Well boils and ghouls, it’s that time of year again! Pumpkin spice is in the air and hauntings are revving up to full, spectral force. What better way to kick off the season, and the first day of October, with a haunted cornfield? When my wife and I heard about Meadowbrook Haunted Cornfield we were all ears.

The first night we tried the haunt we got rained out. They had still been setting up and the rain had delayed their opening. We spent about 20 minutes chatting with Rick, the proprietor. After a spell, we decided to just come back the next day rather than wait around. Rick seemed generally let down that we couldn’t stay. As a manner of apology, he gave us a jar of Meadowbrook pickles—they pack a punch!

The next day made a huge difference. The whole place was lit up with spooky goodness everywhere and a pumpkin patch with some of the most impressive gourds I’ve seen in a while. The unassuming cornfield from the night before was alive with eerie lights and the waling of the damned. The ground was still muddy, but the haunt was pretty steady with victims, er, guests, tromping through the pumpkin patch and lining up for some scares.

The haunted cornfield itself was out of this world—sometimes literally. You'll follow the winding path and run through a variety of themed encounters. It's almost like getting a few haunts for the price of one. The haunt has great pacing, giving you just enough time to catch your breath before scaring it right back out of you. The haunt's design tells a tale of an abandoned mining town before opening up to all your wildest nightmares. Far from feeling hodgepodge, it's like a measured decent to madness. As it says on their website, the haunt is physical. Be ready to stoop down under spider webs, squeeze through looming corn stalks, and crouch through tight passage ways. You can skip the gym after this one.

I shambled into this haunt with the expectations of quality scares and low budget charm, but what I got was a haunt that can rival some of the big budget productions. I don’t want to give much away, there are surprises around every turn, but at one point you will board a haunted ship and flee from an animatronic prop that would give Cthulhu nightmares. If you're looking for a frightfully good time, the Meadowbrook Haunted Cornfield is the place to be.

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