Hidden in the woods of Auburn are teeth-gnashing beasts, bone-crunching monsters and soul-sucking ghouls, all just waiting for an unsuspecting wagon of tasty humans to roll through.
Jill Connor, The Citizen
The Cayuga County Sportsmen's Association will hold its annual Haunted Halloween Hayride, a 20-minute jaunt through the dark forest past Halloween creepers up to their usual, ghastly shenanigans. The event is family-friendly, but not for the faint of heart or the very young.
“The monsters don't go up and jump on the wagons - they're told ahead of time, 'stay back,'” said Mike Flanigan, who is co-chair of the event with Chuck Westover.
Still, children younger than 5 are advised to stay home, Flanigan said. Some of the scenes, designed by volunteers, are fairly scary, said Flanigan, who described a butcher shop specializing in human meat that had mysteriously relocated behind the clubhouse in October.
“They've got butcher aprons, they got the fog machines going, the lights,” he said. “Yeah, it's great.”
While waiting for a ride, guests can admire the decorations in the clubhouse - vines dragged from the woods that dangle from the rafters, a giant witch above the pool table - courtesy of Flanigan's wife, Debbie, who spends hours spreading cobwebs and adding colored light bulbs to lamps. Hot dogs and cider will also be available to those in line.
But with four wagons that carry about 25 people each, the wait will not be long, Flanigan said. The immediacy sets the hayride apart from others in the area that he said make people wait too long.
“I remember waiting an hour, two hours to get out there,” Flanigan recalled of one hayride he attended. “By the time we got out there, most of the monsters had left.”
Monsters heading home early is a dilemma the Sportsman's Association will not encounter, Flanigan said. The monsters in their woods are very dedicated to their work, he said. They call the clubhouse weeks in advance to inquire about volunteering their scare talents.
And when the job is done for the night, all the ghouls come down to the clubhouse to reminisce about a fright well executed over a civilized snack of pizza and chicken wings.
• Local scares •
Compiled by Sarah Gantz, The Citizen
The Haunted Warehouse of Horrors
A 30,000-square-foot warehouse will be filled with mazes, graveyards and jails, and haunted by clowns, monsters and other surprise creepers. Featured this year will be a Michael Jackson “Thriller” tribute. The warehouse opens at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Halloween on 45 Columbus St., Auburn.
Admission is $10; bring an event flier, posted throughout town, and pay $8. Part of the admission fee will go toward opening a Cayuga County chapter of Art Without Borders.
For more information, call 237-2610.
Screamers' Hollow
Almost three times as big as it was last year, Screamers' Hollow at the Stering Renaissance Festival grounds is sure to bring more fright than an average haunted house. The haunt is open 7 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 30 and from 7 to 10 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 11 and 18, at the Sterling Festival grounds, 15385 Farden Road, Sterling. Screamers' Hollow combines live spooks with special effects for an ultimate scare.
The cost of attractions ranges from $8 to $30.
For more information, call (800) 879-4446 or visit www.empire-attractions.com.
Stuff-A-Scarecrow
Create your own scarecrow and recycle old clothes in the process at the Schweinfurth Art Center's Stuff-A-Scarecrow event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday Oct. 17, at the center, 205 Genesee St., Auburn. Visitors must bring an old button-down shirt and pair of jeans to create a scarecrow.
Cost is $15 for members, $18 for non members. Pre-registration and payment is required one week in advance.
To register, call 255-1553 or visit www.myartcenter.org.
If you go.
If you go
What: Cayuga County Sportsmen's Association's Haunted Halloween Hayride
When: 7 to 9:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 16, 17, 23 and 24
Where: Cayuga County Sportmen's Association, 4680 Rockefeller Road, Auburn
Cost: $5
Info: Call 252-6220 or 253-6603
“The monsters don't go up and jump on the wagons - they're told ahead of time, 'stay back,'” said Mike Flanigan, who is co-chair of the event with Chuck Westover.
Still, children younger than 5 are advised to stay home, Flanigan said. Some of the scenes, designed by volunteers, are fairly scary, said Flanigan, who described a butcher shop specializing in human meat that had mysteriously relocated behind the clubhouse in October.
“They've got butcher aprons, they got the fog machines going, the lights,” he said. “Yeah, it's great.”
While waiting for a ride, guests can admire the decorations in the clubhouse - vines dragged from the woods that dangle from the rafters, a giant witch above the pool table - courtesy of Flanigan's wife, Debbie, who spends hours spreading cobwebs and adding colored light bulbs to lamps. Hot dogs and cider will also be available to those in line.
But with four wagons that carry about 25 people each, the wait will not be long, Flanigan said. The immediacy sets the hayride apart from others in the area that he said make people wait too long.
“I remember waiting an hour, two hours to get out there,” Flanigan recalled of one hayride he attended. “By the time we got out there, most of the monsters had left.”
Monsters heading home early is a dilemma the Sportsman's Association will not encounter, Flanigan said. The monsters in their woods are very dedicated to their work, he said. They call the clubhouse weeks in advance to inquire about volunteering their scare talents.
And when the job is done for the night, all the ghouls come down to the clubhouse to reminisce about a fright well executed over a civilized snack of pizza and chicken wings.
• Local scares •
Compiled by Sarah Gantz, The Citizen
The Haunted Warehouse of Horrors
A 30,000-square-foot warehouse will be filled with mazes, graveyards and jails, and haunted by clowns, monsters and other surprise creepers. Featured this year will be a Michael Jackson “Thriller” tribute. The warehouse opens at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Halloween on 45 Columbus St., Auburn.
Admission is $10; bring an event flier, posted throughout town, and pay $8. Part of the admission fee will go toward opening a Cayuga County chapter of Art Without Borders.
For more information, call 237-2610.
Screamers' Hollow
Almost three times as big as it was last year, Screamers' Hollow at the Stering Renaissance Festival grounds is sure to bring more fright than an average haunted house. The haunt is open 7 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 30 and from 7 to 10 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 11 and 18, at the Sterling Festival grounds, 15385 Farden Road, Sterling. Screamers' Hollow combines live spooks with special effects for an ultimate scare.
The cost of attractions ranges from $8 to $30.
For more information, call (800) 879-4446 or visit www.empire-attractions.com.
Stuff-A-Scarecrow
Create your own scarecrow and recycle old clothes in the process at the Schweinfurth Art Center's Stuff-A-Scarecrow event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday Oct. 17, at the center, 205 Genesee St., Auburn. Visitors must bring an old button-down shirt and pair of jeans to create a scarecrow.
Cost is $15 for members, $18 for non members. Pre-registration and payment is required one week in advance.
To register, call 255-1553 or visit www.myartcenter.org.
If you go.
If you go
What: Cayuga County Sportsmen's Association's Haunted Halloween Hayride
When: 7 to 9:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 16, 17, 23 and 24
Where: Cayuga County Sportmen's Association, 4680 Rockefeller Road, Auburn
Cost: $5
Info: Call 252-6220 or 253-6603
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