Field of Screams Scares for Twenty-Five Years

Field of Screams kicked off its twenty-fifth anniversary with a new attraction. Brothers Jim and Gene Schopf brought FOS to life in 1993, using their family farm as the site of the attraction. As kids, their mom would try to scare them by playing a vinyl record of Disney Haunted Mansion, and they also owned various types of costumes and masks.

“My brother and I would turn one of the barns into a mini-haunted house when we were kids, and we would invite our friends over to scare them for the fun of it,” co-owner Jim Schopf said.

According to Jim Schopf, in 1993 he and his brother came up with the idea of the Haunted Hayride after they heard about an attraction called Scream in the Dark, which had a similar idea to their haunted barn theme as children.

When they first started, Jim’s main job as a Scare Actor was to run the chainsaws as the crazed chainsaw maniac. Field of Screams is a year-round job for everyone on the crew.

“We don’t copy horror movies straight-up. You won’t see Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Jigsaw, or Leatherface. We like to be original and creative; it is never the same show twice, but those characters are definitely an inspiration for creating the fear and what a scary character should be,” Jim Schopf said.

What people should expect for FOS 2018, according to Jim Schopf, is that each of the four attractions– Haunted Hayride, Den of Darkness, Frightmare Asylum, and Nocturnal Wasteland– will have new elements to them. The Five-Minute Escape Rooms were also added.

There are three different escape rooms, called Lock Down, Capture, and Heist. The goal is to go into one of the rooms and solve any of the given clues in the room within five minutes, whether in a group (of up to six people) or individually.

There is also their non-scary activities for the kids, like the Corn Cob Acres Field of Fun, which occurs during the daytime for ages two to twelve, with over forty different activities and games. Lastly, there is the 5K Zombie Fun Run, which helps to profit the PA Breast Cancer Coalition.

Fleetwood students who are in theatrics and art can fill out an application form at fieldofscreams.com if they want to work as a Scare Actor or in the special effects department.

“Anyone who is sixteen years or older can become an actor. We will accept anyone to train them and work with their abilities in order to place them in the proper position. If they are a discipline problem, then they need to leave, but that does not happen very often at all. They can even be a part of the FX Team and they get trained there as well. We accept new volunteers at any time throughout the year and season. We have a major training program the three weeks before we open, but any late comers can get trained during the season. Everyone is a volunteer. They are at FOS because they love it, not because it’s a job and they have to do it,” Jim Schopf said.