Mark Cuban's biggest 'Shark Tank' investment of all time was in this spooky Halloween event - here's what it's like
The Haunted Hayride is being held on Randall's Island, just across the Harlem River from Manhattan. The setting is fitting — between 1852 and 1900, the island was home to a number of different institutions, including an insane asylum and a center for juvenile delinquents.
This is the Haunted Hayride's first year in New York City, though it's had years of success in Los Angeles.
As soon as you walked in, there were several people dressed up in costume, roaming around the grounds as part of the experience.
Several booths had been set up along the entrance area, including this table where a psychic was doing readings.
They had a pumpkin carving shack booth, too, although I didn't see anyone testing it out — or running it, for that matter.
I went over to the ticket window and scooped up the tickets for the ride.
I spotted a creepy zombie dragging herself in my direction.
This colorfully dressed monster was super tall, and he had a surprisingly sneaky way of getting around.
He even managed to sneak up and startle my friend.
After getting the tickets and checking out the booths, it was time to go to the ride.
Once you entered, you had to zig-zag back and forth through this maze and then wait in line for your turn.
A group of around 20 people were loaded into each truck, where each person sat in hay.
We rode for a few minutes in the darkness while monsters jumped out and banged on our truck. Next, we approached this mysterious tent.
Inside, we saw people standing on a platform, and suddenly they jumped down and started running around our truck. As you can see, some attendees were smiling instead of shrieking.
The monsters began climbing on the edge and laughed menacingly as the lights inside flickered.
Luckily, we made it through.
Next, these little guys performed some sort of dance and then slowly walked towards us, their shadows growing bigger from the light.
We kept moving, and soon came across a lit-up row of columns.
Cloaked figures and "burning children" hopped out, the young ones singing creepy songs. Still, it was nothing that intimidating.
We looped down under the Triborough Bridge, which connects Manhattan to Randall's Island.
After going under the bridge, we saw a bus bathed in red light on one side, plus some dark silhouettes who were banging on the window inside.
At this stop on the ride, a group started dancing. It soon turned into a seance, and someone's "head" got cut off — still, not that scary.
Next up was an entertainer who presented us with his creatures, whom he had trapped in cages.
Here's one of them — he looked thrilled to see us.
The entertainer randomly picked my friend to spin this wheel to decide who would get "executed" from his collection of creatures. However, after the wheel was spun, the entertainer had a change of heart, and he ended up letting all his creatures loose on us.
Before the next stop was this sign of life advice from Satan. A figure dressed up as the devil himself soon made an appearance and set his followers to chase us in the dark. Even they didn't manage to cause much of a scare in us either.
Next, we went into this room of dancers. An attendee joked that we had entered a Lady Gaga video. The dancers soon quit their careful movements and ran around our truck.
The same tent then turned into a creepy clown party. This guy was one of the strangest among the group, though other clowns were also dancing around us.
And before I knew it, the ride was over — it lasted about half an hour.
It had its moments of fun, but I didn't think it was that scary.
I hopped back on the M35 bus back to the city, which was eerily empty. Maybe a haunted bus ride should be next...
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