Scary places abound

George and Brenda Maser make their way through a crawl space inside Lost Emerald Farm's 3-D Haunted House. It doesn’t take visitors of Lost Emerald Farm long to realize that strange things happen on the property.

A place where turkeys, pigs, emus and other farm animals roam free alongside deer that frequent the area, it’s not uncommon for one to stumble across rare items, like the arrowhead found by owners George & Brenda Maser.

“We were trying to find our cell phone and just happened to find an arrowhead,” Brenda Maser said. “We took it to the Cherokee Historical & Preservation Society, where we learned the piece was between 5,000 and 7,000 years old.

“We’ve been told the grounds of Lost Emerald Farm were used for hunting by Native Americans decades ago. It’s great to find one of these rare items, but it doesn’t come at all as a surprise.”

However, around this time of year, the Masers don’t use the property to help them stock up for a cold winter. Instead they turn up the heat for visitors daring to step onto the grounds, making it a “haunting” place laden with thrills and chills.

Lost Emerald Farm is one of several places locally designed to give visitors the scare of a lifetime this Halloween. An array of barn animals welcome visitors before they take a hayride down one of the property’s many rolling hills to a haunted corn maze and trail.

“In the corn maze and trail, you’ll have different characters like clowns and guys with chain saws jumping out to chase those going through,” George Maser said. “It’s all a part of doing something a little different and hopefully offering a different experience.”

The hair-raising moments don’t stop upon completion of the trail, with a 3-D haunted house next on the agenda for those in need of a thrill.

Maser said the haunted house continues the theme of characters jumping out of unknown places hoping to scare those treading on their territory. Not to mention the tombstones outside the structure, which play a few mind games on visitors before stepping foot inside.

“You really do not know what’s lurking around the next corner,” George Maser said. “You’re trying to stay on course among the smoke and lights, when something grabs or begins chasing you. It really makes for quite a scare.”

While Lost Emerald Farm’s mystique comes from the ground it sits on, the legend of the “Wompus Monster” keeps people coming back to Wompus Woods in Cowpens.

“It’s a legend hundreds of years old, in which farmers saw what looked to be a monster stealing their livestock and eating other animals in the area,” said Tim Jones Sr. of Wompus Woods. “We’ve heard similar stories around here of a creature eating deer and livestock. That’s why we tell people that we can’t promise they will see the monster, but we’ll show them the woods where we think the creature might be.”

Located on 17 acres, Wompus Woods is made up of a cave over 300- feet long, several haunted houses and two mazes, more than enough action for those looking for the fright of their life, according to Jones.

“No doubt, there is plenty of action going on; spooky if you ask me, so visitors should get ready for it,” Jones said. “I tell guys that come in with their girlfriends or wives that they will get more hugs while going through Wompus Woods than they get the rest of the year,” he joked.

A tractor trail and hay ride are also part of Wompus Woods’ slate of activities, among the reason why Jones believes people from at least 13 different states visited the Halloween entertainment location last year.

“Word of mouth is great, it also helps to have the name Wompus Woods,” Jones said. “There aren’t too many names like that around.

“But our goal is to keep this a top-notch entertainment place, something we strive to improve on each year.”

Lost Emerald Farm will be open Oct. 29-31. Call (864) 488-2333 for more information.

Wompus Woods will be open through Halloween. For more details, call (864) 578-6175. . Bar H Hayride Bar H Arena, Boiling Springs Open Oct. 30, 31(7:30 p.m. - until) . Buffalo VFD Haunted House 137 Blackwell Road, Blacksburg Open Oct. 29-31 (7 p.m. - until) . Lost Emerald Farm 2761 Overbrook Road, Gaffney Open Oct. 30, 31 (dusk - until) . Wompus Woods 330 Parris Road, Cowpens Oct. 28, 29 from dusk to 11 p.m. Oct. 30, 31 from dusk to 2 a.m.