With Halloween a little less than two weeks away, I wanted to participate in a festive activity, so I went on a haunted hayride last weekend. I gathered up a group of friends and headed to The Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride in Media, Pa. It is considered one of the scariest hayrides on the East Coast, so I was excited for the experience. We got there around 7 p.m., a little early for a hayride, but we wanted to beat the crowd. The crowd, however, beat us. The line for tickets was an hour wait. Then, the line for the hayride was more than two hours! We couldn’t get a refund, so we decided to stick it out in the freezing cold. The hayride was well worth the wait. It lasted about 20 minutes and featured tons of special effects. At one point during the ride, we went through a man-made mining tunnel that was almost a half-mile long, with special effects including fire, mist and shouting animated objects. Music was attached to the tractor, playing songs for each themed section. Overall, it was the best haunted hayride I’ve ever experienced. Not only did I have an awesome time being scared, the special effects were truly worth the wait. — Amanda Smith, advertising and editorial coordinator