For self-professed “Halloween junkie” Rob Galey, October couldn’t get any spookier. Since 2000, Galey Farms’ Festival of Fear has been scaring the wits out of young and old alike.
What started out as a modest, three-acre corn maze and some creepy sheds and props has grown into a fully animated special-effects fright fest where “everything moves, walks, flies and talks,” according to Galey.
Back when he started out, Galey would show up at an old farm with a crane truck and a few hundred dollars, ready to haul away some rickety shed to add to his display.
“You can’t just make old rotten buildings,” says Galey, “not with the same feeling.”
But the festival has grown tremendously since then. Now four separate attractions can be found at the festival: the Cornfield of Horror, Crazy Train, Madame Isabella’s Séance, and CarnEvil.
The cornfield has six acres, featuring Addams Graveyard and its own haunted mansion.
Crazy Train is a 20-minute ride around the perimeter of the fields with fearsome features along the mile-long track. Madame Isabella’s is a classic ghostly tale come to life in a theatre room. And CarnEvil, the haunted house, is designed to “scare the crap out of you,” says Galey. “We honestly have scared the crap out of people. We call them blowouts.”
While he’ll say he’s his harshest critic, Galey believes the pressure he puts on himself has pushed the Festival of Fear to become bigger and better every year. Thousands of hours have been spent researching, building, and testing the effects.
“Sometimes people will spend half an hour just looking at the displays,” says Galey, “amazed at the detail.”
Galey Farms’ Festival of Fear
6-10 pm, until October 31
Student discounts Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Go here for more info.