It’s arrived: the season of pumpkins, of sweater weather (even in this 80-degree San Diegan heat), of pumpkin chais off the Starbucks seasonal fall menu, and possibly most excitably, of a perfectly spooky haunted corn maze. 

Since Oct. 6, Carlsbad Strawberry Company has been running their pumpkin patch along with petting zoos and tractor rides. On a Saturday evening, I entered the farm grounds with a friend, a $10 bill for entry sitting with the lint in my pocket, and a dream: to have a night of fright. What I didn’t expect was that the half-mile-long line to get in would be followed by another line, this one to purchase the actual tickets. Yes, indeed, I had just paid for a ticket to buy more tickets. 

However, I wasn’t going to be defeated by the minor inconvenience of an excruciating wait time. That was when I saw the ticket prices. At a whopping $25, I believed this haunted corn maze would bring me eternal happiness with its VIP horror experience. As I trekked through the pitch dark course with Survivor by Destiny’s Child blasting in one ear and the screams of my fellow participants ringing in the other, I had gotten what I wanted: a good, scary, high-adrenaline night. Within the roughly 25-minute time frame (a dollar a minute if I do the math right), there were even enclosed tunnels within the maze to heighten the scare factor. The maze lasted long enough for the actors to genuinely invoke fear in me, but short enough so I didn’t get bored. There were actors in masks, with chainsaw props, and even one on stilts. That being said, I wished the costumes were more elaborate than just black cloaks and a Party City mask and that the scares were more than just yelling loudly.

 In the end, I have to ask myself, at what price should I draw the line? I’m not sure how much the production costs, and $35 (excluding food and drinks) could be reasonable, but for me personally, the Carlsbad Strawberry Company Haunted Corn Maze will not be on the list of fall to-do’s next year.