'A generational tradition': McCall's returns with its pumpkin patch, haunted farm and new attractions

Getting the McCall’s Pumpkin Patch and Haunted Farm up and running is a massive undertaking, something Kevin McCall likens to “opening a brand-new business every year.”

Phone lines have to be reactivated, credit card machines need to be turned on, the internet must be functional — and more than 300 staff members need to be hired, or in some cases, rehired. And that doesn’t account for the maintenance and setup required for the myriad attractions and activities the farm provides.

'A generational tradition': McCall's returns with its pumpkin patch, haunted farm and new attractions

“You almost have to become Superman to pull off opening every year, it seems like,” said McCall, who owns the farm with his wife, Kirsten.

The payoff is well worth the effort. Weather permitting, it’s likely that as many as 90,000 people will visit McCall’s from the time it opens in late September through the end of October. This year will mark the 27th anniversary of McCall’s Farm as an annual attraction for people throughout the Land of Enchantment.

“We’re seeing kids that came during field trips 20-plus years ago that are now parents bringing their kids,” McCall said. “It’s become a generational tradition.”

The Pumpkin Patch opened on Sept. 21 and runs through Oct. 27 from noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. There are more than 60 attractions on hand this year, including new offerings such as the combine slide, roller bowler and Skee-Ball. The combine slide is just one example of the creativity often utilized at the farm.

“We took an old combine, which is a grain threshing tractor and has the header on it. We left the header on it, built a deck on top of it and then put six or eight kiddie slides kind of off the front of it. So, it’s something for the small kids to enjoy,” McCall said.

“We don’t want to be your typical playground or amusement park. We kind of want to be unique.”

Meanwhile, animal lovers will note the addition of baby doll sheep — which required a trip to Utah to obtain — to the viewing area that already features miniature horses, cows, pigs and sheep. Of course, a trip to the farm wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the approximately 35-acre area where guests can pick their own pumpkin for the season. And that, more than anything, is at the heart of the McCall’s Farm mission.

“I still think the element of picking a pumpkin and a hayride and the corn maze is probably still one of the more popular activities, which warms my heart because you’ve got the element of agriculture in that,” McCall said. “And that’s part of the reason we do what we do is to share agriculture and where food comes from. We try very hard to keep this an active working farm. So the fields we take you through are not just all amusement park fields. They’ve got actual grain corn and alfalfa and the crops that we grow. You’ll see an active farm.”

Meanwhile, the Haunted Farm is consistently recognized among the best haunted houses in the country — and that isn’t by accident. Each year, the McCall’s staff travels to the TransWorld’s Halloween & Attractions show in St. Louis, where new props, costumes and masks are purchased and inspiration is gathered through networking with other like-minded folks in the haunt industry. There’s also a careful hiring process when selecting new actors who will populate the barn and cornfield every year. Each scare will have around 50 people apiece working within them.

“During the interview process, we’ll actually ask them to come in to get into a character and put on just a few seconds worth of an actor, become somebody else,” McCall said.

However, the setting itself might get top billing when it comes to providing a spooky overall experience.

“I think that’s what separates us from some of the haunts there in Albuquerque is they’re in strip malls,” McCall said. “And to be able to authentically push into a cornfield where the corn is real and it grew there and it has bugs in it — that’s just something that a haunted house in the urban town areas can’t offer.”

The majority of the haunts will sell out — especially as it gets closer to Halloween — so it’s recommended to purchase tickets online in advance.

“Maybe even the first weekend at this point won’t sell out. But we haunt for five weekends, 10 nights. And, eight of our 10 nights will sell out,” McCall said.