Find food, frights and fun at Springs Preserve’s ‘Haunted Harvest’

Calling all goblins, ghouls and little monsters. It’s that time again.

The annual “Haunted Harvest” returns to the Springs Preserve at 333 S. Valley View Blvd., where parents and their oft-costumed kiddos can partake in Halloween festivities filled with food, frights and fun.

Those looking for a true case of the heebie-jeebies are better suited at other haunts. This is a family-friendly spookfest.

“This is always a great one to go to because I know parents are worried — “Oh, it’s gonna be too scary for my little ones,’” said Nick Tulli, special events planner for the Springs Preserve, adding that the harvest is a “nice, little” event for children and families.

The theme this year? Medieval magic, complete with dragon and unicorn crafts, a dragon’s lair and a maze doubling as a mini-homage to Harry Potter, Tulli said.

Features or decorations from previous years make cameos throughout the campus, like entrances to Wanda the Witch’s haunted home and a wide-mouthed monster from last year’s monster theme. Take part in the eight carnival games and win prizes. If ring toss and a “Hulk Smash” hammer game aren’t your thing, maybe you’d prefer making slime in the “Slime Lab” a.k.a. the banquet room. Just don’t eat the slime, cautions Tulli, as the main ingredient is glue. Seriously, don’t do it.

Families can trick-or-treat through the “Bootanical Garden” and collect candy at places like the pirate’s cove, the boogieman bungalow or the ghostly grotto. Along the way they’ll walk past hanging ghosts and skeletons, ghouls coming out of picture frames, werewolves and other creepy creatures.

Live entertainment, a petting zoo and a ghostly train ride await, too.

The festival lasts from 5 to 9 p.m. and continues on Oct. 25, 26 and 27.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.