'A flea market of scares': Emmons Island Haunted Trail is spookiest forest walk around

GRAND ISLE ― Thousands of people came out to the forested Grand Isle property of Matthew and Joanna Emmons on Oct. 14 for a once-a-year event: the Emmons Island Haunted Trail.

The Haunted Trail is a spooky nighttime walk through the woods with light effects, sound effects, props, and volunteer actors.

"We try to go to every phobia that a person may have, so if one 'gotcha' is not gonna get you, you're eventually gonna run into something that's probably in your wheelhouse that scares you," said organizer Matthew Emmons.

The trail winds through a forest located on Emmons' private property. Attendees encounter talking skeletons, massive spider webs, evil butcher shops, haunted cemeteries, human-sized mouse mazes, and more. The trail hosts a kids-friendly version of the event for two hours, and then a PG-13 version for the rest of the night.

It takes about 45 minutes to traverse through the trail's various haunts.

"The trail starts to ramp up in spookiness as they maneuver through the spooky woods," Emmons said.

The one-night event takes three months to prepare. About 50 volunteers help set up and act in the event.

"We have people that have come back every year for 10 years," Emmons said. "They just show up the day of, they set their little spot up Saturday morning, and it's like a flea market out there — a flea market of scares."

Hauntings against hunger

Founded in 2000, the Emmons family has been hosting the Haunted Trail every year for the past 23 years, except for 2020. The event was founded as a way for the Emmons to give back to their community in Grand Isle, which has been supportive of their disabled child's needs for accommodations.

The trail started with about 25 attendees, and now there are over 2,000 attendees each year.

All proceeds go toward the Champlain Islands Food Shelf. Attendees are asked to bring $10 a person or seven non-perishable goods. This year the event raised $2,240 and brought in 1,164 pounds of food for the food shelf.

"I just want people to have a good time and have fun," Emmons said. "And it is all about charity. It's basically getting food to those people in need."

Contact April Fisher at amfisher@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AMFisherMedia

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Emmons Island Haunted Trail: A spooky forest walk in Grand Isle VT