It’s a Friday night and this Clarkston News reporter gets up enough courage to visit the Terror at Townsend Forest haunted trail, created by Oakland County Sportsmen’s Club.
After we arrive and walk though the door, the smell of food and yummy treats cause us instant hunger.
To the right, a hideous sweatshirt created for purchasers to remember the forest gives us a glimpse of the terror to come.
The trail is a 1/2 mile walk on 230 acres on Waterford Road in Independence Township.
We continue on, and come upon a blazing fire, made to warm the bones of those who dare to enter the forest.
Spooky stories fill the air. As we wait for our guide to tell us it’s go time, we hear rumors of the monster living in Townsend Lake. He is a downright evil, and uglier than anything you have ever seen.
Terror Chairman Carmen Mancini warns it’s no good to fight the monster, for the harder you fight, the deeper he takes you into the lake.
We get ready to go, and realize we are walking with a group of a dozen already scared teenage girls.
For Lyn Chambers, one of the girls in the group, this particular walk will be her third attempt at completing the haunted attraction.
Her sister Bria Chambers leads our way into the great unknown.
Lyn, and friends, are worried and guarded at every turn. We learn they are right to be as we continue to be confronted with constant, sometimes truly freaky, surprises.
We forge ahead down the dark trail through turns and mazes.
Lyn may not make it through this time either. Everyone tries to tell her its all an act, and not to be scared.
The screams echoing through the haunted forest are all in fun. It’s actually a family-friendly event.
‘We have a lot of families, church groups and schools,? said volunteer Larry Dean.
Prices are $12 for adults and $7 for kids 12 and under. After walking through the forest for quite a long while, everyone traveling the trail with our group reach the conclusion paying the ticket is well worth it.
Mancini said the committee worked hard to ensure the trail was both fun and affordable.
Although staff at the forest have made sure visitors will feel scared, everyone is safe.
‘No one can touch you,” said Mincini.
A committee of all volunteers have been planning the event since springtime.
Actors working the event are volunteers too, and often earn service hours doing working for the non-profit. Mancini estimates there hundreds of volunteers.
For more information, visit www.ocsclub.org.