October 17, 2025 | Issue 190
This Year's Haunted Fall Festival Brings Celebrities to Town
The Vampire Wives are Coming
By Stanley McBride – Staff Reporter
This year’s Haunted Halloween Festival kicks off next week and will feature special guests: The Real Vampire Wives of Obsidian Hills. Filming will take place throughout the week, with the Wives attending several of the events. Sheriff Harlow asks residents to “be patient with the camera crews, lighting vans, and any sudden dramatic fainting.” Local businesses are thrilled about the potential tourism bump, and Hazel Thornton, this year’s festival chair promises even more magical fun than ever before. Town Center will be the focal point of the festival once again with vendor shops open from 10:00 AM until midnight every night. Carnival rides will be open from 5:00 PM until midnight.
Schedule of events:
Tuesday at 10:00 AM: Haunted 5K Run/Official festival kick-off
Wednesday at 7:00 PM: Costume Contest and Pumpkin Carving
Thursday at 7:00 PM: Spirits & ‘Smores
Friday at 10:00 PM: Halloween Parade
Enchanted Corn Maze Develops a Mind of Its Own
Residents Report Sudden Exits, Unwanted Guests
By Carol Bender, Staff Reporter
What began as harmless Halloween fun at the Moonridge Corn Maze has quickly turned into a town-wide guessing game for confused visitors. Since last weekend, the maze, grown and enchanted by local farmers as part of the Haunted Halloween Festival, has started spitting people out in random locations across Moonridge.
“I went in with my kids, and we were doing fine until the stalks started whispering directions in some unknown language,” said resident Paula Greene. “Next thing I knew, we were standing behind the post office. The maze entrance was gone, and my youngest was holding a pumpkin that refused to stop shrieking.”
Not everyone’s exit has been so mild. One unfortunate man found himself materializing in a stranger’s bathroom mid-flush. “I’ll never forget that,” said the startled homeowner, who asked to remain anonymous. “I was just doing my business when this poor guy appeared out of thin air.” Both parties have since agreed never to discuss the incident again.
Organizers insist the maze wasn’t designed for teleportation. “It’s supposed to disorient you a little, not redecorate your sense of space,” said La’Tasha Morehouse. “We think one of the charm runes may have slipped, or maybe the maze just got ideas of its own. Either way, we’re working to calm it down.”
Hazel Thornton confirmed that the witches will perform a grounding ritual this week to stabilize the maze’s magic. “It’s drawn a bit too much energy from the ley lines beneath the field,” she explained. “We’ll get it behaving again before the Vampire Wives arrive. The last thing this town needs is reality TV stars vanishing into the corn.”
In the meantime, residents are advised to enter the maze at their own risk, and preferably with a buddy system. Sheriff Ben Harlow has stationed volunteers at several “possible exit zones” across town, including the library, the diner, and, by special request, the bathrooms of Maple Street.
“Moonridge likes to keep folks guessing,” Harlow said. “But this is pushing it.”
Opinion - Moonridge Could Use a Little Magic Again
I’ve lived in Moonridge my entire life, long enough to remember when the annual Haunted Halloween Festival was the biggest thing this side of Salem. Families would line Main Street for the costume parade, the werewolves handled crowd control, and you couldn’t walk ten feet without someone handing you a caramel apple. Businesses thrived, visitors filled every corner, and the whole town glowed, literally and otherwise.
These last few months haven’t been so kind to our beloved little town. Between Ravena’s schemes, the fire at Amethyst Lake, and half the shops still repairing broken windows, it’s been easy to forget what joy feels like here. Some of us are worried. Tourists stopped coming, people whisper about moving, and you can’t run a café or a bookstore on whispers alone.
That’s why I’m choosing to believe this year’s festival could mark a fresh start. The clean-up crews are out every morning, the witches are restoring the wards, and Carter Construction is rebuilding faster than I ever thought possible. Even the arrival of those “Real Vampire Wives” might do us some good. My hope is that the cameras will bring attention and maybe a few curious visitors with full wallets.
Moonridge has always been strange, but it’s also always been strong. If we can survive cursed pumpkins, singing gourds, and the occasional rogue ghost, we can certainly rebuild a town. I hope when the lights go up for the festival, every resident stands together—witches, wolves, humans, and whoever else calls this place home—and remembers why we stay: because magic, for all its trouble, keeps our hearts beating in unison.
Here’s to a good festival season. Let’s give the world a reason to remember Moonridge for the right kind of spell this time.
– Martha Pennington, Birch Ave.