Welcome to Mistyville Connecticut! A sleepy little town whose main tourist attraction is a beautiful, 500 acre farm with a scary secret: Apple Bloom Farm.
First, some background about myself. My name is Lilly. I’m a 20 year old student who goes to a university just 15 minutes away in the nearest city. I’m studying creative writing with a minor in drama. I applied for a year-round position at this farm to make some extra money while at school and away from home. As you can tell by the name, this farm’s main produce item was the many varieties of apples that were grown there: Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Empire, Honey Crisp; you name it, they got it.
Anyway, this farm is well known for its year-round farmers’ market the size of your average grocery store. This was where I would work most of the time, as well as in the pumpkin patch and corn maze.
What I didn’t know, however, was how quickly my life would change once I started working there (and not in a good way). Many horrifying things happened to me during my time working on the farm, and I’m writing this post as a warning to those who may want to visit.
It all started back in August on my first day…
I drove up the winding driveway to the staff parking lot, and saw an older couple, who looked to be in their late-fifties, standing outside of a small cottage-like building.
They must be the owners, I thought to myself. I got out of my car, and immediately felt an uneasy feeling that I couldn’t place; like someone (or something) was watching me…
Just then I was swiftly greeted by the couple, and the feeling briefly subsided.
“Hello, you must be Lilly’’, the man said.
“That’s me!” I replied, putting on my warmest smile. He smiled back, and held out his hand for me to shake.
“My name is Edgar. Edgar Bloom. And this is my wife, Elizabeth.”
“It’s so lovely to meet you, dear”, Elizabeth said, warmly shaking my hand.
“It’s so nice to meet you both! I can’t wait to get started,” I said
“Why don’t you follow us into the staff building so we can get you settled and show you around, hmm?”
I nodded in agreement, and I followed up the steps to the staff building. Though, the minute the conversation ended, the uneasy feeling came back. What the hell is going on? I thought. I looked around, and this place didn’t look any different from any other family-owned farm. Maybe I’m just coming down with something…
So I walk into the staff building, and am surprised to walk into a very cozy looking lounge room.
“Welcome to Apple Bloom Farm, Lilly!” Edgar exclaimed, standing in the middle of the room with his arms spread out. “I hope you enjoy your time working here, we like to make our employees feel welcomed here. Our family has owned this property for over 50 years, and everyone has enjoyed their time here, no matter how long they’re with us.” Then suddenly, blink and you’ll miss it, Edgar’s face darkened. “That is, if we don’t scare you away first.” His face then went back to normal, and he started laughing. “Oh, I’m just joking with you!”
I laughed half heartedly with him, but the truth is that I nearly jumped out of my skin. I then heard another voice coming in from outside.
“Mom? Dad? I’m here!” In came a woman who looked to be in her late-twenties or early-thirties.
“Oh, yes. Come here, honey,” Edgar said. “Sofia, meet Lilly. Lilly, this is Sofia; she will be showing you around, and will cover most of your training.”
“Hello, Lilly. Great to meet you!” Sofia said cheerfully. I smiled back at her; Sofia didn’t seem to be as mysterious as her parents.
“Alright, well I’ll let you ladies get to it. Good luck, Lilly,” Edgar said, turning to go out the front door.”
“Thank you, I’ll try,” I replied. I then felt a tug on my arm, and turned to see Elizabeth standing right in my face, her hand closed tightly around my arm.
“Be careful out there, my dear. You never know what’s lurking in the fields, especially at dusk.”
“O-ok. I will.” I could feel myself shaking with fear.
“Mom, stop it! You’re scaring her,” Sofia said.
Elizabeth then released my arm, and turned to give Sofia a remorseful look before swiftly leaving the building after her husband.
“What the hell was that all about?” I asked once I was able to find my voice, flabbergasted. “They’ve been acting weird since the moment I arrived.”
“Sorry about that,” Sofia said. “We had an… incident here a fews years ago, and my parents haven’t been the same since.”
“W-what kind of incident?” I asked, hesitant.
Sofia looked at me, and I saw her eyes darken. “Well, it all started about 5 years ago, when my parents made some renovations to the corn maze. They received an anonymous donation of this creepy-ass scarecrow that looked like it crawled out of the depths of hell. ‘This’ll scare the willikers out of the guests!’ my dad told me. So he took it out to the middle of the corn maze next to our haunted shack. Once they put it up though, things began to get strange. We would walk past it to put up more decorations, and we would feel like we were being watched. Then, portions of our crops began to rot when they were growing well. My parents decided to ignore the signs, thought, and continued preparing for the season as planned. Then everything seemed fine for a while, and then our Halloween festivities began…”
For some reason, as soon as she said that, I felt a shiver run up and down my spine.
“We have two different corn maze experiences we offer: a family-friendly one during the day, and a scary one at night. During the scary corn maze is when we realized something wasn’t right. Me and my parents would hear screams coming from the maze. Not the screams of people having fun, but terrifying, blood-curdling screams. Then we would have people running from the maze, and they would scream at my parents that they wouldn’t come back until they got rid of that god awful scarecrow. Eventually the authorities got involved, and my parents had to close off the section of the maze with the scarecrow in it. We still have no idea what’s wrong with that thing; we’re all too scared to go near it.”
“Holy crap…” I said softly.
“Yeah,” Sofia replied. “Did you ever wonder why there was a position open here?” She asked.
I shook my head, unable to make words form.
“Well, you’ll find out once you see that scarecrow. You’re sure you still want to work here? You still have time to back out.”
