Haunted happenings return to area park

Members of the area media got an inside look at this year’s Trail of Terror Haunted Hayride at Spring Villa Park Wednesday.

The annual fright fest put on by Opelika Parks and Recreation opens for all who dare on Friday. Admission is $10, or $5 for those 10 years old and younger.

The Spring Villa plantation’s old house, believed to be haunted by the owner who was killed there, once again provides its guests with an assortment of things that go bump in the night. Various TV and radio personalities and newspaper personnel found the house surprisingly dark for the daytime.

After the group survived a tour of the house, Opelika’s recreation supervisor Sam Bailey provided a guided tour of the trail of terror. Aboard a trailer pulled by a tractor, he explained how the various scare tactics work under the dark of night.

“It’s all a distraction here and a scare there,” Bailey said.

If the loud blow of a horn from an 18-wheeler doesn’t get the blood pumping, clowns, corpses, vampires and chain saw-welding Jason look-a-likes coming out from the heavily-wooded area might do it.

Bailey said paramedics are on scene for those guests who may need care along the way.

“The entire trail depends on how good our actors are,” he said. “We never know until we get out there how it’s going to be.”

Bailey admitted that a couple new surprises have been added to the trail that will hopefully even get those people who come year after year.

The trail ride concludes with what Bailey calls a light-hearted act, a stop in a graveyard for a “thriller” of a performance.

Those who want a little more can try to navigate the park’s giant maze, he said.