We did bump into quite a few midway and line actors entertaining the waiting crowds before boarding onto the wagons for the hayride. I was fortunate to get a photo of a lunatic scarecrow about to bash my brains in with their giant mallet. A group of clowns wandered their way into me laughing with joy screaming ‘Now the Nightmares Start!’ A group of young boys paid no attention to their warning when they asked the clown, ‘Are those your real eyes?’ only to get a response from the lead clown, ‘Let me check your eyes! Are they real!?’ lunging forward at their little heads with her pointy fingers. They ran away, nobody ever saw them ever again.
The first actor we came across was frolicking in a graveyard in front of a giant haunted house facade at their midway. We didn’t even recognize her when we were simply just enjoying the view of this haunted house surrounded by a rusty iron fence. Out of the corner of my eye she crept up so quietly I realized something was there not three feet away from me on the other side of the fence. It creeped the hell out of me to see it was a smiling little Goth girl looking at me like I was a pile of toys.
The hayride scenes had an abundant of actors for each one. However, I’d like to say that the very first actor on the hayride isn’t even an actor. The tractors have to cross over the road that runs straight through the farm, which is also used for the parking lot. So a gentleman is stationed at the cross road to stop a tractor to let some cars go or vice versa. As the wagon gets pulled by him we hear, ‘Haha, Nice knowing ya! Bye Bye! Hahaha!’ We know he was just playing around and having a good time, but in the back of our minds for a second we thought this man has no reason to lie, he isn’t playing dress up like the rest of these actors, what if he’s telling the truth! But the hay bales we were sitting on were so comfortable we decided to take our chances.
Compared to the 2018 season, we feel that the actors in the hayride were doing a great job at owning their scenes. They did a great job in 2018 as well, but there was something about the way they moved and talked in all the different areas this year that made it feel more genuine. The rednecks coming out of the barn have always been great. This year we noticed that one of them was in her own little slaughter kitchen area with dead chickens hanging all over the place. She even had one in her hand and a cleaver in the other. I believe she was inviting us to stay for dinner but there was redneck chaos going on all around us. It was rather nice to see little details thrown in there though, almost like it gave the sense that this isn’t just a barn with some cooks running around in it, they could actually live in this place.
Many of the actors wore microphones and we could hear their lines even over the rumbling of the tractor engine. The great thing about their actors connected to a speaker is that it didn’t feel like constantly scripted dialogue. The doctors operating on mental patients, the butcher boys, the clowns, and the witches all had their own little unique things to say as each wagon rolled into their area. This made the hayride feel a lot more like we stepped into their world rather than sitting back and watching a show.
We enjoyed every scene on the hayride and they all stood out in their own ways. Surprisingly though, we really liked the chainsaws! Being a haunt tourist I’ve been to dozens and dozens of haunts that overuse the chainsaw multiple times a night. It’s boring, it’s loud, it’s gasoline fumes everywhere, and it always lasts way too long. But at Legends of Fear’s hayride, we were treated to a barn that knows how to do chainsaws right! Even as we entered the barn, there was a single chainsaw hanging where the loft doors would be with a small little fading light bulb above it so it really felt iconic. We knew we were about to enter the area specifically designed for chainsaws. Once we were completely covered by the roof of this barn, it was complete madness. Two boys with chainsaws raced onto the wagon and made at least half the guests fall off their hay bales or start climbing the sides to get away. We also really enjoyed watching the children try to escape from the evil powers of the witches, only to be turned into mindless minions and slowly walk back to their master’s homes.
The Hallow is home to what seems like an unlimited amount of creatures and psychopaths. Just from what I can remember they have witches, clowns, nuns, fairies, vampires, hillbillies, doctors, cannibals, scare crows, creepy little girls playing with dolls, and that’s just what I can recall off the top of my head. There were so many different areas and great actors to remember. But one of them gets me every single year. Right before passing under the simple but haunting entrance that marks the official start of the trail, someone is always hiding behind a tree, or a stump, or the wall, and lets out a huge, ‘WELCOME!’ and it gets me every single year. It might have something to do with the fact that the waiting line at the Hollow has music and movies playing, along with the shouting conversations from other guests. Then once I start to make my way into the woods, those sounds start to disappear almost to a point I think I’m lost. Out of nowhere a guy shouts and it’s so perfectly timed I can’t help but react.
The trail is full of surprises this year with all the new types of characters they introduce but we couldn’t get enough of the clowns in the carnival and the fun house this year. They were very unique in their own particular ways, everyone was an actual character. Even the same clown from the previous year got me with the ‘pick a door’ scene. Not sure why I suck at picking the right door but he had me trapped for a bit while my partner got to go through the ‘correct’ door. One of the best actors in there is the guy who was willing to wear a ballerina tutu all night. A woman in our group had to put up her fists because she had no idea how to react to such things. Although he did kind of pop up out of nowhere right in front of her screaming ‘HI!’ and then instantly throwing up his own fists in the highest pitched voice he could muster ‘Oh! Don’t You Point Your Fists At Me Young Lady!’ It was magical.
I could go on forever talking about how great the actors were at every step of the trail. It really is amazing seeing how many of them were completely dedicated to their roles. Everything from the Melon heads to the organ player to the grave diggers and nuns and all the way up to the trappers and pig boys. It is rare to find such dedication and talent with this many people. They’re all ages too, which really makes the place feel like an incredible family.
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