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Montgomery Co. high schoolers create haunted trail where screams benefit charity

The sixth Fear Haunted Trail in North Potomac, Maryland, was created by a group of high school seniors. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
The trail has jump scares and a character who chases guests with a chain saw. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
A group of students has been working on the trail for the last month and Quince Orchard senior Trent Mettler estimates it cost a few thousand dollars. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
This year鈥檚 theme, 鈥淥ut of This World,鈥 features skeletons, aliens and jump scares. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
This year鈥檚 theme, 鈥淥ut of This World,鈥 features skeletons, aliens and jump scares. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
A group of students has been working on the trail for the last month and Quince Orchard senior Trent Mettler estimates it cost a few thousand dollars. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
A group of students has been working on the trail for the last month and Quince Orchard senior Trent Mettler estimates it cost a few thousand dollars. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
This year鈥檚 theme, 鈥淥ut of This World,鈥 features skeletons, aliens and jump scares. (草莓传媒/Scott Gelman)
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Growing up, Trent Mettler was always intrigued by the thrill of Halloween.

Inspired by trips to Field of Screams in Olney, Maryland, and other Halloween activities, Mettler and his Quince Orchard High School classmates decided to create their own screams.

Since 2017, Mettler, a senior at Quince, has created haunted trails in the woods next to his North Potomac home. While admission to the is free, the group collects canned food for

鈥淚 can happily say we’ve gotten hundreds of pounds of canned food for Manna Food, and that’s one of the great feelings about this,鈥 Mettler said.

There are signs throughout the neighborhood advertising the trail, which opened for three hours on Halloween, and will remain open on Friday and Saturday.

The entrance sits next to a field of pumpkins, and flashing lights invite guests into the trail. In recent years, the group has used themes revolving around clowns or a prison break.

But this year鈥檚 theme, 鈥淥ut of This World,鈥 features skeletons, aliens and jump scares.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good 10 to 15-minute walk, depending on if you run or walk through,鈥 Mettler said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 15 minutes of pure horror.鈥

The group of students have been working on the trail for the last month, and Mettler estimates it costs a few thousand dollars.

They鈥檝e been cutting down extra weeds and putting up lights and cords. The trail has jump scares and a character who chases guests with a chain saw. They tone down the scares for the younger kids, but when 鈥渢hose adults come in, the older teens, you鈥檒l definitely get a good fright,鈥 Mettler said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 actors in there,鈥 Mettler said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 loud sounds, there鈥檚 flashing lights. You get the whole nine yards.鈥

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Scott Gelman

Scott Gelman is a digital editor and writer for 草莓传媒. A South Florida native, Scott graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019. During his time in College Park, he worked for The Diamondback, the school鈥檚 student newspaper.

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