OLD SAYBROOK – Don’t be surprised if you get nightmares of Freddy Kruger after visiting Elm Street in this town.
The Clark Memorial Field at 210 Elm Street, right across from Pasta Vita, will be the home of the 10th Annual Haunted Hayride with ten new or different skits during seven horrifying nights.
Max Sabrin, Media Relations for the Old Saybrook Fire Department, says all year long firefighters use their creative energies into developing the event which entices thousands to take a terrifying 45 minute adventure.
“It’s amazing how your mind works, you know its fake but with all the sound effects, fog, and darkness, it scares people,” Sabrin said.
Operations/Production Manager Bill True said the event has become so popular that one year when it was cancelled; there was much uproar in the community.
“People were booing us,” True said, adding that the department decided to start the annual tradition once again.
To block the view from entering visitors and provide nearby parking, M&J; Bus Company on Ingham Hill Road opens up its parking lot and moves busses to the middle of Clark Memorial Field.
After waiting in a corral area, visitors pay admission at a haunted ticket bus, take a tour of a prison bus, and explore the department’s haunted training tower and building.
Visitors then board one of two tractor-drawn wagons taking them on an adventure.
“There have been on occasion runaway convicts trying to get on the ride and cause problems here or there,” True said.
The hayride ends at a cemetery and then visitors explore a funeral parlor and crematorium before starting a walk through the dark woods where they will encounter road kill, toxic waste, and a lynching.
True said the most popular part is “The Maze”, which he promises will scare all the girls.
While macho guys come with their girlfriends, True promised that they too will be terrified before the night is over.
Visitors will crawl through a mine shaft and walk through a meat locker meeting various characters along the way.
At the end of the attraction, Sabrin said, visitors will be able to purchase hot dogs, candy apples, snacks, hot chocolate, and water.
For safety reasons, the department limits actors to firefighters and their families and has about 60 volunteers each year.
One guy opens the door to the funeral parlor each year and has so much fun while some guys say ‘give me a chainsaw because I want to scare people’,” True said.
To differentiate between the actors and visitors, True said that people are discouraged from wearing masks.
True says the attraction is scary and discourages people from bringing young kids and infants as well as discouraging women from wearing white outfits and high heels since much of the attraction is outside.
“We think we give the public a good product,” True said adding, “we want to make them scared and we want to make them laugh.”
The department tries to make accommodations for people to enjoy the event.
“We had a couple blind people here before,” True said, adding that they enjoyed feeling the various scary objects and riding on the hayride.
The fire department’s training tower and building are handicap accessible and volunteers can hoist a wheelchair on the wagon.
“The people in the wheelchairs had a marvelous time, they take the hayride back and see something different from the other people,” True said.
This year, the event will be held Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 18-20 and Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 25-28, with lines forming at 6 p.m. allowing people to enter at 7 p.m.
The event runs until people stop coming which is usually between 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Sabrin said the event attracts an average of 1,200 people a night with higher attendance on Friday and Saturday nights.
The department expects between 10,000 and 12,000 people will attend the event which attracts people throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
Wait time can be anywhere between 30 minutes and 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The official radio stations of the event this year are WEBE 108 FM, of Bridgeport, and Radio Disney 1550 AM, of Bloomfield.
Sabrin said WEBE is expected to come Oct. 20 and 27, Radio Disney will be there Oct. 18 and 19, and Hartford’s WFSB Channel 3 will be there Oct. 19 for the 5:00 p.m. news.
Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12 and those bringing a nonperishable food item will receive $1 off.
All canned food is donated to the Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Sabrin said 1,800 pounds of food was collected last year.
True said this is the largest fundraiser for the fire department and the money goes to the department for fire training purposes and to host the hayride next year.
Advance ticket sales are available for groups of 20 or more and include express admission allowing groups to bypass the line.
More information about Haunted Hayride 2007 visit www.oldsaybrookfire.com.
