BELFAST - Anyone who has read the Stephen King short story “Children of the Corn” or seen the film version knows how unsettling a field of the crop can be in the dark.
A group of Montague Regional High School students are hoping to take advantage of that unsettling atmosphere as a way to raise funds for a school trip next year.
Grade 12 student William McGuigan said a haunted corn maze is being held at Belfast Corn Maze four this month on Oct. 18, 19, 25, and 26.
“We’re calling it the Field of Screams,” McGuigan said during an interview with The Guardian. “At night, the corn just rattles. It’s scary even if there’s no one in there.”
The spooky experience will raise funds for the school’s Disney Choir, which will be heading to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida next March.
The choir’s first trip to Walt Disney World two years ago was a great experience, said Grade 12 student Lisa Morrison.
“We went to all the different Disney parks and Universal parks and also took part in the Disney performance program,” Morrison said.
The program gave the choir an opportunity to perform on the Walt Disney World stage and also to do an adjudication workshop with Disney professionals.
“It was insane,” Morrison said. “It was really cool to see the different feedback we got from them to really improve our overall performance.”
With the haunted maze being held at the location for the past three years, McGuigan said this year’s is shaping up to be the best one yet.
“This year, the corn over there is nice and tall. It’s taller than us and it’s nice and thick,” he said. “At night it’s going to be pitch dark and you can’t see anything.”
It’s not just the atmosphere that will spook out attendants.
More than half of the 12-acre corn maze will be turned into a haunted route, with a number of costumed individuals along the way and props such as rats, scare crows, smoke machines, strobe lights and sound effects.
“We’ll be digging out graves. We have a coffin,” McGuigan said. “All the fun things.”
The haunted maze will be running from 7:30 to 11 p.m. each of the four nights. Cost of admission is $10 each, with children five-years-old and under allowed in for free.
McGuigan added the group wanted to thank Dave and Rose Viaene, who own the Belfast Corn Maze and Chuckwagon Farm Market.
The owners were unsure of whether the haunted maze would be held this year, until McGuigan brought up the idea of holding it as a fundraiser.
“They’re my employers and my friends so it’s really nice of them to give up the field for us.”
