With various haunted attractions available within close distance of Hershey, Hersheypark didn’t try their hand at having a haunted attraction in Hersheypark. That changed in 2004 when park management decided to have one. This attraction was Haunted Harvest. 

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I want to take a moment to thank Roy J. Brashears for his help with this article. His input and images are great to help bring back memories in this one-time event at Hersheypark.

Thanks Roy!

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The Legend

In 2004, Hersheypark introduced a new event for Hersheypark In The Dark that was a haunted house walkthrough. Called Haunted Harvest, it featured a haunting storyline and was in the Wildcat and Pioneer Frontier Catering pavilions. Haunted Harvest was produced by Oak Island Productions (today called Oak Island Creative).

Haunted Harvest was comprised of three haunted zones, Fear House, Scream Acres, and Dread Shed. This was themed after The Legend of Cornelius Fields, a story created for Haunted Harvest.

The event had a fee of $18 per person. Guests could also buy a combination wristband that gave you unlimited rides and entry to Haunted Harvest for $33 per person. Guests had to be at least 16 years of age or older to enter the attraction.

Haunted Harvest was open every day of Hersheypark In The Dark that season, with the park being open until 12 a.m. on some days, the latest the park had ever been normally open till. The event would open at 7 p.m. with the rest of the park opening earlier.

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This video, produced by Oak Island, gives the backstory to Haunted Harvest
and shows you a walkthrough of the event. 

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No return

In April 2005, the park announced in a letter that the Haunted Harvest attraction would not be offered at Hersheypark In The Dark 2005.

The letter, which made its rounds on various online forums at the time, reportedly said:

“Hersheypark has decided not to offer the Haunted Harvest experience in
order to focus on attractions that target our primary audience, the
family.  The Haunted Harvest event was executed flawlessly; the
creativity and work ethic exhibited went beyond expectation and we owe
a great deal of gratitude to you for making the event happen.  We will
certainly miss the opportunity of working with all of you, but we do
hope to see you again at Hersheypark as a guest or as an employee.”

In an interview with Kathleen Daminger of LancasterOnline.com, from October 2010, Hersheypark public relations manager Kathy Burrows said, “The event didn’t go over. It was extremely well done and extremely scary. But that’s not what people want when they come here.”

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