PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Halloween might still be weeks away, but folks who embarked on the Haunted Woods Walk at Nordic Heritage Center this past weekend experienced some early scares that brought about more excitement for the holiday.
As the sky became darker on Saturday night, more and more people stood in line ready to enter one of the center’s many wooded paths. Student volunteers from Presque Isle High School donned black hooded robes and guided visitors through a 20-minute walk. Everyone from creepy clowns to ghosts to popular horror film characters such as Chucky, Leatherface from “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and Ghostface hid among the trees and jumped out just when people were least expecting.
“My favorite part was walking through the bus,” Ariel Cote, 11, of Presque Isle said after the walk. She referred to the climax of the walk, in which visitors had to walk through a “crashed” bus as the deceased “victims” came alive again.
Her friends Jordan Burrow and Cody Allen joined her and all stated that they’d like to go through the walk again.
“I’m terrified of clowns, so that was the scariest part for me,” Burrows said.
But Allen claimed to be more brave than his friends. “Nothing scared me,” he said.
The Haunted Woods Walk is hosted annually on the first Friday and Saturday of October by the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce. This is the fifth year that they have hosted the walk at Nordic Heritage Center, as the event was previously held at Aroostook State Park. Sponsors include MMG Insurance, Falcon Transportation, Governor’s Restaurant, Big Cheese Pizza and Mike and Son’s.
Tyler Cray, event organizer and Chamber board member, estimated that at least 700 to 800 people attended Friday’s walk and he expected to see around 1,500 people on Saturday night. The walk included dozens of volunteers from the business sponsors and Presque Isle High School.
“Nordic offers us some great trails and everybody that comes seems to really love going on the walk,” Cray said. “We tend to get good turnouts.”
