Visitors to an eight-acre corn maze in Aulac can expect a few scares this Halloween. Volunteers will be hiding in the corn at Trueman Blueberry Farms, one of several places across Tantramar holding Halloween events this weekend.
Owner Tom Trueman is hosting the haunted maze for the first time. He’s working with Darren White of Amherst, who has years of experience creating Halloween displays at his home and is helping organize the volunteers for the event.
Trueman wants visitors to get a few good scares without leaving them afraid to come back.
“We’re not trying to give you nightmares,” he said.
The maze is open Friday, October 30, from 6 pm to 9 pm, although anyone planning to go must enter by 8pm. Admission is $10.99 plus tax per person.
Each volunteer has chosen a cause to support through the event. Among them are the Canadian Cancer Society and a fundraising effort to purchase a playset for a school. Trueman said the arrangement gives them an opportunity to contribute to something they care about. If the first event goes well, he hopes to expand it next year.
Mike Hicks’ Nightmare Walk began with a few animatronics and decorations outside his home, where he wanted to entertain his grandchildren. Neighbours started visiting, and children began asking whether he would put on another display the following year.
Hicks has moved his Halloween display from his front yard to the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre in Sackville. This Saturday, October 31, he’ll welcome visitors for Mike’s Nightmare Walk from 6 pm to 8:30 pm.
Friends and relatives help Hicks set everything up, although he said it’s difficult to predict who will be frightened. Some children walk through without much trouble, while adults sometimes struggle to make it past the first few scares.
“I, believe it or not, I hate to be scared, but I love scaring people,” he said.
Visitors are encouraged to bring a donation for the food bank, and treat bags will be handed out at the end of the walk. Hicks’ grandchildren also help arrange the displays, although he said they sometimes refuse to walk through once the lights are turned off, despite knowing where everything is hidden.
In Dorchester, a Halloween event held earlier this week began with a suggestion from a resident. John Cruickshank, one of the leaders of Dorchester Explorers, said someone proposed holding a Trunk or Treat in a local Facebook group last year. He decided to organize it through the youth program, with support from the local school, daycare and fire department.
The first event attracted approximately 210 trick-or-treaters and 34 decorated vehicles. Children moved between the cars collecting candy and voting for their favourite trunk. One of the entries was a minivan turned into a pirate ship, with two grandparents dressed as pirates. It won the prize for best-decorated trunk.
This year’s Trunk or Treat took place Wednesday, October 28, in the parking lot of Dorchester Consolidated School. Ahead of the event, Cruickshank said recruiting participants had been somewhat more difficult because of the cost of candy and gas, although community groups had offered donations to help.
Cruickshank said seeing people enjoy the event makes the work worthwhile.
“The smiles of the kids who are having fun, the smiles of the people handing out the candy,” he said.
Dawn Purchase is opening The Thicket, the barn she is restoring at 33 Church Street in Sackville, for Halloween.
Purchase has been decorating the barn and preparing a graveyard-themed cornhole game. Visitors can also come inside for hot apple cider, which will be available by donation. All activities are free.
The Thicket will welcome visitors Friday, October 30, from 1 pm to 5 pm and Saturday, October 31, from 12 pm to 9 pm. Trick-or-treating will take place Saturday from 4 pm to 9 pm.
Much of the decorating has been done on a limited budget. Purchase has reused pallet wood, hay bales and other materials already at the property, along with items collected from thrift and dollar stores.
Purchase said she loved dressing up and making costumes with her family when she was younger. They would drive around looking at decorated houses before Halloween, but she was often too frightened to enter haunted attractions herself.
“People are able to walk through and feel the Halloween vibes and look at lots of cool decorations without being, you know, scared, and they get some candy out of it too,” she said.
Struts Gallery in downtown Sackville is also preparing a Halloween attraction, with a haunted maze planned for Saturday, October 31, from 3 pm to 7 pm.
The afternoon will include children’s karaoke, non-alcoholic drinks and a small circus. A graveyard of fictional artists is also part of the display, with characters including one who died of exposure and another who drank turpentine.
Interim director Michelle Cieloszczyk said the gallery is asking for a suggested $5 donation to help pay for renovations to its Lorne Street building, including masonry repairs and door replacement. Staff have had to work around the construction while making sure the attraction is safe for visitors.
The renovations also provided an unexpected decoration. Masons had left an orange tarp across the front of the building, and staff decided to make use of it.
“So we thought, ‘Hey, let’s make Struts into a jack-o’-lantern,'” Cieloszczyk said.
