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CONTACT |
 Scarecrow Hollow Lower Alloways Creek, NJ |
Last year at
Horrorfind we caught up with Kim of Kim’s Krypt and in conversation
had been given the name of Steve Wittick as a possible contact for
the haunt “Ride of Terror,” at Creamy Acres. In reaching
Steve, his schedule did not permit him to accommodate us with an interview
about the Mullica Hill NJ event, but he did point us in the direction
of Scarecrow Hollow, located in Lower Alloways Creek, New Jersey. We looked up the attraction and it caught our interest immediately, as along with hosting a haunted house & hayride, it contained a corn maze like we had never seen before. Designed by the “Michael Jordan of maze design,” Adrian Fisher, an aerial view of the maze would depict a large lion head. Not designed as a “haunted corn maze,” complete with scharactors, as we were accustomed to seeing, the maze was a “game.” The story is as follows: "Professor Lostalot is captured by natives and is imprisoned in the Sun Temple. Having found and recorded all of the 10 special plants required for the “elixer of life,” a recipe that is guarded closely by the natives, the professor loses his notebook when he is captured and the pages are scattered across the wilderness by monkeys. You must save the professor from being boiled into “Missionary Soup,” by finding all of the lost pages, the first letter of each of the 10 plants will spell out the password which you then will give the Temple Keeper, saving the professor from a deadly fate." 
We arrived at the attraction on a mild October evening and met up
with Cindy, who ran the event. We had tried to contact the owners
prior to our arrival but they had been working around the clock and
had not found the opportunity to respond to us, but Cindy was very
gracious in taking time from her evening to give us a little background
about the attraction and to walk us thru with the house lights up.
The Barn of Terror took place in a great big beautiful old building. The haunt was originally started to save the building from being torn down, and thank goodness it was, tearing it down would have been a sin. The haunt was nicely done, with traditional themes, ghosts, vampires and such. It was one of the smaller houses we had been thru for the season, and few of the props were “originals,” but I don’t believe it is the main draw for this attraction. That would have to be the “maize maze,” which we decided to attempt first and then we would revisit the haunted house portion once it was dark. We entered the labyrinth at dusk.  Maps of the maze can be purchased for a nominal fee before entering. Each group is given a large cornstalk with a flag attached when they enter the maze. While getting lost is part of the fun, it is possible to be so completely lost that you cannot find your way to the exit. As we visited at night, if we required help, we were to hold the flag up as high as possible and to shine the flashlight on the flag and one of the employees who kept watch from raised platforms would try to find us. If visiting the attraction at night, we would recommend bringing your own flashlights, if not, flashlights are available for purchase at the event. It would be impossible to navigate the maze without them, as the pathways are not illuminated at all.  I would love to say the HauntFreaks staff and friends were able to crack the code, but sadly, we were beaten by the maze (and Mother Nature… word to the wise, the big WaWa coffee on the way to the maze is NOT a good idea). After wandering about the maze for nearly 2 hours, and finding the same 7 plants several times over, we gave up. To this day we still do not know the password.  We found our way back to the exit and proceeded back over to the “Barn of Terror.” As stated earlier, the themes were traditional… We entered a room past a coffin and into a parlor, the rich red walls and furnishings of a “vampire” feel, we would encounter “the Phantom” at his pipe organ in another room, past the haunted children’s room, with spirited toys and tricycle riding skeletons, through a coffin lined room and a laboratory and out into the night air, the screams of the undead still riding the breezes of the evening. And last, but not least, was the hayride, “The Graveyard of the Living Dead.” Not the best of the hayrides that we had visited this year, but we have to give the cast credit for trying. We found it odd to see a young girl sitting alone on the attraction, as from experience, it is this demographic that is normally stomping us to death trying to get away from the boogeyman… we later found that she was a cast member when she was pulled kicking and screaming from the wagon by one of the ghouls. Our crew had a great time, though we found the ride providing more giggles than chills. A favorite, was the flying witch that followed the wagon, dropping back slightly when there seemed to be an issue with the quad the crone was attached to, but quickly catching back up with us.  Refreshments are available on site, and while we imbibed in hot chocolate or cider, the romp thru the maze had worked up a larger appetite, which we saved for a trip to the diner on the way home. We would have to classify this as a great family event. No too scary, though still not meant for the smallest of children, the haunts are less aggressive then many. The maze is a challenge for all ages, and can be done day or night. Stop out to see this friendly crew, tell them HauntFreaks sent you, and if you happen to figure out that password…. drop us a line. ? |
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See
more info. on this haunt www.scarecrowhollow.org |
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