“It wasn’t that scary, but we still had fun interacting with the scarers,” says junior Abby Giannini. Giannini spent Oct. 8 going to Legends of The Fog, a place where visitors can, “explore an imaginative world of scares.  With our legendary haunted hayride, haunted hotel, haunted maze, and our new walkthrough attraction, slaughterhouse,” according to the attraction’s  website. 

     General manager and co-owner Patrick Barberry says that this year’s setup for Legends of The Fog was mainly the same with only a few adjustments. “We made two major changes this off-season,” explains Barberry, “we started the first phase of a new “Slaughterhouse” attraction, replacing our 10 season long “Sinister Circus”. The Slaughterhouse is an outdoor attraction this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In the future we hope to move the attraction indoors.” 

     Barberry continues, “the second big project is the midway area and line orientation.  The midway received a major facelift and dynamic lighting.  We also separated the attraction into two lines, one for the hayride, and the other for the 3 walk-thru attractions: the “Farewell Hotel,” “Cornstalkers” corn maze, and “Slaughterhouse’.” According to Barberry, the “in-your-face nature” of the experience that guests must wear their masks, regardless of vaccination status, in the lines and when they are in the attractions. Giannini confirms that the scarers got really close, “the alien [one of the scarers], tall and got right in your face to talk.”

     Giannini attended the haunted hayride and described the experience as not that scary because, “the acting, in my opinion, is usually more convincing but they were also short staffed which is out of their control.” The junior also recommended Legends of The Fog as a “good place to start” when it comes to haunted attractions. “I would probably go to Field of Screams [instead], only because that one is a little bit bigger and more scary,” describes Giannini. 

     Barberry explains that working and owning Legends of The Fog is rewarding, “First, I get to run this business with my parents, Mike and Charlene, and my wife Robyn.  Second, I have made life-long friendships with staff, and we enjoy coming together for a short time every year to run the event.  Third, I love to sit back and watch guests interact with the environment that we create at the attraction.” 

     Barberry suggests that if visitors aren’t “crazy” about waiting in long lines that it is best to come on Fridays and Sundays, but if visitors can only stay a short amount of time that the Saturday fast pass might be the better option. “Wear comfortable shoes, you will be moving around outdoors and on gravel, so you won’t want to wear flip flops or uncomfortable shoes. Bring your friends, haunted attractions are very much a group activity.  See who screams the loudest, or who doesn’t even flinch. And be respectful to other staff and guests on the property,” adds Barberry.