Former Location: 3350 Devonshire Road, Allentown, PA
The Legend
It is here told, how this 1866 barn has come to bore the name The Devil’s Folly. It began well over 100 years ago when a single animal would occasionally disappear. Sometimes it would be from the barn, and sometimes from the fields. There was no trace as to where the animals had disappeared. The farmer thought it might have been pranksters or a wild animal.
The farm was handed down through the family for generations, but as time passed, more and more animals vanished and the family was not able to make ends meet. The remaining animals became gruesome mangled carcasses, scattered in and around the barn. With no more animals to prey on, the body snatchers turned to the family and farmhands as their new food source. The barn was abandoned and the mystery was never solved. The locals aptly named the barn – The Devil’s Folly.
Retrospective
The Devil’s Folly Haunted Barn was a truly terrifying, ahead of its time haunted attraction that embraced mature, borderline adult themes, in an interactive, immersive experience. First visited in 2012 and again in 2013, Devil’s Folly Haunted Barn, stood out from most contemporary haunted attractions, creating a surreal sense of madness and insanity that is lacking from many haunts to this day. Set upon the backdrop of a cult-like Amish inspired “barn” the dark creativity, off-color yet twisted humor and aggression have left a lasting impression on how we view “mature” or adult-themed haunted attractions to this day.
The Devil’s Folly was designed as a demonic nightmare, challenging guests to physically and psychologically escape the demented religious zealots, and maniacs which inhabited its corridors. Scare- actors did a phenomenal job bringing each set piece to life, and there are not exactly many high end “props”. In its final year, The Devil’s Folly’s theme involved “escaped” mental patients who had taken sanctuary in the barn. Each scare actor did a fantastic job of incorporating guests into each specific scene. Actors used the environment to create chaos, forcing genuine creepy interactions set upon the gruesome set designs.
We loved how each character would ask guests “play games” and allow for the scenes to play out depending on your answers. The Devil’s Folly Haunted Barn was a highly interactive extremely creepy and a must visit. It is hard to explain how well this attraction did a fantastic job at making us feel as if we were trapped in a twisted insane asylum in which we were at the mercy of the inhabitants.
The Devil’s Folly was built to be completely interactive, including rooms that challenged guests to crawl, climb and even slide away from the inhabitants. Set designs created a twisted interactive maze filled with “escaped” mental patients. Scenes were disturbing, there was heavy usage of satanic themes and very gory set pieces including props which looked like mutilated sheep and other animals.
Again, it is important to stress that Devil’s Folly was an intense attraction, not a “family” themed event. Along the journey, we encountered a cross-dressing “Amish” maniac and his assistant who had several off-color jokes, creepy children actors, and a barrage of maniacs that never seemed to relent. Actors truly embraced the insanity, went from crazy/funny to evil and disturbing and each scene was filled with pure intensity. We will never forget getting pinned to a wall as a hulking maniac forced the head of a “pig” into our face, and then giggled, and how we escaped from the maze by sliding into a pile of old “bones” and human entrails.
The Devil’s Folly was an intense, serious adult themed experience, one that allowed scare-actors the freedom to explore their innermost demons to create fear. Sadly, a dispute over fire-code policy was the cause of the attraction’s closure in 2014, and despite an initial push to re-open the Devil’s Folly has been lost to legend.