Haunted Mill

This should be a five-star review.

Each weekend evening in October, community members rally behind a centuries-old mill that has turned into a museum.

They decorate the inside of the historic building and the nine-acre property to resemble a house of horrors, prison for the insane, graveyard and other Halloween-themed sites of horror.  

Volunteer actors don monster costumes, get their hair made up in scary styles, get squirted with fake blood and equip themselves with the appropriate implements of mayhem -- chainsaws, sicles, machine guns, etc.  

Lighting and sound effects are wonderful.  A hay ride after the "tour" of the mill is fun.  Walking through other staged areas is spooky and amusing.  BUT...

Five reasons why this Halloween fund-raising event for the historic mill in Clinton, NJ, isn't worth the hassle:

1- it's disorganized.
2 -- Wait lines are excessive (likely 3+ hours for those arriving even an hour after dark
3 -- only 10 people can go through the mill at a time.
4 -- unless you like the performers at Renaissance fairs, you will end up slugging someone who sneaks up behind you and yells "huzzah"
5 -- there's no seasonal food or drink to help those wary of standing in a cold, grid-locked line   A candy apple or hot cider isn't too much to ask. A chilled shot of Jack would be better
5a - the rent--a-cops on Segway scooters look like tools and could really benefit from the exercise benefits of walking

I spent $125 and drove my family from NYC to attend. We arrived at 6:15 and didn't leave until almost 10.

My 1973 backyard carnival to fight muscular dystrophy was better organized.