Why do people pay good money to be scared out of their pants as All-Hallow’s Eve creeps closer and closer?

Erica McElroy, one of the co-progenitors of Halloween Hollow, middle Tennessee’s newest scare factory, can enlighten you on this dark query, after all, she and partner Carroll Moore are betting their fear farm on it.

“People want an escape, especially after the last few years. We as humans need to be able to enter a world of fantasy and mystery, even for just a little while. People pay to be scared because it makes them feel something. The adrenaline someone gets from being scared makes them feel several emotions all at once,” said McElroy. 

(By the way, admission to their haunted hollow in the Silver Point community of Putnam County ranges from $15 to $90, depending on a variety of options. See info box.)

Quizzed on how many ways haunt seekers can be scared in this eerie setting, Moore responded, “Over a thousand. We try to attack all the senses.”

Before going further, heed this warning. Once you enter Halloween Hollow through the mouth of a giant Jack-o-lantern, you may encounter wet and muddy conditions, roots, trip hazards, uneven terrain, wild animals, poison ivy, moving floors and jarring actions.

The duo that makes things go bump in the night described their creation saying, “Upon arrival at Halloween Hollow we have our beer garden, giant pumpkin, anarchy laser tag battle arena and pumpkin patch. Just down into the hollow we feature three separate haunted houses: Dark Raven, Video Slashback and Big Top Meats, each with its own spine-tingling backstory. To the left you’ll find our corn maze with our Fearway, where you’ll find retail and snacks.

“We consider Halloween Hollow more of a Halloween destination than a haunted house and have taken steps to include Halloween fun for every member of the family as well as a deep lore that will continue to evolve as the haunt grows.”

Located at 14400 Old Baxter Road in the Silver Point community of Putnam County, it’s about a 20-minute drive from Smithville. Hours are 7-11 p.m. every Friday-Saturday in October, and 7-10 p.m. the last three Sundays of October and Halloween night. The experience is not recommended for children under the age of 13.

Fear monger McElroy, a California native, has a background in lighting design and has worked for several haunted attraction companies and traveled across the U.S. as a haunt trainer, actor and actor director as well as creating haunted house themes for 24 years. Nashvillian Moore has been spooking since 2006 and has designed constructed and created scenes for haunted houses and considers himself a poor man’s imagineer. The two met in San Antonio, Texas, while working for a company that operated multiple haunted houses across the U.S.

“For years we wanted to come to Cookeville,” said Moore, noting they found a good location in the city but there was not enough room for parking. “A week or two later we saw an ad on Facebook where a farmer said, ‘I’ve got 200 acres and I want to do a haunted event,’ and we jumped at the chance to make it happen.

“We’re kind of the black sheep. When you do haunted houses, people are worried, especially realty agents. People don’t understand. It’s a rare person who will let you use their property.”

Said McElroy, “Our aim is to change the perception and let people know our goal is to provide great entertainment for the family.”

They began erecting Halloween Hollow, a member of the Tennessee Agritourism Association, in the late fall and early winter of 2021 and are using about 50 acres including a five-acre corn maze they planted by hand and have grown their own pumpkins. The site was still under construction when this writer visited.

“This is our first season. Everything’s just crazy. We started with a clean slate,” said Moore. “This is a large event, all Halloween, and we don’t want it too crammed. We want room for growth.”

The two are assisted by a team of 20 haunt curators and 60 “scareactors” hailing from Putnam, DeKalb, Wilson, Rutherford and Cumberland counties that appear in the guise of ghouls, ghosts, spirit types and other creepy characters.

This hair-raising site features a triple threat with its Dark Raven Manor, Video Slashback and Big Top Meats, plus a hedge maze and a greenhouse that features window panes that came from the old Central State Hospital in Nashville.

“We want people to find something different from the reality they just walked out of. Each house is different because we want a different Halloween experience for everyone,” said McElroy.

“The tour starts with the haunted house. When you walk in, you’ll look up and think this is legit. It’s not a carport. It has hidden doors,” said Moore. “Video Slashback is a 1990’s video store constructed from scratch. Out front we have a solid black 1985 Cadillac hearse. The store, named Hello Video, has a vampire character named Rewind who presents scenes from his favorite movies with a horror creature. The titles include ‘Dark Depths,’ ‘Slaughter’s Salvage,’ ‘Isle of the Dead’ and ‘Voodoo Bayou’.”

The third scare house, Big Top Meats, is a circus-themed slaughterhouse once operated by cannibalistic killer clowns.

Halloween Hollow will feature a variety of live events on different nights that include the Knights of Nashville Armored Combat (knights who fight in full armor), the Tennessee Ghostbusters (a paranormal meet up) and fire dancers.  

Another option for guests, who can hold and operate laser guns, is anarchy laser battle, which is a laser-tag arena with a scoring system. Contestants battle everyone in the arena. Also onsite is the Crypt Shop where guests can purchase snacks, drinks and T-shirts and find photo opportunities.

Halloween Hollow supports and works closely with the Community for Heroes Foundation, which was created to help provide at-risk veterans with the opportunity to have a home to stay in while participating in education and job training with community partners. The foundation is operated by the owners of Defenders Retreat, where Halloween Hollow is located.

Summing up their scary place, Moore said, “We want to give visitors to Halloween Hollow a bit of everything. Our goal is to create a fun, safe place for families to share some screams, some laughs and, ultimately, have a good time.”

A final word of caution: somewhere in the midst of the hollow lurk an 8-foot-tall Howlinger (werewolf) and four other factors of fear, which, if you’re not alert, will scare the bejeebers out of you.