It’s said to be a horrifyingly fun way to celebrate the Halloween season.
And Alex Fortuna’s Forsaken Lands has relocated from a wildlife park to a Goshen farm, where the frightening outdoor venue is already evolving from its humble roots.
Fortuna, a New Milford resident, started the Halloween-season attraction in 2021 at Action Wildlife, and has offered the event from September through Halloween weekend annually.
The Forsaken Lands is a haunted trail with the same costumes, effects and themes as slasher movies and urban legends.
Participants pay a fee to take a scary walk through a “farm” filled with ghastly costumed actors, loud music, flashing lights and plenty of vintage and handmade props to stimulate the senses.
“We’ve moved all the props and rooms around, and we’ve redesigned the trail,” Fortuna said. “There are more places for our costumed actors to hide, and we’ve added more décor. It’s really in the woods now, with a lot of natural additions. The Forsaken Lands is better than ever.”
When Fortuna realized he needed to change and expand his venue, he came into contact with Nicole and Gary Stango, owners of Great Acres Farm and not far from the original location at Action Wildlife.
The Stangos, who have owned the farm for about five years, are painstakingly clearing land for pasture for their sheep and goats. The farm produces and sells sheep and goat’s milk soaps and spun wool, which can be found weekly at the Bantam Farmer’s Market.
The Stangos said they are clearing the land, bit by bit.
“We are a fairly new farm, and we are still working hard to expand our own business,”
Gary Stango said. “We weren’t planning to open the area Alex is using for pasture, and there’s a space near the entrance that can be used for parking.
“One hundred years ago, this place was a farm; there were cows and apple orchards. We’re turning it back into a farm,” he said. “It’s a work in progress.”
They met Fortuna after hearing he wanted to expand, Nicole Stango said.
“Alex was calling around earlier this year, and at the time my husband was helping another club with their events,” she said. “But after Alex and Gary talked, and Alex said he wanted to have something in the woods, we knew we were a good fit.”
“We’d been to the attraction before and we enjoyed it; and we knew who Alex was,” Gary Stango said. “We both love Halloween; we love the whole season.”
Fortuna’s scary trail of haunted, grotesquely-decorated rooms include an auto repair shop, butcher shop, a creepy diner, a motel, and a streetscape of moldy storefronts.
A bedroom filled with old dolls is flanked by blood-spattered walls; and there are plenty of special effects to come. Later, the creators will add rubber and plastic heads and body parts, created by local f/x artist Tyler Green, along with loud music and flashing lights
This event is not for children younger than 13, or anyone with sensitivity to light, horror movie themes and loud sounds and music.
The props in the various rooms are a collection of forgotten household items, furniture, shredded clothing, old shoes and bedding, dolls, tools and toys. Kitchen housewares including a set of countertop meat grinders, which were found on the side of the road, give a clue to the gore visitors can expect to see.
It’s all fake, and made to imitate slasher horror movies. Fortuna, Salvati and Fortin are all big fans of the genre. Having the venue in the actual woods, Fortuna said, is a dream come true.
“This site is much more organic,” he said. “We’ve been able to incorporate more of the actual environment, the trees, the roots, into the structures. It makes it more authentic.”
Moving to Great Brook Farm gave Fortuna a chance to use new ideas, to “change things up” for people who return every year. “It’s a lot of fun to come up with ways to make it more creepy, more scary,” he said.
After the 2024 haunt season, The Forsaken Lands was named one “America’s Must-See Haunts” by scaryoverload.com, he said, which was another good reason to raise the bar on scary.
“I wanted to make sure people saw something new, and being here at the farm gave us a chance to spread out into the woods and use it,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ll be ready on Sept. 27.”
The Forsaken Lands will be open on weekends through October, and the first Saturday of November. A “Forsake Extreme Night” is set for Oct. 10 for adults 18 and older.
“This is an optional interactive touch night, when the actors touch people as they go through the trail. We ask people to sign a waiver allowing that, and it creates a much more intense and interactive experience,” Fortuna said.
On Blackout Saturday, Nov. 1, guests will navigate the trail in the dark, using only a glow stick to walk through the attraction. The Forsaken Lands will then close for the year.
The Forsaken Lands at Great Acres Farm is located at 54 Bare Hill Rd, Goshen, CT 06756.