The Experience: Last night I attended the “Haunted Walk” at Parvin State Park in Pittsgrove, NJ. Parvin State Park was in jeopardy of losing its State Park status and funding, and the proceeds of this and other events are geared towards collecting funds for the park. So, I was definitely excited to kick off the fall season with something that had to do with Halloween as well as something that helped out the Park.

When we got there, the place was teeming with life. We followed a trail, which was illuminated by Tiki torches, that brought us from the parking lot to the main entrance of the park. There they had giant lights running off of generators illuminating the area, and a cloud from the fog machine drifted over most of the entrance. There were large groups of families bringing their younger children out; but I was happy to see a couple of groups with people my age. Next to the ticket sales they sold snacks and drinks, which to our delight included hot chocolate.

They took groups out every fifteen minutes, and we had just missed the last one so we had to wait a bit. Around the time we needed to leave we lined up in front of the double doors and entered. We waited in a room until we were lead out to a courtyard where a ghoul banished the crowd away from his quarters. From there we entered the main section of the trail.

The trail was lit by little bulbs that hung on an adjacent fence, as well as the occasional strobe light that disorientated the crowd. Going through the trail I realized that despite a decent set up most of the “ghouls” responsible for scaring the crowd were volunteers. And, unfortunately this meant for a lazy, oftentimes uninspired performance. The older volunteers got into their role, encouraged by the shrieks and muttered crying of the younger children, they inspired to be more terrifying. The teenagers who volunteered walked out behind trees simply stating, “boo,” in a bored my-parents-made-me-do-this kind of tone. Also, it is worth mentioning that somehow I winded up leading the pact, and several times a good shocking jump from a volunteer was wasted on me, and the surprise was ruined for some of the kids.

The Upsides: Halloween, hot chocolate, friendly people, goes toward some cause, and being able to giggle about young kids and the shear terror about walking through the trail.

The Down Sides: Lackadaisical volunteers, and could have been a bit longer.

The Verdict: Parvin’s attempt at a haunted trail, even though it was a bit corny and geared towards children, was fun but left a lot to be desired. If your as a big a fan of Halloween as me, then It was a perfect way to kick off the season, and an ever better way of whetting my appetite for the rest of Halloween.