It was a spooky night; the clouds filled with rain, and the sky was that gorgeous dark gray that you can only enjoy at places such as this. The Hayride already had screams ringing through the night. The Asylum had people going insane. The Den of Darkness sent chills down the spine of kids, and the Wasteland poised the young minds. Four attractions – four chances to leave you terrified.
Each of the four attractions have their own appeal to them. The Haunted Hayride takes you out on a large cart with a group of others just as a hay ride would, except it snakes you through corn as if it were a maze. The corn touches your shoulders and leaves goosebumps trailing down your arms, making you anticipate someone popping out of the corn to grab you. As you go through the ride, you’ll stop in different barns and the doors will close around you, leaving you trapped and unaware of what’s to come. There are many different barns you’ll stop in, and each will have a theme—creepy clowns, a demented laboratory, a group of men hunting you with chainsaws—to try and haunt you. The actors play the part, jumping onto the cart, touching you, and talking to you, making the fright much more personal than that of a film.
Located next to the Haunted Hayride, is the Nocturnal Wasteland. You will walk through this attraction and there are many twists and turns for jumpscares. You will walk through an abandoned bus, which also happens to be connected to one of the barns in the Haunted Hayride. The aura around Nocturnal Wasteland is completely what you would expect. You’ll encounter mutant creatures, bodies, and people trying to take you and keep you with them. There are houses that have fallen to ruin, and the setting of the wilderness adds to your unease. Topping it all off are fog, splashes of water, the sounds of twigs cracking, electricity from broken fences, and air blown on you, making it easier to jumpscare people, including myself.
The third out of the four attractions is called the Frightmare Asylum. Unlike the outside nature of the previous two attractions, this one takes you inside. The asylum is layered with rooms filled with actors who are dressed in hospital gowns and rooms piled with experiment tables. The actors give the feel of humans who have gone mad in their own heads. There are doctors working on humans and people who hide in the smallest places just to reach out and grab you. The basement of the asylum has just been put in this season by Kyle, who is head of the build crew. The flashing lights and sporadic sounds aren’t for the faint-hearted, but the asylum is perfect for the people who enjoy the vibe of Frankenstein and haunted hospitalization.
Last but not least is the one I would personally say is the scariest, the Den of Darkness. This one is also an inside attraction and has monsters, dancers, young crazy girls, and, once again, men with chainsaws. The Den holds three and a half different floors you pushed to go up and down at different times during the tour. Throughout the journey, you encounter a gruesome dining room with dead bodies, a room riddled with hanging dead bodies that you have to touch if you want to get past, and tight constricting spaces slowing you down and keeping you from pushing forward. There are dolls on the walls and blood everywhere the eyes can see, and even where you can’t.
I had the opportunity to meet with both of the owners, Jean and Jim. They have owned the place since they were in college. They started it with just a corn maze and a hay ride, where they would jump out of the maze to scare the people traversing through the rides and attractions. It has been running since 1993, and it started with just two brothers.
Not only is this place amazing with the sound effects, terrifying makeup, well-crafted costumes, and skilled actors, but all of the workers want to be there, which greatly adds to the authenticity of the place. Everyone I talked to expressed appreciation for their co-workers and bosses; some, like Cory the security guard, went as far as calling it a “giant family.” Another one said the working environment was “Pleasant, happy and kind.” It’s a delightful and scary atmosphere that I would 110% recommend to anyone who wants a chill down their spine and their hair sticking up on their necks.