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Harrisburg family turns farm into 'Scary Dairy'
Photo by Jonathan Coleman
Harris Farms in Harrisburg will host Scary Dairy on Friday and Saturday nights, offering visitors a fright-filled evening of Halloween haunts.
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Published: October 28, 2009
HARRISBUG — For the majority of her high school years, Kristen Harris planned her October weekends around which Halloween-themed amusements she and her friends would visit.
Then, she decided to bring the scares home.
For 363 days a year, the Harris family farm is a serene setting, nearly 150 acres of rustic farmland on the outskirts of Harrisburg.
But for two days each year, the farm transforms into a haunted landscape of ghouls, gobbling and ghostly characters looking to strike fear into the hearts of anyone willing to wander the hilly terrain.
The 2003 Central Cabarrus graduate enlisted the help of her family and friends last year to hold what has been billed as Cabarrus County's only haunted hayride.
After less than three weeks of planning, the attraction welcomed more than 200 visitors.
"We had a pretty good turnout last year, considering how fast we threw it together. We're trying to build it up every year," she said.
Planning for this year's haunted trail begin almost as soon as last year's festivities ended.
The Scary Dairy Haunted Hayride will take place Friday and Saturday nights, beginning at 8 p.m. Each ride takes about 30 minutes, Harris said, and winds through various scary scenes depicting evil jack-in-the-boxes, witches and a car accident.
Harris began shopping for masks, costumes and other props as soon as the post-Halloween sales began last year. The family's basement is overrun with homemade mummies, cardboard cutouts of gravestones and elaborate props to stir up the most frightening images.
Last week, Harris visited theater classes as Central Cabarrus and Jay M. Robinson high schools to drum up additional volunteers for the event.
"The better acting skills you have, the better the trail will be," Harris told students at Robinson. "We had a werewolf last year who, I was told, was running around the trial on all fours."
Dajah Tobin, a freshman, expressed an immediate interest in taking part.
For her, it's about growing up and using her passion for theater into a practical event.
"Now that I have gotten older, I wanted to do something other than go trick-or-treating," she said. "I want to scare people, but not really. I want to use my theater and my voice – to be creative."
Tobin found out about the event through the theater class.
"It kind of caught my eye because I wanted to do something out in the community," she said.
The Scary Dairy Hayride is located at 1643 Pembrook Road, Harrisburg. Rides will be offered between 8 p.m. and midnight on Friday and Saturday. Admission is $10 per person. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/scarydairync
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