By Tonya Malinowski

It’s a cool fall night, everyone is chattering happily while waiting in line until a single, deafening gunshot makes the crowd gasp and fall silent.

It’s not a real gun, just a blank shot fired by one of the volunteers at Wallingford’s Trail of Terror, which kicked off its month-long season last weekend.

Voted the best outdoor attraction in the nation by Fright Time’s magazine, the trail is the most elaborate I’ve ever seen.

Guests can usually expect up to a 4-hour wait unless you purchase a speed pass for an extra $10. Looking back, it’s well worth the extra few bucks to beat the 3.5 hours we waited. But once inside, the 45-minute trail delivers.

Separated into different parts and themes, the trail offers every kind of scene from a haunted circus to a Texas Chainsaw remake. No detail is spared in any of the scenes and the effect is alternately hilarious and bone chilling.

Creator Wayne Barneschi says he’s amazed at what the trail has become.

“We started as a yard haunt about 15 years ago in the backyard of my house and more and more people started coming,” he said. “So we decided to do something for charity and move it out of the house since it was killing my grass.”

Proceeds from the trail benefit the American Red Cross and Barneschi said they usually raise over $100,000.

The volunteer actors in the trail are fantastically into their character and make you laugh, scream, and sometimes just shudder. Their make-up and costumes make the characters even more real.

Although they aren’t allowed to touch you, there is one scene when verbal berating seems to be perfectly allowed. During one scene where a character stands guard of a slide, she decides who will go down first. After asking if there were any Jews in the room and saying the “filthy Jews” should go down first, she realized there were none and instead told me to go first since I had obviously “been on my knees before.”

Barneschi and volunteers begin setting up the trail in July and work 16-hour days to make sure it is all ready in time. This year, the trail has four new scenes that each took a month to build.

“I never expected it to be anything like it is now,” Barneschi said. “I have ideas for next year already.”

The trail is the best haunt I’ve ever seen. The impeccable attention to detail and quality characters make it a great weekend activity to get in the Halloween spirit.

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $20 for the speed pass, which is a smart move to avoid the annoyance and frustration of a three or four-hour wait.

I would have liked to see more entertainment during the wait, though there are characters walking amongst the line to scare unsuspecting people and a movie screen playing clips from inside the trail and classic horror movies.

Tickets are available at the trail, but get there early because they sometimes sell out by 8 or 9, even though the trail is open until midnight.You can also buy a speedpass online at www.trailofterror.com.

Barneschi said all the months of hard work is worth it to him.

“I guess my favorite part is hearing the screams,” he said.