Finally, the time had come: I was going to Field of Screams. I had wanted to go to Field of Screams for years, and it had never worked out. Last year, my friend and I made plans to go, but life got in the way. However, this was our year, and we were finally going.
The aforementioned friend lives in Lebanon, Pa. and Field of Screams is in Lancaster, so we had to drive around half an hour to get there. I could feel my excitement building during the drive. Plus, this was an especially exciting outing because my friend and I were going for free.
I had gotten in touch with the Field of Screams staff earlier in the week, offering to write an article about them in exchange for a ticket for my friend and me. They could not have been more generous, and they informed me that I simply had to visit the information booth upon my arrival; our tickets would be waiting for me.
When I went to pick up the tickets, imagine my surprise when I discovered that they were VIP tickets, meaning that we would not have to wait in any lines. This was such a nice gesture; I could not believe our luck. I have actually written about several other haunted attractions in a similar fashion, and I have never gotten VIP tickets before. However, the joke was on us because my friend and I brought her boyfriend and another friend with us, who did not have VIP tickets. Alas, we could not use the VIP perk of the tickets, but I sincerely appreciated the gesture.
Field of Screams has four attractions: the haunted hayride, the Den of Darkness, Frightmare Asylum, and Nocturnal Wasteland. We started with the haunted hayride. As I settled into the hay, I could not deny my excitement. As we were pulled along through the attraction, I was so impressed by the sets. The sets throughout the entirety of Field of Screams were actually some of the best I have ever seen—and take it from me that is saying something, because I have visited quite a few haunted attractions. The sets notwithstanding, I have to admit that the hayride was a bit of a letdown. There were surprisingly few actors throughout the hayride, so the scares on the hayride were minimal. However, the sets made up for the lack of scares, because I was genuinely impressed.
Next, we went to Nocturnal Wasteland. My friends thought that this tour through a nuclear wasteland was the scariest part. I cannot say that I agreed, but it definitely had its high points, and the set, yet again, was amazing. My own personal Most Terrifying Moment was when we were on a bridge—and it suddenly tipped to an angle. I legitimately thought I was going to tumble into the “radioactive waste” below.
We next went to the Frightmare Asylum. Would I sound like a broken record if I said that here, too, the sets were amazing? The Asylum was full of dismembered body parts and there were many corners around which our worst nightmares lurked. I got scared several times in the Asylum. However, for me, nothing held a candle to the Den of Darkness.
We ended with the Den of Darkness, and boy, was it worth the wait. The visuals here were just as good as in the rest of the attractions until we hit a pitch black maze. As silly as it may seem, I was undaunted in the face of axe-wielding murderers, but when it came to the dark, I was like a sniveling schoolgirl. And, naturally, I had been leading the group throughout the attractions, based on my aforementioned brave face, so I led the way into the darkness. To say that I was nervous in the maze would have been an understatement. I was terrified that someone was going to grab me from the dark and I literally would not see him/her coming, or that I would make a wrong turn and send us into the clutches of a maniac. However, we made it out of the maze alive. Just as my heart was starting to go back to a normal pace, a chainsaw roared to life and a man came charging out of a dark corner of the last room in the house. I booked it out of there as quickly as I could.
All in all, I have only nice things to say about Field of Screams. I thought that the haunted hayride was a little cheesy, but the set was genuinely impressive. I really enjoyed all of the other attractions, particularly the Den of Darkness. I would love to go to Field of Screams again sometime, and maybe next time, I will get to do it as a VIP.
Clare Haggerty is a fourth-year student majoring in English. She can be reached at CH757342@wcupa.edu.