Terror In The Cornfield: The Creepy World of Scary Corn Maze

Kill me, but I’ve always found something menacing about corn mazes. It’s not the corn itself, God forbid: it’s perfectly fine, friendly to look at, and even delicious. I think the setting of these mazes has the potential to be scary, especially (but not only) at night. Maybe it’s the dramatic height of the corn stalks, which cover the way and prevent us from seeing ahead. It could be the silence, or the knowledge that at any moment we might encounter something weird. Some of the potential fear stems from the fact that we’re in a maze, which suggests a lack of orientation or even a complete loss of control. It’s not always pleasant to get lost among masses of plants, with no landmarks or knowledge of where to go. Some of the mazes are challenging, and that’s a big part of the fun here.

Recently, we wrote a review here of “Clown in a Cornfield,” which combines the natural fear of places like corn mazes with other objects of fear, such as murderous clowns. This enjoyable film once again demonstrated that a maze can be an effective location for a horror film.

In reality, you can find mazes that take the scares a few steps further. Although there are friendly corn mazes designed for children and families, there are also those that cater to a more mature audience, offering a higher level of challenge and sometimes various scares along the route.

What Is A Corn Maze?

According to the fundamental definition, a corn maze – try to look surprised – is a maze made of a corn field, in which paths have been cut or carved in various shapes in a pre-planned pattern. The labyrinth is often designed as a tourist attraction, with varying degrees of difficulty, sometimes featuring surprises along the way or at the endpoint. For example, we came across mazes where, at the end of the path, there was a special statue or even an observation post, which allowed people who had finished the labyrinth to see those still inside and, if necessary, also to assist them.

Upon examining the physical characteristics of corn plants, they are considered nearly ideal for this purpose. Corn is a tall plant by any measure, growing to a height of about 2-3 meters, which creates an impenetrable natural wall that is also difficult to see through. The corn is planted at a dense level, which further increases the physical barrier, preventing the possibility of pushing the body through it and thereby enhancing the experience. In a well-designed corn maze, it will be impossible to see the exit or even the right direction without actually reaching the right path. The plant itself is strong and durable, which means it is impossible to walk through and tends to last for a relatively long time.

Corn mazes can, therefore, be challenging. In the ideal scenario, the person almost completely loses the ability to see anything beyond the plant walls, is unaware of their location in relation to the exit point, and is forced to navigate their way to the exit while relying on their intuition, visual memory, and often luck.

A Wide Range Of Options

Corn mazes vary dramatically in size and level of complexity. There are very basic mazes designed primarily for families with children, which you can complete in a few minutes without too much difficulty or the possibility of making mistakes along the way.

Intermediate-level mazes will be several dunams in area and can offer a more complex challenge, which may last at least half an hour (a very rough estimate, of course). The large and branching mazes, which reach an area of ​​several dozen dunams, make the task of navigating them much more complex.

Some mazes also work on other senses. The sound in a corn maze can be a massive part of the attraction. Sometimes, as you see in horror movies, it is the maze itself that creates sounds: say, the wind, the contact with the dry leaves, footsteps, or a serial killer (did someone say scary clown?) lurking in the maze. In reality, maze designers and operators sometimes add artificial noises that contribute to the experience, such as music, nature sounds, or voice instructions. In the horror genre, these artificial noises can be frightening and are part of the overall atmosphere that the makers are trying to create.

How To Make A Corn Maze?

The next time you visit a corn maze, take a moment to appreciate the significant investment that has been made here. Designing a corn maze is a craft, some would say an art, that combines, among other things, agriculture, spatial planning, and even psychology. Planners need to factor several variables into the equation, such as the size and structure of the maze, the growth of the corn, the impact of the weather, and so on. In most cases, planning begins when the corn is still young, preferably in the summer months, and the paths are gradually carved out as the plants start to grow.

Sometimes, the most impressive view of cornfields in general and mazes in particular is from above, from a bird’s eye view (or a drone, in this case). Here, you can see the complexity of the design, which often combines neat geometric shapes, such as rectangles and circles. Some choose other patterns of animals, symbols, and even familiar characters, in our case, from the horror catalog.

Several parameters help to determine the difficulty level of the mazes. The length of the path and its branches are taken into account, the number of choices the visitor has to make, the number of trails that lead to a dead end, and so on. In the case of simple mazes, the result is almost linear, with few alternative routes. In complex mazes, you will find paths upon paths, sometimes at several levels: for example, tunnels or bridges that pass over existing paths.

An essential element in defining the difficulty level is the “checkpoints.” In simple mazes, designers leave a few landmarks that allow visitors to orient themselves, that is, to recognize that they have been there. In more difficult mazes, the number of landmarks along the route may be limited, so that everything looks the same. They eliminate landmarks, creating a feeling of disorientation. Some mazes eliminate landmarks, creating a sense of disorientation. Others include help points, which are high places you can climb to see your surroundings, or signs with puzzles and clues.

Corn Mazes As A Tourist Attraction

Corn mazes have become a popular tourist attraction, especially in the summer and fall months, when corn is at its peak. They are suitable for a wide range of audiences – from young children looking for an easy adventure to adults who want to face a real navigation challenge, perhaps even a scary corn maze that acts like a horror attraction all around.

This challenge can combine physical activity (think it’s easy? Try getting lost in a labyrinth in the heat of summer. Don’t ask me how I know) with orientation, memory, and even a mental challenge, because getting lost in a maze for an extended period can seem daunting. When you find the exit at the end of the route, however, you may feel a sense of accomplishment or even pride.

