# Hats off to TOT13...Trail of Terror



## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

My hats off in a big way to TOT13 and all the great haunters and volunteer staff at THE TRAIL OF TERROR !!! Near Lucedale Ms.

I made the trip up to Mississippi this weekend for the Saturday night opening of the 2010 season of the trail of terror. The trail is open every Saturday night in October.

Bottom line? ........VERY NICE !! http://www.trailofterror13.com/

TOT13 and his partners have a 1/2 mile long (for charity) trail through the pine woods of south Mississippi, that will make many a patron wet their pants. (I mean for real wet paints as witnessed by me (beelce).

I arrived on site at noon on Sat. where I met TOT13 who gave me the daylight tour of the trail, and set me to work re-skinning the 20' long Vortex tunnel built inside of it's very own, year round tin barn.

After that, it was off to fill a few "smudge Pots" and string a few more lights to the generators before the 70 plus actors and host volunteers arrived just before dusk.

Organized chaos to say the least, but out to their stations they did go, and right on cue, the first patrons pulled into the 5 acre fresh mowed parking field.

It was a moon-less crystal clear night. A million stars shone bright while flaming smudge pots on top of 10' poles marked the main entrance of the trail. At the trail's exit was the much talked about, and feared HAUNTED HOUSE. In the front yard of the haunted house there is a 600' long path with REAL corn planted 20' deep on both sides of the path, with ears of corn just about ready to pick and roast for next weeks patrons. Not to mention a great hiding place for the CHILDREN OF THE CORN (insidious little boo-gers).

I have simplified the descriptions, and these are the unofficial station names, but this is what you have to get through before you find safety at the end of the trail.

Zombie attack
Cemetery
Spider Tunnel 
Freddy Kruger
Butcher Tabel
Vortex Tunnel
Clown Tent
Children of the Corn 
Helter Skelter
Haunted House
plus many many "stand alones" hiding in the dark woods all along the trail just waiting for the next guided tour to snake through the trail.

I set out the "SNAKE JUMPER..SCREAM MAKER" ice chest, which I brought with me from my own haunt. It worked hard and well all night long, just next to the ticket booth and concession stand. http://hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=11539

After a quick bite to eat, I was off to the van to get into costume and character as the mad scientist/ "HAUNT DOCTOR".

TOT13 graciously allowed me (the HAUNT DOCTOR) to roam the trail at will, where I spent the night chasing the patrons, actors, and trail guides, checking on their general "haunt health" 
and offering "head-ectomies" or "life-less flight" helicopter rides to the morgue.

The last tickets of the night were sold at 11:08 pm and we all left the privately owned and graciously donated property at 1:15 am

I had great fun that night, and plan one more trip this haunt season, up to the TRAIL OF TERROR with a larger group .

Maybe I'll get some of that fresh corn.............beelce


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

so wish to see video. i would have loved to see children of the corn videos! Hint hint hint!


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## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

Sounds like a great haunted trail!


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## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

Wow, Beelce, thank you for all the kind words. Beelce was a great asset to us as more workers show up during the day, the more talking I do instead of working. Beelce definitely took up my slack. It was great to get to meet a fellow HF member in person.

DarkAngel, we are horrible at taking pics and video during live nights as "ordered chaos" is a polite but accurate description. A local tv station will be at the Trail this weekend to film a 2 minute commercial for us, and I've already been promised a copy of the finished product which I will gladly share here.

Gotta tell you about CoC since you're a fan. CoC shares the corn field with our Jeepers Creepers station. The scene opens with Issac discussing "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" and the Interlopers just like in the movie. As our group walks through the corn, the children harass and threaten the group. At the end of the scene, we find Issac tied to the cross having been betrayed by HWWBtR. The cool thing about this, at least to me, is that I have a set of identical twin boys that have been with the Trail since they were 8 years old - they're now 13. Obviously, they play "Issac", so the crowd sees him "here" and then he's "there".

We have a lot of fun at the ToT and it is a lot of hard work. Our success is because of our staff. At our traditional staff meeting before we went live, I asked for a show of hands if this would be their fifth year working the Trail, followed by those who would be working their fourth year. I would guesstimate that 75% of the hands were raised between the two.

Beelce took tons of pics which I am anxious to see (hint, hint). Hopefully he will either share them here or directly with me, and if the latter, I will in turn share them with you. It's ok if you cut out the middle-man, Beelce, lol. Beelce, thanks again for your help and I look forward to seeing you on the 16th - and an early "Happy Birthday!" to you!


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

OH YES......There will be pictures....
Just give me another shot at the trail of terror, and I'll post them.


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

Thanks everyone.....
Tomorrow I'm off to Mississippi to hang out with TOT13 at the TRAIL OF TERROR...
Perfect way to celebrated my B-Day


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

I did get my fresh corn on last Saturday night........
I also had the time of my life at the 3RD weekend of the TRAIL OF TERROR.

Another gorgeous night ...clear, dry, and cool....this time we had a bright moon to help light this awesome, blow-out of a trail.
650 eager patrons plopped down their donation and headed into the blackness of the TRAIL OF TERROR.

The HAUNT DOCTOR (Beelce) and the GOOD WITCH SANDRA (Mrs Beelce) arrived just at dusk and hit the trail with the first group of the night.
A special honor for us, was TOT13 leading our group with an expert narration and witty banter with the scared, clutching on to each other in the dark, patrons.

The Good Witch and the Haunt Doctor roamed the trail all night. Taking pictures, scaring the horde, entertaining the waiting lines, and just having an all around blast with our job.

The Trail and the actors were running like clockwork that night. The few problems that did pop up were handled on the spot by the 100 plus actors and guides, and unnoticed by any onlookers.

I'm not sure when he made the time, but Johnny was able to build even more new props....his excellent version of the "BlairCrows"
NOTE: Even though I've seen pictures of TOT13's outstanding props on the hauntforum, it is really cool to see another haunt designer's props live in person, and even more awesome than any picture.

As Johnny and I walked thru the trail after the last group of the night, I couldn't help but notice the respect he received from his actors. Many called him "coach Johnny", all of them remained in there assigned spots
trying out their scare technique on TOT and myself.
Johnny shut down the generators and blew out the torches as we went along....Suddenly an impromptu dance party in the "Jeepers Creepers" tent broke out for a brief period of time. The teenage actors just blowing off a bit of energy
at the end of the night before they lost the power from the generator.
At this point I took the opportunity to grab a big full ear of fresh corn right off one of the stalks near the haunted house...soooo glad the boo-gers didn't see me!!

Everyone was tired, and the trail cleared out fairly quickly. The taillights leaving the barking area.... snaking off down the long dirt driveway....another successful Saturday night on the TRAIL OF TERROR.


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)




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## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

Beelce, thanks for all the great comments, all the great pics, and the great help from you and Mrs. Beelce. I appreciate the two of you taking the time to not only come and visit us, but to help us out too.


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