[Editor’s note: This is the second story in a seasonal series showcasing fun destinations within driving distance of the campus.]
As you tread along the dimly lit, uneven trail at Markoff’s Haunted Forest, an ominous shack appears on the horizon. With a chain saw-wielding maniac not far behind, the group has little choice but to aimlessly wander into the pitch-black insides of the slanted structure. And then you can’t see a thing – until the lights flash on and reveal the numerous bodies hanging from the ceiling above.
“I don’t even go on the trail – it scares me too much,” co-founder Alex Markoff said. “A lot of people wet their pants, and a lot of people collapse and refuse to go on. And we applaud our staff for that.”
Founded by brothers Alex, Matt and Nick Markoff, the Haunted Forest is located about 40 miles from the campus in rural Dickerson, Md. Nick Markoff conceived the idea in 1993 as a fundraiser to get the brothers’ new educational summer camp, Calleva Outdoors, off the ground.
It began with just a single path, but after 15 years, Markoff’s Haunted Forest has become an encompassing attraction that takes between 100 and 150 people to run on any given night, Alex Markoff said. Open annually from early October to Halloween weekend, it is even ranked as one of the top 13 haunts in the nation by AOL City Guide.
The chills and thrills, however, start long before you step foot on one of the two featured trails (a second opened in 2005). After driving on a shady gravel road to reach the trail’s remote location, you buy a ticket ($25 for adults) from a zombie with a screwdriver through his face or a creepy, scraggly haired witch. And with eight makeup artists on staff, the frightening costumes are something to get used to – every employee is eerily dressed for the occasion.
“We’re really big into face painting and really cool costumes, because that makes it authentic,” Matt Markoff said. “When people go to the forest, they see that it is very visual.”
Beyond the ticket booth is Matt Markoff’s brainchild, the front circle. A lively fusion of music, food, bonfires and side attractions provides patrons with a zealous ambiance to take in while waiting for the main event. Diversions include a zip line, trapeze, rock-climbing wall and hayride, although one can also kill time by watching a horror movie, exploring the haunted bus or visiting a fortune teller.
“People used to just stand in line for three hours, and it was cold and there were no lights,” recalled Matt Markoff, who serves as the front circle’s DJ. “And I was like, ‘Listen, let’s change the whole waiting scene to be like a party.'”
But once they call your number, the stalling is over and you meet your fate on one of the haunted trails. Alex Markoff does recommend, however, his customers talk to a lawyer about their last will before venturing into the unknown.
“There are some hard decisions you have to make,” he said. “What do you want to do if you lose all of your bodily functions? If you don’t make it out, will you donate your body to the Haunted Forest so we can use it as a prop?”
The sights and sounds of the vivacious front circle slowly fade as the group goes onto a path lit only by candles and the occasional strobe or blacklight. The further along you get, the more frequent the shrieks from the group ahead become. Soon, a smoke machine makes the trail nearly impossible to navigate.
“We design these scenes at night,” Matt Markoff said. “We’re there at [2 a.m.], lighting it up and going, ‘Does this look cool at night? When you walk through, how are the shadows going to play?'”
At a graveyard, the living dead suddenly emerge from their caskets. Towering creatures appear to be statues, until one of them suddenly moves. In one cabin, airbags blow up on either side, creating an uneasy feeling of claustrophobia. And many frights come from the menacing figures lurking in the brush, who often startle the trail-goers with subtle groans and whimpers.
“What we look for is not everyone doing the same, ‘Ah!’ because that just kind of gets old,” Alex Markoff said. “We look for the twigs cracking and little weird, different scares that catch you off guard.”
If you escape the horrors of the Haunted Forest alive this Halloween weekend – or are just looking for another festive option – Nightmare Manor in Beallsville is also a possibility. A new attraction from the creators of Nightmare Forest in Virginia, Nightmare Manor features two haunted barns and a night cornfield maze, as well a haunted house built in 1812.
“We use a lot of misdirection and very original concepts, including a lot of pneumatics and animatronics,” said Nightmare Manor founder Rik Davis, a university alumnus. “We have never had anyone not scream or jump or run or freak out in some way.”
Rather than simply compete with each other, Markoff’s Haunted Forest and Nightmare Manor plan on working together in the future, Davis said. And for the Markoff brothers, it’s never too early to begin thinking about next year’s scares.
“Immediately after this, we start to think, ‘What can we do next year?'” Matt Markoff said. “So in November, we say, ‘Let’s debrief, let’s talk about it and let’s come up with something that’s unreal.'”
tfloyd1@umd.edu
