You don't have to go to a cornfield to get spooked this October. The Haunted Forest Reborn is a Halloween trail right here in Burlington.
You can find clowns, monsters, vampires and plenty of scares all in owner April Tate's backyard. Tate started the haunted trail with her mother-in-law in the early 90s after they were inspired by a similar haunted attraction.
"We went to this one and we liked it so much we decided to come back, think about it, and it's like, hmmm, we can do this!" Tate says.
But this haunted trail isn't full of hired actors. Instead, all of the people involved are family-friends and volunteers who have a knack for scaring people.
It's also open to people of all ages. She says the volunteers cater their acting to each visitor so kids don't get too scared.
"If you have little kids that are scared of people in masks then what we have them do is we will still take them through the haunted woods," she says. "We will have everyone stand outside of their spots without their masks on to let them know that hey, it is just people out here having fun."
The trail isn't just spooky, it also holds a piece of history that is more than 150 years old--a cauldron that belonged to Tate's husband's great-great grandmother. Tate says the cauldron was used for witchcraft and even has a spell cast on it.
"Only family members can touch it without harm coming to them," she says, and volunteer AJ Jones agrees.
"There are only two people in this forest who can tell you to touch it, and that is the two owners," Jones says. "If they don't tell you touch it that's a bad idea."
You can visit the Haunted Forest Reborn on the weekends at 153 Darrell Davis Road before its closing night on Halloween.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2csBIwRoFRw&w=420&h=315