Halloween may be the scariest holiday, but some local businesses wait all year for the spooky season.
Places like Murray Family Farms and North of the River Parks and Recreation say they’ve transformed October from their slowest month to one of their busiest.
Halloween isn’t exactly a big travel holiday, but places like Murray Family Farms have become destination locations for families looking to enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of fall.
From farm fresh produce to the kind of activities only a farm can provide.
It’s not scary, but it is entertaining.
"It's an extravaganza. It's very popular. (Kids cheering) You can hear the children. Can you tell it’s popular to them,” said Vickie Murray, Co-Owner of Murray Family Farms.
It's part of the Murray Family Farms October Fun Fest, a Halloween based event filled with hay rides, corn mazes and pumpkin patches.
It’s become one of the most profitable months for the farm, just in time for the slower winter months.
"Traditionally November, December, January, February are slower and that's why we depend on the income we produce on this very, very busy October, to kind of get us through those slower months,” Murray said.
And from the cute and cuddly, to the gruesome and terrifying. Others are cashing in on the heart pounding part of Halloween.
North of the River Parks and Recreation leases land to the popular Talladega Frights Haunted House attraction.
"It's a huge, huge event, it can't be understated how big it is,” said NOR Marketing Director Roger Perez.
And one that provides a $15,000 to $20,000 financial bump, even though some haunted house customers can’t get away fast enough.
"We've just ended a lot of the sports we had over the summer, we just started all the after school sports so there's like a lull in this period. So it's really good for us to have something going on,” Perez said.
And taking much of the financial scare out of Halloween.
Both Murray Family Farms and Tallageda Frights are expecting to see about 50,000 people this Halloween season.
