Screams and laughter fly through the air every year at Pope's Haunted Farm in Salem.
From Oct. 8 to Oct. 31, Troy Pope and a small staff gather crowds on Friday and Saturday nights for a Halloween adventure much spookier than trick-or-treating.
For 17 years, Pope has provided the community with bloody scenes, creepy monsters and shocking noises--and of course, men armed with fake chainsaws.
There are three different attractions: the hayride, the barn and the forest.
After riding the hayride, Kaleigh Owens, a third-year pharmacy student, said she was genuinely spooked when characters jumped onto the flat with chainsaws.
"The idea of him touching me with a chainsaw--that's what I'm like horrified of--so that was probably the scariest part for me, when he actually got on and touched me with it," Owens said.
Owens said Pope's was better than the other haunted house she had been to.
"It's not realistic, but it was fun," Owens said. "You kind of knew when to expect stuff."
Justin Blankenship, 20, of Smiths Station, is responsible for scaring people who are not on rides.
"Last week, I was in the hay line, and I walked up behind these people," Blakenship said, "and we got these trash cans right here, and they tried to jump in the trash can and their foot got caught in it and they fell--it was hilarious."
Austin Monroe, 15, of Columbus, Ga., has been coming to Pope's since he was 5.
"The hayride's really relaxing," Monroe said, "and it's always really funny how they get all the stupid stuff in there, like they had the evil Santa this year."
Monroe said the forest is probably the scariest event, but because the barn is dark, a lot of people think it is worse.
Each event takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete, Monroe said.
"It's always different every year," Monroe said. "They have some stuff that's similar, but they always get you something new to freak you out.
"One part, Santa's in an electric chair, and he gets shocked--I've never heard of that before."
The farm is operated by Pope, a 1995 Auburn graduate with a degree in business management.
The idea for the farm actually began at Auburn in a business writing class, Pope said.
"What you did was you actually put together a business proposal and layout on running a business," Pope said. "Well, I actually did my paper on running a haunted hayride."
Pope said the location was originally on a working farm owned by his grandfather.
"When my grandfather passed away, we basically quit doing the farming," Pope said. "Along about that time was whenever I started the hayride.
"As a matter of fact, the first year we did the hayride, we were still farming vegetables. The loading dock was actually in a butter bean field."
After 10 years, the Halloween festivities outgrew his grandfather's farm, so the haunted farm relocated to its current location in Salem.
Pope said he has a passion for what he does.
"I love Halloween, and it's what I was born to do," Pope said. "I think anybody that's gonna be successful in whatever they do has to have a passion for what they're doing.
"That's what keeps me going, and that's what keeps me expanding and growing and coming up with new ideas--putting the time, labor, money into the show every year."
Many sleepless nights go into planning the scenes at the farm, Pope said.
"I eat, sleep and breathe it 365 days a year," Pope said. "As a matter of fact, when we shut it down Oct. 31, I already have plans through the winter to go ahead and start working on new scenes."
Pope said he travels around the country every year to attend other haunted houses.
"I share ideas with people across the country, and a lot of my stuff comes from talking to those people in the business," Pope said.
Pope said people can always expect new scenes and characters every year.
"We are continuing every year to grow and expand the show, and I think that's what keeps people coming back every year," Pope said. "We invest a lot of money every year to keep things fresh and to keep things new. You're gonna see something different that you didn't see the year before."
Tickets are $12 for one event, $20 for two and $25 for all three.
The farm is open from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 6:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday during Halloween weekend.
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