The time of year has arrived to start thinking about black cats, witches, absurd amounts of candy and Halloween plans. This year, there are multiple locations offering haunted hayrides, haunted houses and even exotic animal farms.
Auburn has a variety of ways to make sure Halloween stays spooky, including places such as Jack O’ Lantern Lane, Pope’s Haunted Farm and Sleepy Hollow Haunted Farm.
Sleepy Hollow Haunted Farm is located in Auburn. The farm includes a haunted corn maze, haunted hayride and a haunted house. An intriguing part of this attraction is the exotic petting zoo. Sleepy Hollow Haunted Farm will feature animals from Farmer Brown’s Party Animals. Farmer Brown’s Party Animals has various animals representing seven different continents including zebras, longhorn cattle and kangaroos, according to its website.
"We have done some really cool stuff this year to Sleepy Hollow," said Patrick Starr, owner of Farmer Brown's Party Animals. "One aspect that sets us apart is that we are local. You do not have to drive anywhere far away to get here. We also have a great value. Our attractions are less expensive then most of the other farms. If you do not come you are missing out."
Pope’s Haunted Farm is located in Salem, 30 minutes from Auburn. Troy Pope, creator and visionary of the haunted farm, said he started the haunted farm during his senior year at Auburn.
“We work on the haunted attractions year round; this is not something we just throw together in a month,” Pope said. “We have been doing this for 22 years. We change the attractions up every year and really change it up.”
Pope said he gears his attraction toward college students.
"When I am putting events together, I’m thinking, ‘How would I be scared,'” Pope said. “Our haunted farm is intended and catered to college-age people and is geared to deliver scares to a more mature audience.”
Pope’s Haunted Farm features four terrifying attractions.
The Haunted Hayride is an approximately one-mile ride through the woods in a tractor-drawn wagon featuring 40 live actors and “state of the art” animatronics. The Haunted Barn is an 11,000-foot scare factory with more than 30 live actors and scenes.
The Haunted Forest is a half-mile walk through the woods featuring 30 live actors. The Haunted Forest has more “chicken-outs,” meaning people who cannot make it to the end, than any other of Pope’s Haunted Farm’s events.
A new event at Pope’s Haunted Farm is the Zombie Paintball Safari, which is in its second year. Each person is given a paintball gun and driven through the forest to shoot attacking zombies.
For people trying to avoid the scary scenes, Jack O’ Lantern Lane in LaFayette is the perfect attraction. Jack O’ Lantern Lane includes kid-friendly train rides as well as farm animals, pony rides and an inflatable park. Jack O’ Lantern Lane also has a home-grown pumpkin patch, where they encourage you to come and “pick your perfect pumpkin.”
"We are not haunted," said Tammy Morgan, owner of Jack O' Lantern Lane. "we are just a good wholesome place where families can come and pick their pumpkin and have fun. We gear ourselves more towards fall and not Halloween."
Cassie Curry, second-year pharmacy student, said Halloween-themed attractions give students something to do.
"We are a little old to still go trick or treating, so I like to go on a haunted hayride or two to celebrate Halloween."
To find out more information about these various attractions, visit www.jackolanternlane.com, www.sleepyhollowauburn.com and www.popeshayride.com.
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