By Jasmine Wright

All throughout the month of October, on Old State Road 37, the Barn of Terror opens to the public every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. sharp.

The barn is owned by Jared Neal, who has been running the haunt for over a decade. In 2022, the Barn of Terror was ranked 6th for haunted houses in Indiana. As a scaredy cat myself, and someone who personally hates haunted houses, of course I decided to go.

I walked across the barn’s front yard. The smell of the concessions pizza mixed with grass and cold air reminded me of the many years I would spend Halloween walking around the campsites of Shakamack State Park or the backwoods of Terre Haute, where bonfires and Purge masks littered the ground. I smiled, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. 

The first staff member I met was Happy the Clown. She has been working at the haunt for the last 6 years and said Neal had found her lurking alongside the road one night and asked her to join his crew. Throughout the years, Happy said her favorite age group to scare have been teenagers. 

“Sometimes they pee themselves inside [the barn],” she said, “We’ve had people throw up because they’re so scared.” 

While Happy stands by being the friendly face of the attraction, “I don’t scare anyone”, I watched her make children scream and adults who were too occupied with their phones finally look up and startle at her stare. 

Even still, it’s always nice to see Happy the Clown. Her balloon animals attract everyone who comes to visit the haunt.

“What kind of balloon animals are you able to make?” I asked. 

“I can make anything that you put your mind to,” she answered.

“Can you make me a snake?” … snakes are my favorite animals. 

Kinsley Stanley is another staff member who has been a part of the haunt for a long time. 

“[I’ve been a part of the Barn of Terror] since I was about eight years old,” she said. “My family’s always been close with the owners here, so it’s been a good experience.”

Stanley usually works the front of the barn, being the first to scare incoming guests and signaling to her costumed counterparts to get in their places.

I asked Stanley if she is scared of haunted houses. 

“No,” she answered. 

“You’re not scared at all?” I asked. 

‘Nuh, uh.”

I had been at the Barn of Terror for an hour and a half at this point. The later it got, the more people came to make their way through the attraction. Children were teasing a surgeon with half his body ripped open. 

“Stop scaring us, okay?” they said. He stared, not saying a word. 

“You got that?” the kids pleaded. 

Two couples came running out of the end of the barn, screaming while a scarecrow with a chainsaw chased them through the yard. The boys started laughing and one picked his girl up, swinging her around and kissed her on the cheek. 

Before I left, Neal let me interview one more staff member. He brought me around to the back of the barn, where it was pitch black.

A clown named JJ exited the attraction and came to speak with me. He has been working at the Barn of Terror for the last two years. Neal said he was responsible for most of the barn’s Tik Tok’s. 

JJ the Clown had some unique interests.

“I like belly buttons,” he told me. 

JJ also has some interesting relatives.

“Michael Myers is my cousin,” he said, “he brings me his belly button.”

JJ the Clown said he likes the deepness of belly buttons, “the innie, the outtie, the circumference”. He giggled at the thought. 

Before I left the interview JJ asked me if he would see me in the haunt. 

“Go through there so I can get you,” he said. 

I laughed. 

“Go through there,” he said again. “Are you scared?”

“No,” I answered, “I’ll go through!”

I found Jared Neal and told him thank you, I said goodbye to the really nice parking lady named Vicky, and then I headed to my car.