A Message from the Creator of the Haunted Mill Trail of Terror
My
name is Sandra Phillips and I am a confessed “Halloweenie”. Halloween
has long held a strange fascination for me and as a child I could
hardly wait for that magical day of October 31st to arrive. My affinity
for all things Halloween only intensified as I grew into an adult. I
filled my home inside and out with all manner of Halloween decorations
and devised ever more elaborate costumes.
Over a five year period I had the opportunity to work at Tweetsie Railroad’s Halloween Festival as a scareactor. It was tremendous fun and a great training ground for an amateur haunter.
Visiting haunted attractions became another passion and each Halloween I went to more and more of them observing and learning. Finally, I was ready to create my own haunt and in 2003 with the help of my husband, Travis Anderson, that is just what I did.
Our home is quite unusual; it is a millhouse with a large working water wheel. The one acre yard is full of big trees and shrubs and dark shadowy places. I decided to take advantage of what we had and created the Vanderpool Haunted Mill.
That first year was a real learning experience for Travis and me, but the haunt was still a success. We raised over $700.00 in contributions with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
Over the next two years the Vanderpool Haunted Mill grew in size and attendance. In 2005, over 1,000 people walked the trail and over $3,000 was raised.
At that point Travis and I decided to take a break to assess where we wanted the Haunted Mill Trail of Terror to go. It had become so large and popular we were unsure if we could continue to grow and improve it.
How could I have known the profound change that would take place in my life just two short months later? Travis, my beloved husband of twenty five years, died suddenly and unexpectedly. Nothing could have prepared me for the shock and finality of such a loss.
The Vanderpool Haunted Mill had been our project and Travis had been the best haunt partner I could have had. In 2006 I made the difficult and painful decision to close the Vanderpool Haunted Mill and it has remained closed.
Many of those who had visited the trail told me how much they missed it and that it had become a Halloween tradition for them. Haunting is in my blood and I sorely missed producing the trail, but how could I do it by myself.
Fate stepped in and I met and subsequently married a kind and understanding man who realized how much I loved haunting. Tex agreed to help me reopen the Haunted Mill Trail of Terror this year. Words cannot express my gratitude to him for allowing me to pursue my passion once again.
So after a three year hiatus I will pull out the coffins, fog machines, fake blood, costumes, and other props used to scare those unwary enough to walk my trail.
Come meet Winnie Mae Vanderpool who is just your ordinary, run of the mill, everyday female serial killer. Folks are just dying to rent a room in her boarding house…
Dr. Sandra Phillips, Creator and Producer
Vanderpool Haunted Mill
| All
proceeds go to the American Cancer Society |
