If your idea of Halloween excitement goes beyond the simple fun of trick or treating to include the thrills and chills of a terrifying scare, Fayetteville-Cumberland County area offers numerous opportunities to raise both the hair on the back of your neck and the pitch of your scream.

For at least 15 years, Arnette Park and Fayetteville-Cumberland County Parks and Recreation have held the Haunted Hayride, a one-mile-long open-air ride that travels the Haunted Trail to Marlowe Mansion, a haunted house.

This year’s event takes place on Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 27-29 from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is $2 per person. According to a spokesman for the parks and recreation office, the event is not recommended for small children.

Arnette Park is located at 2165 Old Wilmington Road. For more information, visit www.fcpr.us/special_events.aspx or call 433-1547. In case of inclement weather, call 306-7325.

•••••

Stoney Point Fire Department will continue its reputation for sending shivers up the spines of guests during its ninth annual Trail of Terror on Oct.14-15, 20-22 and 27-31, from 8 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and 8 to 11 p.m. on all other evenings.

“Basically, a couple of years ago, we threw out the idea, ‘Hey, let’s do a haunted house,” said Lieutenant Tara Whitman. “The guys out here did one, and they stopped doing it. They used to run one over at Lafayette Village Fire Department, and they closed that one down, and there was nothing around here for Halloween, so we said, ‘Let’s try it and see how it goes.’ We just threw some people in costumes and threw them out there in the woods and cut a little path. There was just nothing to it. It was a huge success, and ever since then, we’ve been going strong.”

In fact, the Trail of Terror grows bigger each year.

“We always try to switch it up a bit and do things a bit better than we did the year before,” Whitman said. “It takes 15-20 minutes to go through the trail. We have a haunted mansion, and then you have to walk through a cornfi eld and in and out of buildings. You’re actually walking through an older-style mansion with all the dark wood paneling and different rooms like the parlor, the study, the bedroom, the kitchen and then you’re out of the house. There’s a variety of themes, and you’ll see a little bit of everything. We guarantee a good time and a good scare.”

The Trail of Terror is recommended for ages 12 and older, but the fire department also offers a Trail of Candy for small kids on Oct. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m.

“We don’t scare them,” said Whitman. “And they get a chance to walk through it, too.”

Prepare to be scared, but please don’t bring cameras, flashlights or video cameras. Admission is $12 per person. The event is held at the Stoney Point Fire Department, 7221 Stoney Point Rd: and actually originated in the reincarnation of past haunted houses from more than 20 years ago.

For more information, visit www.stoneypointfi re.com/SPFD-Trail-o-Terror.or call (910) 424-0624.

•••••

In a twist on the title of popular novel and movie Field of Dreams, Gillis Hill Road Produce offers Field of Screams on Oct. 21-22, 28-29 and Halloween night.

“This is our second year of having a haunted corn trail,” said Jenna Gillis, who runs the Field of Screams with her brother William. “It will be here at the produce stand. Last year we held it with random things, like a haunted corn maze. This year we have more of a theme, kind of like back in the country. We’re trying to make it as scary as possible. We’ve put more into the facemasks and the special effects.”

And if someone would rather scare than be scared, Field of Screams is accepting applications for participants up until Oct. 15. This fi ve-acre haunted corn trail thriller runs from 7 to 11 p.m. each Friday and Saturday and from 7 to 10 p.m. Halloween night at Gillis Hill Road Produce, 2899 Gillis Hill Rd. Admission is $8 per person, and groups of 10 or more receive a discount of 10 percent. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=268258853205505 or call 308-9342.

Happy hauntings!

Photo, top left: A Trail of Terror actor offers up a haunting look.