The Haunted Forest is an annual Halloween attraction at A Maze In Corn, situated directly behind the famous 10-acre corn maze.
If you’ve never been, the Haunted Forest is a live and interactive outdoor attraction. As you walk through this small, unassuming forest, you encounter ghouls, goblins, witches, and all manner of unearthly creatures. Some of these creatures are mechanical, and others are portrayed by improvisational actors.
Mike Secombe is one such actor. During his 10 years of scaring people in the Forest, he has played many different
characters. One particular character is Iggy the Hunchback. Iggy is equal parts lovable and creepy.
“As Iggy, I had a sweet little girl of about 12 take a shine to me,” says Secombe. “She wanted to be my friend,
and held my hand for the entire visit to the forest.”
Secombe says he loves playing Iggy because of his comic potential and the sheer fun nature of the character. “I remember watching a father laugh himself to a state of tears as Iggy was teasing his screaming, horrified daughters.”
He notes that his favourite part of the Haunted Forest is the huge range of people he gets to meet and entertain. He loves the varying reactions from patrons. “From shock and horror to outright laughter. And more often than not, a mingling of everything,” he says. “The idea is to both scare and amuse people at the same time, not to traumatize anybody for life.”
Magic and theatrics certainly do play an integral role in the Forest. The costumes are particularly impressive and vary wildly depending upon the actors. “Nobody ends up recognizable,” says Secombe. “I’ve had people that have known me for years visit the Forest and not be aware that it was me that they were dealing with.”
The ultimate goal of the Haunted Forest is to scare people in a tasteful way. Clint Moss, one half of the husband/wife team that runs A Maze In Corn, says, “Blood and gore are just plain gross and are an easy way to scare people. We try to use magic and theatrics to scare our guests.”
A Maze In Corn and the Haunted Forest have become a tradition for many families in Niverville and south-eastern Manitoba. The Forest is open nearly every Thursday through Sunday in October. Moss recommends that younger children visit during the day, because when the sun goes down it tends to get a little spookier.
According to Secombe, the scariest part of the Haunted Forest is the fear of the unknown. “As actors, all we need to do is play upon the fears inherent in everybody’s mind, and they usually end up scaring themselves.”
Standing at the exit to the Haunted Forest, you see groups laughing and joking about how loud they all screamed. And according to Moss, that’s the whole point. “Good times with family and friends, that’s what it’s all about.”