I took a deep breath and straightened my back, wanting to prove myself. I nodded confidently. “Yes”
She smiled weakly at me. “You’re a brave one. Now, do you want to start the tour?” Sofia asked.
I nodded, and she led me out the door to the rest of the farm. She showed me their massive farmers market, the rows and rows of their many varieties of apple trees, and their two separate pumpkin patches; one for small pumpkins and one for large. Our final stop was the corn maze…
As we were approaching it, though we were still a few feet away, and began to get chills all over my body. I looked around at the scenery, trying to slow down my heart rate. In the distance I could see it: the dreaded scarecrow.
I inhaled sharply. “Is that it?”
Sofia nodded next to me. “That’s it”
Though I was quite a distance from it, I could still make out some details. I could see a head made out of jack-o-lantern, and the carved-out face looked like something out of a horror movie. Its limbs were all bent in awkward angles, and the straws of hay sticking out of its clothing looked like they were dripping blood (perhaps it actually was, considering Sofia’s story).
“Wow. That’s… actually horrifying,” I said, not totally sure what I should be saying. Nothing I could say would have made that moment any less terrifying.
“It is,” Sofia replied. “Well, that’s everything,” she said after a brief moment of silence. “I hate to ask you this, but me and my parents are gonna start getting the maze ready for the halloween season tonight. If you want to join us, you can. No pressure, though. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She smiled crookedly at me.
I chuckled to myself. “No, I’d be happy to help. If I’m gonna work here for a while, I might as well get familiar with the place; even the scary parts.”
“That’s the spirit! Why don’t you join us for dinner, then we can start once the sun goes down?”
So I joined the Bloom family for dinner. Elizabeth had made a pumpkin veggie stew using fresh pumpkins from patches. Then after dinner, we headed out to the maze…
“Now, Lilly, I need you to be careful with those lights,” Edgar said as we were walking down the hill towards the maze. “They are very old and very thin, and will span in half if you bend them the wrong way.”
“Of course, Edgar! I’ll be as careful as I can.” As I walked through the entrance of the maze, the uneasy feeling, again, returned. This time stopping me in tracks. I felt a hand softly touch my back, and I turned to see Elizabeth smiling softly at me.
“I know you’re nervous, Lilly, but don’t be. We’ll be close behind you the whole time, and remember: As long as you stay on the path of the orange flags, you won’t get lost.” She gave me one last tap on the shoulder as encouragement. “Good luck, honey.” Then she walked off along with Edgar.
I took a deep breath, and walked along the orange path. The flashlight they gave me was luckily very bright, so I had no problem seeing where I was going. After walking for a few minutes, I came across the area where I would be decorating: this must have been where the family-friendly maze was because in front of me was a cute little area with hay bales, and a “Happy Halloween” sign. I smiled to myself, and began hanging up the lights.
As I was decorating, a feeling of someone watching me came over me, and a shiver ran up my spine. I hesitantly turned around, dreading what I might see. And as I looked behind me, and about 5 feet ahead of me was the blocked off section of maze with the scarecrow. Curiosity getting the better of me, I left my area of the maze to investigate this scarecrow.
I pushed through the corn stalks, and finally came face-to-face with the scarecrow. It’s even creepier up close, I thought to myself. I don’t know what came over me, but I felt the need to get closer, and I reached out to touch its arm. As soon I did that, its jack-o-lantern face began to glow; so softly that I thought I imagined it. I suddenly felt a sense of dread come over me, so I quickly turned around to walk back to my decorating area.
As I was walking back, I heard a thump and some rustling behind me. I turned around to look, and I immediately felt my heart drop into my stomach; the scarecrow was gone. I felt myself start to panic, and I turned my flashlight to its fullest brightness. I continued on, and I could still hear rustling behind me. Just then I heard a growl that froze me in my tracks.
“Sofia!?” I called out, hoping it was just her or her parents playing a trick on me. “Is that you?” I heard another growl, followed by a deep chuckle like you’d hear at the Haunted Mansion. Just then the rustling got even louder and closer, and, to my horror, I saw something big rise up over the corn stalks. There it was: the scarecrow towering over me, its carved face contorting into an evil scowl, its eyes looking right at me.
Without skipping a beat, I turned around and ran as fast as I could out of there. I took a quick glance over my shoulder, and I saw the scarecrow charging straight towards me, its bent arms flailing behind it, and its carved face filled with flames. Just then it leaped at my feet, and dragged me to the ground.
I felt my eyes well up with tears, thinking this might be the end for me. The scarecrow dug its claws into my legs, and let out its terrifying cackle again. I looked ahead of me, and I saw the exit only a few feet in front of me.
Suddenly filled with courage, I shook one of my legs free. “Get your claws off of me you HAY-STUFFED BASTARD!” I shouted. I used my free leg to kick the scarecrow in the face, and it was enough to knock it off of me. I got up off the ground, and ran as fast as lightning towards the exit, not even looking behind me to see if the scarecrow was chasing after me again. Once I made it out, I just continued running, and I ran past Sofia.
“Hey, where are you going?” Sofia shouted towards me.
“I’m getting the hell out of here!” I shouted back.
I continued running until I made it back to my car. I hopped in, turned on the ignition, and drove out of there like a bat out of hell. I looked in my rearview mirror, and I swore I could see the scarecrow at the edge of the field, still looking at me with a face full of flames.
Once the farm was out of sight, I let out the breath I had been holding, and continued driving, heading back to my college dorm.
I had to make it back somewhere safe; I would deal with Sofia and the Blooms in the morning…