fear reach scream park
Hush, is that you? Credit: courtesy Fear Reach Scream Park

A haunt located on a Central Florida blueberry farm, where the founder just wanted to throw the Halloween party of his dreams where his Cramps cover band could play? We’re in!

Presented by Dona Vista Arts and A.S.H. Collective, horror attraction Fear Reach Scream Park returns to Tavares, bringing “Willow’s Nightmares” to vivid life. The Scream Park boasts haunted houses, scare zones, Dr. Deviant’s Midway of Games, live entertainment like the Cyanide Circus, a themed bar dubbed Pitchfork Parlor and … we’re sorry, what’s that about a Cramps cover band? 

“One of the main catalysts for doing this event was that I’ve always wanted to be in a Cramps cover band. I just love them, such a cool aesthetic and such a good body of work. And if you’re trying to think of a style of music where you can play for three or four hours, with plenty of Halloween-themed songs, it’s that,” says Far Reach Ranch operations director (and Fear Reach founder) Brennan Hamill, winning our hearts as he tells Orlando Weekly about how his band, The Dismembered, are the in-house entertainment of the park with a deep-cut playlist of Cramps, Jackie Morningstar and related ghouls.

“Every night that the Scream Park is open, we play. I ran the haunt for five years, and it was always the Halloween party that I never got invited to. Or nobody ever threw. I don’t want to be just a conga-line where we kick people out at the end of the night. I’d much rather it feel like a good Halloween party.”

The Dismembered still hold ghoulish court nightly, but Hamill donated the haunt to Dona Vista Arts, who now creatively conjure up the frights with the A.S.H. Collective. And it’s an ambitious undertaking, converting an operational blueberry farm that they use as a “blank canvas” to turn into a sprawling fright-fest.

“We have two main haunted houses, carnival games, midway actors. We have a third attraction this year, Cyanide Circus, which is a sideshow-themed thing. They do a lot of fire-eating and sword-swallowing, and even some suspension and things that are a little bit more daring,” says Hamill.

For Fear Reach, perhaps the somewhat remote and forbidding location might be one of the keys to their success. 

“When you drive out to the property, you drive about a mile from the road, through just a dark, big field with no lights, that takes you to this very isolated almost-compound. It’s a cluster of buildings out in the middle of this big field, and when you’re out there, you can really get immersed in the spectacle,” says Hamill. “You don’t really get that same suspension of disbelief in a theme park because it always kind of feels like a theme park.”

Aside from the location, Fear Reach leans in on the fundamentals for their PG-13 frights in the absence of a Halloween Horror Nights-sized budget: classic haunts, canon frights, practical effects and scare-actors given creative room to provide the immersive creeps.

And, of course, there’s also the creativity of Dona Vista Arts. Headed up by Leslie and Chris Wasgatt, Dona Vista has woven quite the chilling storyline around the theme of “Willow’s Nightmares,” with recurring original characters Uncle Budge and Willow. Willow, trapped in cryostasis by Uncle Budge for years, is having violent dreams that are manifesting in weird and horrifying ways all over the park. 

“Her dreams have come to life. So for one-half, one haunt is the Discarded, where she is located, and it’s all overgrown with vines and trees coming in, and what is left behind are old lab experiments and some of the scientists from the Obscura are still there,” Leslie Wasgatt explains. “You get to venture through all the territories and meet all the different characters in that particular area in the Discarded, and then you make your way over to what was the Grimmore Manor, but we’ve now renamed it Parasomnia. There, every single room is a different nightmare. As you travel through each room, you are experiencing a different nightmare that Willow was having.”

There’s also a new character this year, who might steal the whole horrific show.

“Our iconic character of the park this year is Hush, which was Willow’s little doll that she had with her in cryostasis,” says Wasgatt. “When Uncle Budge tucked her in, he tucked her in with her favorite doll, her imaginary friend. Because of the dark manifestations that are happening on the property, Hush came to life, and he took over the venue. So when you arrive, he’s brought all his freaky friends with him, like the Cyanide Circus.”

Have no fear: Hush dolls are said to be available.

Work on this haunt has been underway since January, with both of the small nonprofits working hard to bring the fright to Fear Reach. Spirits are high ahead of opening weekend when we speak, and Wasgatt and Hamill are already looking ahead to the next phase of Fear Reach: incorporating a maker space into the park where kids and adults can learn frighteningly real-world skills.

“The end goal for Dona Vista is to create a maker space where kids or adults can learn various skills like woodworking,” says Hamill. “So many of those things tie into the haunted house from a creative side and from a technical side and you can really get this neat synergy. It’s not like, go build a birdhouse. It’s like, let’s build a floor that drops out from underneath you, or make something creepy that falls on you.” 

Locally, Fear Reach has become a repeat destination. Hamill talks about seeing folks wearing Dismembered shirts from previous years and even reveals that a couple will be getting married during this year’s haunt.  “It’s become a tradition, I would say, for a lot of people,” he says. Hauntingly wholesome, if you ask us.

Select nights through Oct. 24, 1255 S. Dora Blvd., Tavares, fearreachscreampark.com, $20-$30.

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This article appears in Oct. 7-13, 2026 and Fall Guide.