On October 22, I went to the Newberry Corn Maze with friends and family. To explain briefly what it is, it’s a farm opens to the public on Halloween season. By day, it has a family-friendly environment where one can walk around the Corn Maze and find their way out, as well as carnival-like games for the kids. At dusk, the Corn Maze transforms and gets haunted by “ghouls and goblins,” the haunted House opens and the Hayride is ready to be ridden. The Newberry Corn Maze has been open since 2003, according to their Facebook and, sadly, has already closed for this year.
Pricing
The adult price for the event was $15, which included the Corn Maze and the Haunted House. Other activities like the Mechanical Bull, the Hayride and Zombie Paintball were an extra $5.
Inside the Maze
The night I went was incredibly cold with temperatures ranging from 55°F to 46°F. (Yes, I had a jacket.) Knowing Florida’s strange weather, you should always be sure to check the weather when going out. (Good thing I did!)
The first thing we went into was the Corn Maze. I did not know what to expect until I saw a masked clown with a chainsaw on the entrance of the Maze. I felt slightly wary by the clown mask knowing of the past clown sighting phenomena. I still went in because I’m that brave. Basically, the Corn Maze is a field of high grass (corn?) where masked dudes jump out to get you with a chainsaw. It’s scary at first, because of all the jumping out, but it gets funny after a while when you get amused with people screaming their heads off.
Also, it’s very easy to get lost because it’s dark out there, so have your iPhone flashlight in hand.
The Haunted House
The line was longer than I expected, but people in creepy makeup walked around the line and amused the people waiting, which was good for photo ops.
The Haunted House was fun, especially because of the actors that were uber-motivated playing their roles. The Haunted House featured different characters from different horror movies, like The Exorcist, Nightmare on Elm Street and many other classics. It was basically jump-scares on every corner and, of course, the first one in every group was the prime victim. Classic. Overall, it was fun and the decorations were legit. The only critique that I have is that some (but not all) of the actors were out of character and talked to you if you talked to them back. Not cool, guys.
What a Ride
The Hayride was by far the best part– this one costs $5 to enter, but it’s worth it! It was a huge tractor that carried a platform with hay seats. We all settled into our hay seats and once the tractor began to move, there was no stopping it. While we were on the platform waiting for something to happen, actors dressed as scary characters jumped into the car and started intimidating the people, which was fun until they lunged at us with fake chainsaws.
But all was well afterwards. After all, they’re just masked people who want to terrorize you for a second. NBD.
Sadly, the Newberry Corn Maze has closed for this Halloween season, but be sure to check it out with friends next year!
Photo credit: bullockfarms.com