Remembering the Ashfield haunted hayride

To the editor:

As we approach the Halloween season once more, I cannot help but think back to the 1990s when the Ashfield Haunted Hayride was in full swing. It was a time when all the kids, grown-ups and out-of-town volunteers would gather in the woods and put on a show second to none. People came from miles around (some by bus) and stood in line up to an hour to wait a turn on the old tractor-pulled hay wagon.

As it left the home base, a narrator would tell a chilling story of evil that prevailed in these woods long ago. Almost immediately, the wagon passed an established “haunt” where actors dressed in homemade costumes and hand-painted faces that were the work of experts who donated their time enacted a routine in keeping with the haunt that was decorated by all volunteers, some taking days to set up.

When the routine concluded, the wagon slowly proceeded into the darkness. Out of nowhere, actors, some carrying chain saws, leaped out, some swinging from the trees, terrifying the riders. Then soon it approached another haunt, then another and so on until altogether they passed 21 haunts before exiting the forest. Among the haunts there was a full-sized guillotine where a planted actor was torn off the wagon and his head was cut off. Another full-size hangman’s haunt where another planted actor was grabbed and hung by his neck with a rope (not really). All the haunts were realistic and scary.

One thing we would never allow was the use of the cross or any religious symbols.

Thinking back now, I remember signing up over 100 kids and parents and never having a problem with vandalism in the township because all the kids were having fun in the woods. Many have come to me over the years to reminisce about the “good times” we had at the Ashfield Haunted Hayride.

Richard M. Gross

Lehighton