A frightening good time !

Forest of Fright offers haunting trails and maze

PHILO - Are you ready for a good scare?

After you park your car, an eerie-looking school bus picks you up...and it's haunted. You take the slow ride up the hill and arrive at Muskingum County's largest haunted trail and maze - Forest of Fright.

Forest of Fright is located at 7295 Duncan Run Road in Philo and is open 7:30 to 11 p.m. every Friday and Saturday in October. Owner Vicki Bader is excited to put this on for the third year in a row and she loves every minute of it.

"This has been a dream of mine for many years. I love the atmosphere...it's always been a dream to get into the haunted industry," Bader says. "And my husband is behind me 100 percent, we work as a team. What we did was just put our minds together and went to work."

Some of the scenes people will see as they go throughout the house include a harvest room, an insane asylum, a winter slaughterhouse with "jolly claus," a butcher shop, witches area, a fog room, and even a parlor all filled with evil surprises.

But they're not allowed to touch you, they're just there to make you scream.

For Bader, going to haunted houses in her younger years was the inspiration to putting together this one herself.

"I've always went to haunted houses, five or six every year. Being that it's outdoors, it gives you a better effect than indoors. It's just a lot of fun," Bader said.

About 25-35 volunteers run these fright nights in addition to Bader, her husband, Bob Bader, and children Kelly and Catty Nestor.

"We're here to have fun and we all get along great," Bader said.

Bader makes sure they all are taken care of with food and a get-together after every night.

Safety is very important to Bader and every night there is a sheriff deputy on duty. Smoking also is not permitted and there are people on duty to help in the event of an emergency.

Forest of Fright is all outdoors so if you visit the attraction, make sure to have tennis shoes and socks. It is not recommended for children under 13 due to some of the graphic scenes within.

Admission to Forest of Fright is $10. There will be various DJs, bands, karaoke, and even local psychic Miss Brenda on different nights each weekend. To find out every weekend's features, you can log onto www.forestoffright.org