SATURDAY OCTOBER 23, 2021 SPECIAL SATURDAY EDITION

Silo of Screams offers abundant chills

By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

Scream season is upon us, and John Guthrie is prepared.

Most of the year, Guthrie focuses on sandwiches and salads — he’s a partner in several Temple and Belton area Subway stores. But in October, his attention turns in a chilling direction.

“I went to a local haunted hayride a few years ago, and so many people turned out that hundreds of cars were turned away,” he said. “They had reached capacity, but a lot of people left disappointed. I thought, ‘This could be a big, big industry.’”

The next year — 2017 — Silo of Screams opened in Temple’s Industrial Park.

“The location kind of fell into my lap,” he said. “It’s an old 30-acre hardwood manufacturing plant that was in business for about 50 years. It’s old and rustic, and it just screams ‘haunted house.’”

This year, Silo of Screams opened in early October, but Guthrie and his staff have been tweaking scenes and adding new attractions, all in preparation for the big show — Halloween weekend.

“We’re open every Friday and Saturday night, and of course we will be open on Halloween Sunday,” he said. “We open at 8 p.m. and the last group goes through around 11.”

Guthrie said the crew will gather for one last haunting on Nov. 6.

“It’s about a week after Halloween, and those who really love the season want one last hurrah,” he chuckled. “It’s usually a big night.”

Silo of Screams actually is four separate haunted attractions, all rolled into one. Guthrie had planned for five attractions, but COVID forced a scale-back of plans.

“We decided to go with four this year,” he said. “We have the staff, but with the COVID situation it’s hard to keep everything sanitized. Four just works better this year.”

One of the most popular haunts — and maybe the most frightening — is the Fun House.

“It’s a typical carnie freak show with bright, colorful strobe lights and blood-thirsty clowns,” Guthrie said. “We have 20 actors in there — it’s pretty frightening.”

Part of the Fun House has an old arcade feel, and the props include a vintage SkeeBall machine.

Another popular stop is the Incinerator, which includes the actual hardwood factory incinerator. This area is a maze of post-apocalyptic scenes and actors.

“It’s full of people who survive harsh Mad Max-like conditions,” Guthrie said. “It features butchers wearing pig masks, and a disturbing kitchen, freezer and torture room.”

Her Wicked Way is the attraction’s longest haunted journey.

“It starts out with pumpkins and scarecrows,” Guthrie said. “It picks up. There are zombies, then there are zombie killers with chainsaws that just want to kill everything that moves — zombie or not.”

Van Winkle Memorial Hospital is a very authentic-looking old hospital complete with nightmarish autopsy rooms, dentist offices and an amputation room complete with a collection of “real” prosthetics.

While Silo of Screams is open to everyone, Guthrie urges parents to leave the little ones at home.

“It’s recommended for kids 12 and up,” he said. “It really is pretty intense.”

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