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Let Raisin Hell Ranch bring a little terror (or a lot or terror) to your Halloween

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Jason Farris
Head YES man at FresYes.com
I grew up in Fresno. Relaxed in its calm breezes, listened with my dad to the crack of the bat at little league baseball games when I was a kid and now take my son to do the same at minor league games. I broadened my mind at its schools (I went to high school right here at San Joaquin Memorial, and to college at Fresno State!) I love that if I drive for two hours in one direction, I can be in the mountains. For two hours in another, luxuriating on a California beach. I can enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but still be able to come home to relaxation, calm, and quiet.

I love where I live, and I also love what I do. I'm lucky to be able to work in a profession in which I get to build relationships; one that has me meeting new people each and every day and helping them to build new lives in my beloved city. I'm lucky enough to work in a profession in which I can marry cutting-edge technologies and marketing techniques to good, old-fashioned, nose-to-the-grindstone work. I am lucky enough to work in a profession that allows me to work as an advocate for my clients; to use every tool at my disposal to get a job done well for them, and with as little stress and expense as possible.

I love my city. I love my job. One inspires my excellence for the other.

Fresno? I say FresYES
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Raisin Hell Ranch. If you’re a word nerd like me, you can’t help but appreciate the double meaning. Raisin’ hell: appropriate for a Halloween haunted cornfield. Raisin hell: appropriate for … you know. Where we live.

Once the cleverness of the name wears off, though, all you’re left with is sheer terror.

Fun!

Raisin Hell Ranch

Three storylines to chill you to the bone

Raisin Hell Ranch is a haunted cornfield attraction located in Madera. The set-up is familiar to anyone who has spent anytime at all at a Halloween haunt: you go through the attraction and things frighten the crap out of you. So simple, yet so very effective.

This year, Raisin Hell has three cornfields with three different storylines, each one more uncomfortable and creepy than the next:

Wicker Village

The story of Wicker Village is that it was a quiet town until the day some nuclear testing went wrong. The town was left devastated and completely abandoned. OR WAS IT.

Snyd’s Sideshow of Oddities

The year is 1886 and Jenny Jones is the star of Snyd’s Sideshow and Oddities. There’s something a bit different about Jenny, though, and she fits in well with her fellow circus performers.

Blackout

Total darkness. A cornfield. Find your way out, or … 

Not convinced it’s scary enough yet? Check out this video from the website to get a little taste of what’s going down in Madera.

It’s here I should mention Raisin Hell Ranch recommends children under 12 not go through the attractions. This is no cute little hayride, folks. This is for people who start watching nothing but horror movies the second the calendar goes from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1.

Where to find the ranch

Raisin Hell Ranch is located at 7451 Road 32 in Madera. The cornfield is open until Oct. 31 (closed on Oct. 23-24). 

The cost is $15 each for the Wicker Village and Sideshow haunts, and $10 for Blackout (which has no haunts). Or, you can get all three attractions for either $30 or $35 depending on the date—check admission calendar here.

Raisin Hell is open from 7 to 10 p.m. (as long as you get to the ticket booth before 10 p.m., you can go through the haunts). Buy your tickets online here or try to win tickets from FresYes—details below.

For general information, call Raisin Hell Ranch at (559) 674-9463 ext. 4, visit the website, or follow on Facebook.

Raisin Hell Ranch

FresYes Insiders can win tickets to Raisin Hell Ranch

Thanks to the generosity of Raisin Hell Ranch, we’re giving away five pairs of tickets good for all three attractions to FresYes Insiders, who are subscribers to our weekly newsletter.

To enter to win, you must be a FresYes Insider subscriber. Details for the contest will be found in this Saturday’s newsletter. Subscribe here!

FresYes Families: Places to go (with your older kids!) Hobb’s Grove

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FresYes Writing Team
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For the second installment of my October “Places to Go” series, I can think of no better place to write about than the amazing, the horrifying and the elaborately perfect haunted attraction that is Hobb’s Grove.  Hobb’s Grove is a terrifying, multi-attraction experience located just East of Fresno in a forested area of Sanger, CA. Rightfully named one of the 19 Terrifying Haunted Houses You Should Experience Before You Die by Buzzfeed, Hobb’s Grove offers visitors three haunted attractions: The Forest, The House and The Hayride.

Orinoko photo by Kishma Morales (800x593)

Dr. Caleb at Hobb's Grove

Now, before you pile the kids in the car and head towards Sanger, there are a few things you should know. First off – Hobb’s Grove is not an amateur level haunted house. Hobb’s Grove is high-end Hollywood special effects scary and I personally would not recommend this as an experience suited for young children – as it’s pretty terrifying even for adults (ask me about the year my husband let go of my hand and took off running for the final stretch of the forest — actually, wait, don’t… I’m still bitter). For your (brave) tweens and teens however, the Hobb’s experience is one not to miss this time of year.

In my personal opinion, on a scare-scale of 1-10 with 1 being as scary as a marshmallow and 10 being “I think I peed my pants and I also want my mommy” The Forest rates an 11, The House a solid 8 and The Hayride a 6.5. When going through The Forest and House you’ll be traveling in small groups. If you’re one of the more easily spooked in your group, I recommend not being the group’s leader or tail – stay in the middle of your group. On The Hayride, super scared visitors can feel slightly more secure by scooting towards the center of the hayride’s trailer vs. sitting near the outer edges or along the back.

Hobb's Grove, Peewee Photo by DeAuna Marks

Each of the attractions have entrances that branch off of the midway, which offers concessions (I can smell the fresh kettle corn now just thinking about the place!) costumes, fire pits and on weekends, live music. You may think you’re safe from scares in the midway, but I wouldn’t allow yourself to be completely at ease – every now and then a wandering ghoul may sneak up behind you quietly, and wait for just the perfect moment to scare the living daylights out of you. (Yes, I know this from experience, can you tell?)

Graveyard Dancers from Coursgold photo by Jason Benham

If you love a good scare and want to see one of the most well-done seasonal attractions the Central Valley has to offer – do not miss the opportunity to visit Hobb’s Grove this year. Lines are longer on weekends, so plan accordingly and arrive early in the evening, especially if you’re planning to do all three attractions as there is a cut-off time for the lines to ensure everyone gets through before Hobb’s closes for the night.

Prices for Hobb’s Grove vary depending on the night you go (special event nights offer more for visitors, but increase the price a bit) and how many attractions you want to experience. For more information, visit their website or take a look at the chart below. Hobb’s Grove is located at 14265 E Goodfellow Ave Sanger, CA 93657 and is fairly easy to find – just look for the signs along your way.

NEW_2014_GroveCalendarSpecial thanks to Hobb’s Grove for sharing their amazing images with us!