Just left of Auburn, off of I-85 lies Pope’s Haunted Farm, one of the longest known haunted attraction in Alabama. Pope’s Haunted Farm has been operating since 1995 and was started by Troy Pope, a graduate of Auburn University.
Pope’s currently offers three different haunted attractions for visitors including: a Haunted Hayride (Never Sleep Again), a Haunted Barn (Don’t Breathe) and a Haunted Forest (The Dark Rabbit Hole).
The actors at Pope’s Haunted Farm are known to chase visitors, jump out from behind cars and run around the farm chasing visitors with a chainsaw.
However, the actors do not grab or make physical contact with guests to allow for a safe environment.
Hunter Newsom, freshman majoring in nursing, went to Pope’s for the first time this October.
“I heard about Pope’s from my friend who had a lot of fun there, and I wanted to see how it was,” Newsom said. “It was a lot of fun, and it was scary but not so scary that you couldn’t enjoy it. The characters were great and scary but did break character easily if you said anything to them."
Newsom said her favorite part of the experience was how long it was compared to other haunted attractions.
“Usually at haunted houses, they are very short, and it feels like you did not get your money’s worth," Newsom said. "Pope’s was very long and very well put together."
The Haunted Barn and Haunted Forest are both over a half-mile walk and over 11,000 square feet of scenes and animatronics. However, the Haunted Hayride consists of a one-mile ride through the woods and over 40 live actors.
“I personally do not enjoy haunted houses, so I was very nervous to go,” Mary Katherine Allison, freshman majoring in speech, language and hearing sciences, said. “My overall experience was good, and it wasn’t too scary, but it was scary enough to make me nervous the whole time."
Allison's favorite part of her experience was the actors talking to her as she went through the attraction.
“It made me feel calmer and sometimes made me laugh,” Allison said. “I was close to the back, so after the actors did their scary scenes, they would talk to us when we asked them questions.”
Chloe Brantley, freshman majoring in psychology, said she went to Popes for the first time in 2016 and has been four other times since then.
“Going to haunted houses is one of my favorite things to do during Halloween,” Brantley said. “It was scary, but it was really fun. All of the characters do a great job of scaring you."
Brantley said her favorite part of Pope’s is the haunted barn, and she loves how terrifying the sets are.
Pope’s Haunted Farm opened this season on Oct. 8 and continued to run every weekend through Oct. 30.
Pope’s charges $15 for one attraction, $30 for two attractions and $40 for all three attractions. However, they do offer group rates for groups of 30 or more people.
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Kara Mautz, senior in human development and family studies with a minor in journalism, is a culture writer at The Auburn Plainsman.
