C. Casola Farms
Marlboro, NJ
October 29, 2009

C. Casola Farms located in Malrboro, NJ has been one of the top rated local attractions for haunt seekers in the state.  The farm boasts a total of three attractions including, The Haunted Hayride of Terror, The Haunted Barn and Haunted Wooded Trail.  As part of our, “Four Nights of Fright” we ventured here on a Thursday night in late October. 

As we pulled into the parking lot, we were surprised to find it almost completely empty leading you to the conclusion that either the place wasn’t good, or it was just lacking attendance due to it being a school night.  Well we make our way to the ticket booth, purchase our tickets and begin our night.  Because The Haunted Hayride of Terror was right there and it seemed to have a couple people on board we hopped on.  We sat there for a while waiting for more riders, which seemed like forever.  Finally we were off!

Now to me hayrides are one of the hardest haunted attractions to actually make scary.  You have so much going on.  You have live actors on either side of the trailer, animatronics, and of course the guests onboard.  This hayride was actually pretty good!  Maybe it was the lack of riders or the raised metal sides that made it so scary.  But I found myself startled twice and I never get scared on hayrides.  Casola has mastered the hayride because of one basic feature.  Unlike most hayrides where the sides are wood, the sides of this trailer are metal. Giving the actors the perfect opportunity to sneek up along side the wagon, take their weapons and give it a whack.  However, with good there is bad.  This attraction lacked live actors, actually most of their attractions did.  Maybe it was because it was a school night.  Don’t get me wrong I love animatronics if they are used the right way but enough is enough.  There was way to much animatronics on this hayride and not enough actors.  It also seemed as though this hayride was fighting with a theme.  We had dead guys, zombies, and then dinosaurs?  I don’t get it!

After hopping off the hayride we entered, The Haunted Wooded Trail.  Which was actually pretty scary because it really was a haunted wooded trail.  What actors we did see used the bushes and trees well, waiting until you were right there and then pow, right in the face!  But yet again this attraction fought for a theme, and I couldn’t understand the dinosaurs, rabid dogs, and alligators?  It seemed as though we were walking forever and it got a little boring towards the end, but then the best part came!  While your exiting the trail the entrance is on the other side of this tarp.  If someone is walking by you, you can hit it with your hand while screaming real loud and the others on the other side go crazy!

After the wooded trail….. We went to the haunted barn!  This year the haunted barn had been extended with a 3-D section.  This maze was totally wicked!  This place knows how to use the 3-D feature to their advantage!  Instead of just painting on the wall like most places do, they actually brought the walls to life with wood paintings that jolted out a bit to make the 3-D look ten times better!  The maze again fought with a theme, we had monsters, animals, undead, clowns, and chuckie!  However, animatronics were used in this maze a lot and to be honest, I thought it went very well.  The ending was the best part, where I thought I was staring at a fake chuckie doll, I was actually staring at a live chuckie doll.  Right when I got close it started to move!

Overall this place would have been ten times better if we had gone on a more busier night.  The use of animatronics was a little overwhelming but still cool.  I would definitely return to C. Casola Farms next year for a more fair review.  But until then, I would give this place a 7 out of a 10. 

Tip - If you are planning to visit this attraction, make sure to go on a weekend.  We went on a weekday and the place was empty!  Guest wise and actor wise!