Fright Farm entertaining after 21 years

Fright Farm continues to amaze, scare and entertain people after 21 years of service, with psychological illusions, scary scenes and classic horror.

This year's theme, "The Outbreak," is centered around a virus that turns humans into flesh-eating zombies.

The tour began with the traditional tractor ride to the haunted mansion.

Riding by dilapidated homes with cannibalistic hicks and barren cornfields were only some of attractions along the way.

One of the new features added this year takes the tractor into a barn and stops the engine. Down come the dual garage doors and the room goes dark.

Moments later, three revving chainsaws attack before the tractor starts up again – spooking the riders before they even get to the actual house.

Zombies greet the tour at the doors of the mansion before the group heads into the many haunted rooms of Fright Farm mansion.

Kinsey Holland, junior music education major at West Virginia University, has gone to Fright Farm for three years and offered her opinion of the tour.

"I didn't like the theme this year. They have been more creative in the past," Holland said. "It's still a fun and interesting place to go to with friends."

Every year, a stroll on the grounds includes a maze, which this year was all chain-link fences and strobe lights, sending scaregoers into a frenzy trying to escape infected zombies.

From gore to claustrophobia, Fright Farm offered rooms that attempt to tap into every person's deepest fears.

Several actors' roles were placed to push buttons and bring in different emotions other than fear, like a disturbed teen sitting in front of a mirror attempting suicide and a foreign man who asked passersby where the airport was in a Middle Eastern accent.

Terry Jackson, senior sport and exercise psychology major at WVU, has visited Fright Farm eight times and said he was left satisfied with this year's installment.

"After going for a bunch of years, I still managed to get scared," Jackson said. "I think it's the best it's ever been this year."

Jackson appreciated the changes to the Farm each year and said the new features this year were the best yet.

There are also a few funny scenes to provide comic relief in the midst of the horror, like a mock Gary Coleman funeral.

The haunted tour in the mansion ended with a 3-D spectacle complete with slanted rooms, uneven flooring and 3-D objects flying and popping up from all angles.

Fright Farm will continue to host its haunted show through October at $19 per ticket on weekends and $10 on Wednesday student nights.