By Matthew Young, RealWV
LEWISBURG, W.Va. – From restaurants and clothing boutiques, to antique stores and bicycle shops, the Greenbrier Valley offers a wide variety of small businesses for residents and travelers alike. So with National Small Business Week going on from April 30 until May 6, there’s no better time to talk about one of our favorite area small businesses: Miller’s Nightmare Haunted Farm.
You’re probably thinking that nothing could possibly be happening at a Halloween attraction between April 30 and May 6 that’s worth talking about. But if you are thinking that, you’d be dead wrong. Sure, the goblins and ghoulies may be tucked away all snug in their little beds, but they’re not the only residents of Miller’s Farm who have to get ready for the upcoming season of the witch.
“We have a lot of infrastructure improvements going on right now,” Berkley Miller, the farm’s chief paranormal containment specialist told The RealWV on Wednesday. “We’re expanding our food building. Last year the lines were getting really long, so we’re trying to make our food production faster and more efficient. We’re adding popcorn and we’re making it bigger.”
Any visitor to the farm who has gone in search of a funnel cake or a butterbeer knows just how blood-curdling those lines can get. Expanding the farm’s food service capabilities to accommodate more hungry thrill-seekers will serve to enhance the customer experience.
“We’re also adding three mini-escape rooms,” Miller added. “We built a whole new building for them.”
The first of the new escape rooms is called “The Chair,” and promises to deliver a shockingly good time to those souls brave enough to test their cunning.
“One of your friends gets strapped into our electric chair,” Miller said. “Then you have to solve the puzzle before your friend gets zapped. If you don’t solve it, then your friend gets electrocuted…figuratively.”
Miller added the “figuratively” with a laugh, as the attraction offers safe holiday entertainment.
The second escape room, lovingly referred to as “The Death Box,” is a team-based game that will pit players against each other. The winning team will survive unscathed, while the losing team will encounter a chilling surprise.
“We haven’t figured out the third one yet,” Miller noted. “It will most likely be a ‘cabin fever’ theme. The escape rooms will be right next to our new food stand. Instead of building two separate buildings, we’re just building one long one. The food add-on is right beside our current food stand, and then the three escape rooms are right beside that. It’s about a 60 foot-long building.”
Additional enhancements that visitors won’t necessarily see, but will certainly enjoy the benefits of, come in the form of the new make-up and costume rooms. While Miller’s Farm already features Hollywood-level make-up artists, and their actors perform in the highest quality costumes, these new facilities will only serve to enhance the scares.
As for the 2022 haunting season, Miller tells us, “It was definitely the best year we’ve ever had.” This is a particularly impressive feat when considering that Hurricane Ian forced the attraction to close for two of their 10 scheduled operating days.
“Being open for five weekends seems to be the best in case we have to miss a few days for the weather,” Miller noted. “And opening the last weekend of September always makes for a nice buffer before we really amp up.”
Miller’s Manor will also be completely redesigned for the 2023 season, and will feature an entirely new walk-through section, complete with numerous new props guaranteed to provide a terrifyingly-new experience.
Miller’s Nightmare Haunted Farm will kick off the 2023 haunting season on Friday, Sept. 29.
