Every fall, as the air turns crisp and pumpkins line the roadsides, Cox Farms transforms from a cheerful daytime festival into something darker: Fields of Fear! The nighttime experience, filled with haunted mazes, eerie lights, and spooky actors, has become one of Loudoun County’s most treasured fall traditions. Each October, hundreds of teens and families head to Centreville for a mix of terror and laughter, coming back year after year.
As October rolls around, most guests are met with something that seems a little contradicting: they love the thrill of being scared. A strange balance between fear and excitement keeps crowds coming back and psychologically it checks out. Manish Shah, AP Psychology teacher at Briar Woods High School, attests to this phenomenon as he explains the thrill behind fear.
“It’s the dopamine kick afterwards and the ability to feel fear in a safe environment that makes people want to go over and over again,” explained Shah.
For many Briar Woods students, this theory checks out! Fields of Fear has become a seasonal tradition as they recurrently go back to the attraction. Briar Woods Senior Brianna Zaher has been to Fields of Fear for the past 6 years.
“I fully know what I am getting myself into and kind of hate that I put myself in the position, but I still go back year after year,” explained Zaher. “It’s just a fun tradition that I keep up year after year,” continued Zaher.
The psychology behind Fields of Fear traces back to the Stone Age. Fear is one of humanity’s oldest survival instincts, stemming from fight-or-flight in the Amygdala. Long before haunted corn mazes and fog machines, fear kept cavemen alive, slowly evolving into what we know fear to be today.
“Cavemen needed fear to survive which is why we have the instinct today,” said Shah. “When we go to things like Fields of Fear or watch horror movies, we are testing and training our brains in a monitored and safe environment,” continued Shah.
Similarly, Briar Woods Senior Dhruva Devarakonda found himself connecting with this reasoning when pondering the reasoning behind his yearly appearance at Fields of Fear.
“I know that I am going to get scared, but at the same time I know that nothing will really happen,” shared Devarokonda. “It’s honestly like a game where safety is guaranteed but I can still feel like it’s not,” continued Devarokonda.
To create such an environment, Fields of Fear works endlessly to simulate a real, yet safe environment. Each year, Fields of Fear promises to outdo itself, slightly tweaking its attractions to catch customers off guard. Part of the appeal as to why people return year after year is not just to see what’s new.
“Although we have buildings and scenes that make you feel like you are someplace else, we just have a real environment because the forest is a real forest!” shared Lucas Cox-Galhotra, haunted attractions overseer at Fields of Fear. It’s scary to be in a forest at night without much light and a cornfield with the corn growing 10′ up, it feels like it’s encroaching on the sky” continued Galhotra.
To uphold the yearly traditions, much goes on behind the scenes as well. Dozens of workers train for weeks to perfect their roles, balancing spookiness with safety. While guests experience haunted chaos, organizers work tirelessly to execute events that are designed to feel spontaneous.
“We have thought and continue to think about safety a lot as it is our first priority.” continued Galhotra.
At its core, Fields of Fear is more than just a haunted attraction as it reflects how humans step into the unknown awaiting fear. Whether it’s the thrill of uncertainty or the bonding that comes from screaming together in the dark, Fields of Fear continues to prove that there’s reason behind being scared.
