The Beacon Corn Maze and Haunted House continues to provide plenty of scares
FORWARD TWP — Sarah Krelow and her family are fully committed to striking fear into anyone who dares to attend The Beacon Corn Maze and Haunted House.
As an extension of the Beacon Hotel restaurant, the haunted attraction annually brings in thousands of people over five weekends during the fall season.
“Every year we try to expand it more and more because we get more and more people every year,” said Krelow, who shares operational duties with her husband, Nick, and in-laws, Debra and Greg Krelow. “We all do our best to keep adding on.”
To keep that promise, this year the Krelows added two tunnels, including a colorful vortex tunnel, and an alien-themed room to the haunted house. They also installed new screen projectors in various locations to display updated safety measures and guidelines and constructed two new fire pits.
It’s one of the most significant makeovers the amusements have undergone in their storied 25-year history.
“This year was probably our biggest expansion yet, honestly,” she said. “We update props and rooms constantly and move our actors a lot. Every year it gets bigger and better, but this year was probably our biggest revamp so far.”
“The Haunt” is open every Friday and Saturday in October from 7 to 10 p.m. As soon as the maze and haunted house close for the season, planning for next year’s events begin almost immediately.
The theme for the maze changes each year. This year’s edition was crafted in the spirit of “Ghostbusters” and is in the shape of Slimer and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, two characters from the famous movie franchise.
“It’s a little bit of a proprietary secret,” said longtime employee Jamie Weaver about how the corn maze is designed and implemented. “Can’t tell you how we do it. We start thinking about it in early November, come up with a design, plant the corn in May and we put the maze in during the summer.”
Among his many other tasks, Weaver has helped supervise the maze and all of its occupants for the last 16 years.
“Everybody has a great time with it,” he said.
There’s a combination of 63 children and adults ranging from age 6 to 70 that work to scare attendees in the maze and another 24 employees that help out in the house. That doesn’t even count all of the other employees in ticket sales and concessions.
“It takes a lot of us,” said Sarah Krelow with a laugh. “Our staff is absolutely amazing. They run all of this.”
The last nights of “The Haunt” will be Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25 and 26. Tickets for the corn maze and haunted house are $25 each. There is a no refund policy.
