Rachel isn’t interested in a haunted hayride

_Elsa_

Rancid finds some articles on haunted hayrides. Their food has arrived so he puts down his phone for a bit. Once they finish eating he picks up the phone and reads this one article to Rachel about haunted hayrides.

‘When Did Haunted Hayrides Begin?

Although the origin of haunted hayrides is unknown, our passion for haunted attractions in general has a long history, dating all the way back to ancient cultures. The Greeks, for instance, created special effects to scare patrons in the theater. Haunted attractions increased in popularity between the late 1960s to the early 1970s. However, haunted hayrides are a more recent development, dating back to around the late 1980s or early 1990s. One of the oldest is the Double M Haunted Hayride in upstate New York, which began more than 25 years ago. 

Were Hayrides Always Haunted?

From piecing together anecdotes, it appears that hayrides originally began as a celebration in agricultural settings at the end of the hay season more than one century ago. Neighbors joined together to cut and gather hay and transport it to barns. At the end of the day’s work, they would throw loose hay into the back of a trailer (this was before the advent of hay bales) and ride around as a type of social activity, perhaps even a matchmaking event. 

It seems likely that haunted hayrides were born from these regular hayrides — evolution into a haunted variant was a logical next step. Agritourism, which encompasses everything from vineyard tours to Halloween attractions, needs to constantly find new ways to draw people to farms and ranches, and ideal opportunity to increase income is around the holidays. The public’s love of being scared led to the explosion of Halloween activities and paved the way for haunted hayrides.’ (Source) 

“I don’t think I want to do a haunted hayride,” says Rachel. “If there is a choice then I’ll take the regular hayride around the farm.” 

It's time to pay for their dinner and head upstairs to their room. 

Let’s continue - Definitely no haunted hayride!

Start at the beginning – Seasons come and seasons go – the hayride