INTERVIEW: Headless Horseman Hayrides is still the haunt champion
Photo: Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Attractions welcomes terrified visitors to Ulster Park, New York. Photo by John Soltes.
There are many haunts around the United States this time of year, but few can rival the almighty Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Attractions in Ulster Park, New York. Located approximately 100 minutes north of New York City and just south of Kingston, New York, this scary experience has been packing in the crowds for more than three decades, and the company’s creative efforts have recently paid off with a ranking of #2 on USA Today’s Best Haunted House / Attraction list.
Owner Michael Jubie has been having fun in this pocket of the Hudson Valley every Halloween season, and he’s excited for this year’s theme, “Night of the Blood Moon,” which promises plenty of frights for first-time visitors and new terror for repeat customers.
“Our numbers are up,” Jubie said before the Columbus Day weekend. “We’re doing pretty good. The weather has been good, and we’re getting a lot of attention. … We try to add something every year. We’ve been doing this for 33 years.”
What sets Headless Horseman apart is the power of the attractions’ storytellers. Without giving away too many of the scares, visitors to the experience pass through ticket booths and security before they are whisked away on an actual hayride that is terrifyingly scary and wondrously designed. Aboard each wagon is a storyteller who perfectly sets the mood and brings the frightened guests to epic sets that are gargantuan in size and impressive in scope. Then, there is a series of haunted houses and walking trails with devilish names like Jacko’s Inferno, Widow’s Walk, Skinner Motel, and Glutton’s Diner and Slaughter House. All told, HHH plays out on 65 acres of land.
“I like to refer to it as a traveling play,” he said. “When you go to a Broadway show, you go inside, sit down, and the play unfolds in front of you. When you come here, we put you on a hay wagon, and we take you from set to set to set. There’s interaction with the storyteller, with the actors on the trail, and that’s probably a good description of a traveling play.”
On any given night, Jubie and his team utilize 280 cast and crew members, which is a far cry from his first day on the job 33 years ago. Back then, he started with only 30 employees, and that number grew to its peak in the pre-COVID era when he had 350 employees. Now he’s at 280 people who are in the business of scaring visitors every Friday and Saturday.
“Some of our sets are so big that you really can’t rearrange them to a large degree,” Jubie said. “But we have a motel here. We just redid that entire motel over. This year we added the Horseman’s Tavern, so if you make it out alive you can have a glass of beer. So that’s something new this year, and as I say, our attraction changes with the theme. This year is the ‘Blood Moon,’ and it’s werewolves. So we have a tremendous amount of werewolf costumes and that type of thing. Every year is a little different.”
There is one word that Jubie doesn’t like to say aloud because it may curse a particular evening of fun, and that’s rain. A powerful storm hit the Northeast this past weekend, which closed the attraction Sunday, Oct. 12. Jubie said the decision to cancel is always a tough one.
“Rain is a bad word for us, but it depends on when it starts raining and how hard it starts raining,” he said. “Lightning definitely we’d shut down and hope that the storm will pass, but rain, if it’s just a light drizzle, depending on what time it starts, we’ll continue. We have to make that call during the afternoon hours, and it’s a very hard call to make, to be quite honest with you. I would rather just have it be pouring rain so I can make the decision easily, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. The weatherman says, ‘Oh yeah, it’s going to start at 4 p.m.’ Then the sun is out at 4, and it’s going to start at 5. And next thing you know, it’s pouring at 6, or it doesn’t rain. That’s one of the real tough decisions to make in our season.”
For newbies to HHH, buying a Scream Pass, although costing more money, may be worth the investment because lines can stretch for a long distance. Those extra dollars allow visitors to skip the worst of the line and jump into the wagon a little bit earlier. Another pro tip: Guests should try to book an earlier time slot on a given evening because there’s a lot to enjoy at Headless Horseman.
Haunt-goers should also know that HHH takes security seriously.
“We have walk-through metal detectors,” Jubie said. “We have a big police presence. … I’m a retired detective, and security is one of our top priorities for the safety of our guests as well as actors and crew. There are some kids who get out of hand, but I guess that’s to be expected when you put a lot of people through an event.”
There are many “h” words in Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Attractions, and now one can add another word to that title: “historic.” There’s no denying that HHH is now a leader and respected elder in the business of scaring people.
“My operations manager actually he was here the day we started, and he’s still with us,” Jubie said about his dedicated staff. “I have a couple others. My general manager I think is working on 25 years, my trail manager the same. We have a lot of returning positions, and we’re very glad to have them.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Attractions continues through Saturday, Nov. 1, in Ulster Park, New York. Click here for more information and tickets.
