Haunted rides and houses, from the mild to the downright terrorizing are found in many cities and all regions of the country. They have become tradition and thrill millions every Halloween season.
Eddie McLaurin owns the Woods of Terror, a Greensboro-based haunted trail that runs weekends from late September to early November.
A Halloween haunt takes an entire year to plan and setup, according to McLaurin.
"We'll be open Nov. 4 and 5 and the next weekend, I'll be planning and rebuilding for the next season," McLaurin said. "I already know 50 percent of what I'm going to do for next year."
McLaurin has operated Woods of Terror for 20 years. What started as a small establishment that brought in fewer than 5,000 people in 1991 has transformed into a nationally-recognized haunted trail that attracted more than 30,000 thrill-seekers in 2010. He expects just as many, if not more, to visit the woods this season.
To make the Woods of Terror as popular as it is, hundreds of volunteers and workers put in their time and energy.
"By 2000, I discovered there was a whole world of Halloween," McLaurin said. "I started going to haunted house conferences. I'd go out in July and start working."
When McLaurin visited the top-20 haunted houses in the United States, he realized that to make a top haunted venue, a year-round commitment was necessary.
"It has to be way in advance," he said. "You have to plan ahead and do a lot of stuff starting in January and February."
McLaurin's background in maintenance helped him construct, create and improve the haunted trail, which takes one hour to complete. But even with mechanical experience and education, there are continuous challenges.
"The biggest thing here is the upkeep of the property," he said. "If I hadn't come from a maintenance background, I'd be in trouble. I have to know about chainsaws. I have to know about fertilizing for the cornfield so that it's not just two feet tall. The more you know, the better you can run the haunt."
This season's trail features everything from an infestation maze — including common human phobias, such as snakes and spiders — to the Horrorwood Cinema Grande, which brings famous horror movies to life through scene reenactments, music from the score and actual movie villains, such as Michael Myers from "Halloween" and Jason from the "Friday the 13th" series.
One of the biggest factors in making the trail as scary as possible is the characters, particularly their appearances. Whether the character is a pirate or a zombie, the behind-the-scenes work in making the character look as realistic as possible can take hours to complete.
"I work all year and start trainings in January," said Jenn Janus, makeup director at the Woods of Terror. "We've been out here practicing special effects makeup since February. I start by making prosthetic appliances and latex pieces for the characters."
Janus said each character's makeup presents different challenges.
"Some of the makeup dries very fast," she said. "You have about 10 minutes a person, if that. We are definitely pushing it sometimes."
The 171 staff members must arrive at the Woods of Terror by 5 p.m. and be in character by 6:45 p.m. At 7 p.m., all characters walk out in a parade through the midway before heading to their places in the trail.
Once on the trail, the characters do their part in ensuring the guests' experience is as petrifying as possible.
"Once the makeup goes on, it's like slipping on a suit," said Fred Swink, whose character, Damon, can be found inside the infestation maze with a large snake. "You just get into character. You have to have a story behind everything. Why do you read a book? For the story."
Swink owns more than a dozen snakes, many of which are featured in the infestation maze on the trail. Although Swink has worked at the Woods of Terror for five years, he finds people have been most scared whenever he has a snake coiled around his neck.
"About 95 percent of people have been afraid of the snakes," he said. "I'll get them so that they'd be running backwards. Some people have just quit and couldn't even enter the maze."
Although the haunted trail attracts large crowds each weekend of operation, McLaurin said there is always something to improve or change each year. This year, he added roofed houses, to give attractions such as the vampire house a more realistic touch.
"I'm definitely looking to improve each scene and the quality of the scenes, such as new scents, touching, hearing, sight, more fog," he said. "For the longest time, I did open-air haunted houses, but that was difficult. The roofed houses now allow me to do details that don't wash off. When you go through the haunt, it's like 'This is a real house.' Realism is what we're going for."
The Woods of Terror will be open until Saturday, Nov. 5.