Corn mazes are often combined with a variety of other attractions that make the visit an experience of several hours, or even a whole day, such as:

🌽Seasonal fruit and vegetable picking – a very popular activity for families (some would say especially in the age of Instagram, where parents proudly take pictures of their children with corn on the cob and immediately post them on social media). A visit to the picking area can include complimentary snacks and the opportunity to take home fruits and vegetables. The downside is that the prices of the harvesting activities in general have increased significantly in recent years.

🌽 Games and facilities for children, such as trampolines, slides, swings, gym equipment, and so on.

🌽 Creative workshops: From simple drawing with paper and colors to more complex creations (which can be inspired by the natural world)

🌽 Encounters with animals, such as petting and feeding corners

🌽 Food stalls and coffee carts

Horror Corn Maze May Be Super Creepy

Many corn mazes in the world cater to the horror audience. The ideal time is to visit a scary corn maze at night, when the atmosphere in the corn maze is even more horrifying, and the challenge of getting yourself out of the maze is bigger.

As mentioned, various surprises can await you along the route, depending on the atmosphere they aim to create, the creativity of the maze organizers, and, some say, the budget available. There are very basic mazes, but others with a much sophisticated decor and surprises based on the most advanced technology (like animatronics). You can see a scary scarecrow moving towards you, a creepy clown like in that movie, monsters, and so on.

Note that a large part of the corn mazes are seasonal. They will usually be available in the summer and fall months because these are the months when corn traditionally grows. Some mazes open around Halloween, sometimes for a limited period of just a few days. Therefore, the demand for mazes can be high; consider booking in advance if necessary.

The primary purpose of the mazes, you guessed it, is to provide economic profit to the people on the farms, to allow them to continue to exist. Here is the point to stop for a moment and consider the prices, which can be as high as tens or hundreds of dollars per visitor. Such prices may seem expensive in some cases to the average visitor (especially those who come with their families).

Although there are mazes and other attractions based on visiting nature (such as picking various items), where the price is disproportionate, in some cases, at least from our impression, there are heavy operating expenses that the attraction is supposed to cover.

What Is The Scariest Corn Maze Out There?

Many believe the first full corn maze was built in Annville, Pennsylvania, sometime in 1993. According to some accounts, a similar maze was constructed in California four years prior. The bottom line is that the canvas is short of containing the number of corn mazes around the world, including the tourist ones, which is almost endless.

Our goal is to focus on scary corn mazes, which are the bread and butter (or corn) of the horror world. If some corn mazes are mainly associated with family experiences, around the world you will find many mazes that cater to an older audience, who are looking to add additional scary elements to the pleasure or challenge of classic mazes, such as darkness, a setting that looks like it came out of a horror movie, sound effects, characters from the world of horror (sometimes animatronics), actors who scare the participants, and so on.

Bates Motel Corn Maze

Bates Motel is not only a prequel series to Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” but also one of the most iconic scary corn maze attractions in the United States. Bates Motel, located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers a horror experience based on several stations.

The highlight here, according to many, is the Haunted Hayride – a slow ride for about 25 minutes in an open wagon with straw, hay, or whatever it is – in a town that simulates the Wild West, with about 15 buildings. The menu here includes a scary set with digital and sound effects, animatronic dinosaurs, demons, witches, actors in makeup, jump scares, and more. This lovable attraction has won several prestigious awards, including being named the best haunted attraction in the United States by several reputable websites.

There is also a haunted house attraction (named Bates Motel) and, especially relevant to our article, a corn maze, under the explosive name “Revenge of the Scarecrow Haunted Corn Trail”. It is a scary corn maze that combines sets, effects, animatronic characters, and more than 30 actors.

Fear Farm Corn Maze

At Fear Pharm (not to be confused with the cute little movie of the same name), northwest of Phoenix, you will find “20 acres of pure horror.” The goal here is to navigate by moonlight to the corn maze’s exit while encountering actors playing clowns, monsters, and other characters along the way.

This scary corn maze is considered “Arizona’s largest Halloween event” and includes a few events or attractions that change every year (so, in some cases, the location also changes). In 2024, for example, we got the Dead Hour, Clown Alley, Nautical Nightmare, Carnage, Scarecrow Mayhem, and more.

Haunted Field Of Screams

The attraction, with the explosive name “Haunted Field of Screams,” includes, first of all, Riverdale Road – a road considered one of the most haunted in the United States, with a history of death, hangings, and fires, as well as several reports of strange phenomena in the present. In the attraction itself, you will find a haunted house and a journey through a 16-acre corn field, with scares of various kinds.

You will find several other notable scary corn mazes in the United States, as well as in various countries around the world: mainly in agricultural areas, of course, and not in urban cities, like:

🌽Walla Walla Scary Corn Maze in Washington

🌽Terrorland Haunted Adventure in San Antonio

🌽Maan Farms Haunted, considered “The scariest corn maze in Canada”

🌽York Maze, which is the largest maze in the United Kingdom

🌽Hysteria at Conners Farm in Denver, pretty close to Salem

🌽Sinister Valley Haunted Attraction in California

🌽and much more

Therefore, it may require some effort to visit them, but this effort could be worthwhile. At most, you could always try going to a “regular” corn maze and imagining it with some horror twist, or watch one of the movies dedicated to cornfields. Did we mention there’s a movie out now with cruel clowns roaming around cornfields?

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