 | | | | | | | | | | |  |  | | | | Paranormal: What Stalks You In The Corn? It's Autumn Maze Time">2. Paranormal News | | | | | | | 
2. Paranormal News | News submitted by: MoonSeeker
By JOANNA MECHLINSKI - Walking gingerly through the swamp, you shudder and run as a 22-foot alligator snaps its jaws. Careful! There are 10-foot tunnels of spider webs stretching from tree to tree. Imagine what kind of creatures might lurk inside! Spotting the women rocking serenely in their chairs, you begin to relax. But what if some of those "women" aren't really women at all?
These are only a few of the "scares" found along the Great American Corn Maze's Fright Farm Haunted Maze at Grace Farm in Southington. A hayride takes visitors around the maze before dropping them off to fend for themselves. Tony Galazan, who runs the maze, says there are "all kinds of crazy things," from gargoyles to crazy clowns.
"His wings move; smoke comes out of his eyes; and he talks," said Galazan, gesturing toward a large black gargoyle at the front of the maze. Behind it, a skeleton sprawls on the ground, its cranium against the bottom leaves of a 6-foot corn stalk. "We've got guys with chain saws, an electric chair, body bags and lots of coffins."
The farm has three mazes - the Eagle, the Statue of Liberty and the Flag. It's the Stars and Stripes that is being used for this year's Halloween spectacular. All three mazes were designed by MazePlay.com of Idaho, which has designed mazes all over the United States and Canada using the global positioning system. The company weaves a game into its mazes, where each visitor receives a card that is punched distinctively in designated stations throughout the maze. People who find all of the stations can receive prizes.
Technology has brought Galazan's scares a long way from the Halloween frights in many people's memories. Where actors in masks might have jumped out from the darkness, hanged men now twitch realistically with the help of air compressors and trees made of rubber, strategically placed between real ones, crash down with the touch of a button. Even those in line to purchase tickets should be wary.
"Last year, we took a lot of stuff out," said Galazan, referring to the maze's opening just two weeks after the Sept. 11 tragedies. Although everything in the maze is all is in good fun, Galazan decided that it might be appropriate to tone down the scariness. This year, however, he's back to scheming about the scares. "I went all out this year," said Galazan. A donation from the proceeds will be made to the March of Dimes.
For those who think that finding their way out of a maze is challenging enough without frights and obstacles, a regular maze can be found at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield. Their third annual corn maze will open Sept. 7, running until Nov. 3.
John Lyman said a contest among employees is held each year to select a maze theme. This year, several suggested a design like the Lyman family's Victorian farmhouse. Designed by Brett Herbst, founder of The MaiZE, the corn-row re-creation of the 23-room home features dozens of rooms and hallways, with two viewing bridges and more than 2 miles of twisting pathways.
Many of the employees have lost friends and family members to cancer, so Lyman, who lost his mother to the illness, decided to donate $1 from every ticket sold to the American Cancer Society.
Foster Farm in South Windsor will open mazes for the first time this fall. Starting Sept. 7, it will admit visitors to its Minuteman on Horseback and Foster Farm corn mazes, with a 3.4-mile trail between them.
"We experimented a little in the past with how to build it," said Jonathan Foster, who manages the mazes. "This spring, I convinced my family to have a professional maze built." They also decided to use the services of MazePlay.com.
Although the Foster Farm mazes do not have a Halloween theme, other activities will, including 16 acres of pick-your-own pumpkins, thousands of mums on sale, and make-your-own scarecrows.
http://www.ctnow.com/entertainment/attractions/hc-cornmaze.artaug29.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dentertainment
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