STERLING - Imagine going for a walk through the woods after dark with a few friends. The sun set hours ago and no one in the group knows where they are going. Suddenly people appear amid the trees and they move closer and closer every second. Running isn't an option, they are everywhere.

Thankfully, the cast members at Screamers' Hollow at the Sterling Renaissance Festival grounds aren't allowed to touch the visitors, but that is easy to forget as people with chainsaws seem to have every intention of hacking their “victims” into tiny bits.

The home of the Sterling Renaissance Festival has turned into a “Village of the Damned” for the Halloween season, and guests are invited to go on two different guided tours through the grounds, owner Doug Waterbury said.

Hollyweird, one of the tours, confronts guests with the monsters and maniacs they know from Hollywood's horror movies. Freddie, Jason, Dr. Lector, Chucky, among others lurk around every corner waiting for their next victim.

If visitors have the courage to move to the next trail, Twisted Terror, they will be confronted with classic images from haunted houses through the years. That's where the clowns and zombies are, Waterbury said.

“It was probably the best I've been to,” said Joe Medico, 14, who, with his sister, was the first to go through the Hollyweird tour on opening night. “You'll be scared out of your pants.”