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It's alive! Canfield Scaregrounds relies on inhuman touch
if you go
What: Canfield Scaregrounds
Where: The Canfield Fairgrounds
When: weekends through Nov. 1
Hours: 7 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays; and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Oct. 15
Prices: $10 ($7 ages 6-10) for the Haunted House; $8.50 ($6.50 ages 6-10) for the Hayride; Combo: $17 ($12 for children). Discount coupons are available at Giant Eagle and Country Fair stores and Perkins restaurants
CANFIELD — When it comes to scaring, Dominic Baragona is a people person.
As in people dressed as monsters, vampires, ghouls and assorted weirdos, lurking around every corner.
Baragona is the man behind the Canfield Scaregrounds, which is now in its 17th season.
The haunted attraction has become a Halloween tradition in the area, mainly because it doesn’t skimp on the monsters.
“We have all of the elaborate scenes and expensive props, but it’s the monsters that make the difference,” said Baragona.
The Scaregrounds has 100-plus actors in costume — about four times more than the average haunted attraction, according to Baragona.
“It’s become the Valley’s Halloween tradition,” he said. “I know a lot of people go off to college and brag about it, like ‘you should see the one we have back home.’ They’ve grown up with it.”
About 40,000 people visited the attraction last season, and a similar amount is expected this year.
There are two main attractions — the haunted house and the hayride — and both make good use of existing Fairgrounds structures. The hayride, for example, drives through three animal barns and underneath the grandstand. “It’s a natural setting,” said Baragona. “It’s not just trees. There are a lot of places to hide and set up situations. It’s what separates us from other hayrides.”
The hayride includes choreographed skits. “Some are scary and funny,” said Baragona. “People welcome them for the comic relief.”
In the haunted house, the chills begin before the visitor even enters. “There are 10 monsters in the lobby and six major effects, and that’s before you even get in,” said Baragona.
A midway with food and other vendors serves as a place to cool down between scares, although stray ghouls do wander in and shake things up.
Baragona said a visitor could easily spend a couple of hours at the Scaregrounds, which makes it a value when compared to other Halloween attractions.
“At some haunted houses, you go through it in 15 minutes and then say ‘where can we go now?’ We answer that. There is a ton of extra entertainment, at no charge,” he said.
For example, two new attractions have been added this year that are free with the purchase of either a haunted house or hayride ticket: the Mist and the Haunted Corn Maze.
The Mist is a maze inside a giant, fog-enshrouded tent, illuminated only by strobelight flashes, and filled with shocking surprises.
The Haunted Corn Maze takes thrill-seekers through a building entrance and directly into a monster-filler labyrinth.
Baragona is again operating Ghost Lake, the haunted attraction at Conneaut Lake Park in Pennsylvania. Ghost Lake opened last fall and will be back better than ever this year, because Conneaut Lake Park itself reopened this summer. Some of the rides will be open for Ghost Lake.
Ghost Lake, which attracted 20,000 people last year, will again make use of the naturally creepy Hotel Conneaut and seven other attractions.
For an additional fee, attendees can also get access to three haunted amusement rides: the Train of Terror, Blacklight Bumper Cars and Devil’s Den dark ride.
SEE ALSO: Halloween thrills.