Association looks to scare up a haunting in the woods.

Byline: Michael Kane

WEST BOYLSTON - For some, giving to a good cause is much better if you're being chased with a chainsaw while you do it. If that describes you or someone you know, make sure to check next Saturday, Oct. 20, on your calendar for the first-ever West Boylston Athletic Association Haunted Woods.

The guided outdoor haunted attraction will be set along a trail that is flat and should take between 10 and 15 minutes to walk, factoring in the horror scenes organizer Carol Green is planning for the trip, including clowns, an asylum and a meat market.

"These are some of the things you will stop and see along the way," Green said. "And, of course, there will be frighteners walking around on the trail."

Green, is a self-professed Halloween lover who has worked her share of haunted attractions in the past, including Spooky World and the Fright Catalogue.

She is also the parent of a West Boylston athlete. She joined the Athletic Association too late to hold a haunted walk last year, she said. But that didn't kill the idea. Instead, it just left it festering until this year.

All proceeds will go directly to the association, which supports school and youth sports in West Boylston.

"I always thought this would be a good way to raise money for the kids," Green said. "The Athletic Association is always trying to raise money, and a whole lot of people out there love Halloween."

Once she started looking for a place to hold an outdoor haunted house, people told her to look for the old Scout trail that used to run behind the school. She found the tree-lined trail suffering from years of neglect but, nonetheless, a flat, delineated trail.

Since the trail is on school property, she first got the approval of the association, then she turned to the School Department. After a tour, the event was approved.

"We've been in here since September to clear the trail," she said.

Prepping the trail is among the many activities for which Green said she owes debts of gratitude. Numerous people have stepped forward for the event, cutting and removing dead tress and branches, as well as donating goods and services, she noted. The Worcester County Sheriff's office donated hay bales and corn stalks without hassle, she said.

"They delivered them within two days," she said. "They were super nice about it and so quick. It's nice to have that resource," she said.

Other donations have come from Table Talk Pies and the Tahanto Booster Club. The "meat market" on the...