, Sawmill, Puppet Master’s Parlour, Witchs’ Lair, Junkyard, Pallet Maze, Sanatorium, Motel, Cemetery, Mortuary, & Clown Town.

It doesn’t matter if you are out front leading the way, hiding in the middle, or trailing behind your group, our veteran haunters will find a way to give you the scare you deserve. Every now and then we hear a story about a great scare that happened in the woods. The patron/victim gives a description of the haunter, and we realize we don’t have anyone that fits the description! So, stay on the trail.