Community Corner

P! News: Wallingford's Trail of Terror a Halloween Scream

Two thousand visitors a weekend pay for the privilege of being scared nearly to death in the woods during the run-up to Halloween. What's your favorite haunted house or scary Halloween place?

 

After 18 years of scaring the pants off people, Wallingford's Trail of Terror is just as hauntingly terrifying as ever.

The trail, which zigs and zags through 4 miles of scarified woods, changes every year thanks to the 350 or so volunteers and coordinators.

Wayne Barneschi oversees the entire operation with the help of his trusted coordinators. Barneschi said he begins preparing the grounds and scenes "pretty much when the snow thaws" in the spring.

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"It is beyond a fulltime job," he said recently on an unseasonably warm October evening.

And what does he get for compensation? Just the gratification of scaring thousands of people every weekend in October and the privilege of writing a nice, big check each year to a few local charities.

Go behind the scenes with Patch P! News and the ever-fearless Greg Nobile to get a sense of how scary (but really, really fun) the trail is.

Barneschi said the Trail of Terror commonly sells out, attracting about 2,000 people a weekend. The trail is open Fridays through Sundays in October and on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

Find out what's happening in Stonington-Mysticwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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