Viewfinder: Scream on the Trail

My name is Raven Nichols, and I'm the photographer Joy (Snellville Patch editor) assigned to cover Scream on the Trail, a haunted woods attraction off Parkwood Road in Snellville.

When I got home from I sent Joy an e-mail detailing my experiences at the scary attraction. She was amused and suggested I use it as my writeup for the Viewfinder. Below you'll find the e-mail I sent to my editor regarding Scream on the Trail.

Joy,

Scream on the Trail was, in a word, terrifying.

I missed the turn twice because it's a rather nondescript entrance. It's just a tiny cardboard sign off a dark, dark dirt road.

You turn onto a PITCH BLACK trail and drive through the woods to a clearing where you have to park and walk ALONE through the dark woods to the entrance. I had to use my phone to light my path and make sure I didn't trip on anything. I expected a homicidal maniac to jump out at me any minute.

Once I got to the entrance, I could hear a woman singing a creepy version of Hush Little Baby, and there was someone sharpening blades on the other side of the entrance.

The gatekeeper was in character the whole time and wouldn't allow me to take a picture of her. She also said the monsters were too busy stalking people to come out and be photographed. I'm not sure exactly how I was supposed to get pictures of them because big flashes have a delay (and have I mentioned it was pitch black out there?), and it would be impossible to take pictures of the monsters as they jumped out at me and I ran off screaming like a little girl.

The gatekeeper said she didn't want me to ruin the surprise of what was on the trail anyway.

So, I got pictures of people going in and coming out and a few pics of
the creepy decorations. If folks want to see what was behind the curtain they can visit the website.

I'll be honest with you, Joy. Even if you were paying me $1,000 for this Viewfinder, I probably wouldn't have actually gone on the trail. I'm a big, fat
chicken.

Those people knew what they were doing. Everything was in the absolute dark (people had to hold a glow stick over the sign-in book to be able to see as they wrote their names).

I took Sailor (my 12-year-old) with me for safety. We were standing around waiting for a family to make it out of the trail so I could get a picture of them when we heard a snarl and scream and something crashed into the bushes behind us. Sailor threw me in front of her and screamed, "Take my mother!"

Thanks, kid.

I hope you like what I got, Joy. It was the best I could do in the pitch
black with shaking hands.