Growing up, Trent Mettler was always intrigued by the thrill of Halloween.
Inspired by trips to Field of Screams in Olney, Maryland, and other Halloween activities, Mettler and his Quince Orchard High School classmates decided to create their own screams.
Since 2017, Mettler, a senior at Quince, has created haunted trails in the woods next to his North Potomac home. While admission to the 6th Fear Haunted Trail is free, the group collects canned food for Manna Food Center.
“I can happily say we’ve gotten hundreds of pounds of canned food for Manna Food, and that’s one of the great feelings about this,” Mettler said.
There are signs throughout the neighborhood advertising the trail, which opened for three hours on Halloween, and will remain open on Friday and Saturday.
The entrance sits next to a field of pumpkins, and flashing lights invite guests into the trail. In recent years, the group has used themes revolving around clowns or a prison break.
But this year’s theme, “Out of This World,” features skeletons, aliens and jump scares.
“It’s a good 10 to 15-minute walk, depending on if you run or walk through,” Mettler said. “It’s 15 minutes of pure horror.”
The group of students have been working on the trail for the last month, and Mettler estimates it costs a few thousand dollars.
They’ve been cutting down extra weeds and putting up lights and cords. The trail has jump scares and a character who chases guests with a chain saw. They tone down the scares for the younger kids, but when “those adults come in, the older teens, you’ll definitely get a good fright,” Mettler said.
“There’s actors in there,” Mettler said. “There’s loud sounds, there’s flashing lights. You get the whole nine yards.”
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