Festival of Fears will scare the pants off you

Credit: Tony Gardner Credit: Tony Gardner

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By day, he’s mild-manner Dr. Tony, your friendly neighborhood chiropractor. By night, he’s Doc Fright.

Every year, Fairless Hill chiropractor Tony “Doc Fright” Gardner turns his attention away from alignment and toward scaring the pants off the thousands who flock to Festival of Fears.

Festival of Fears is back now, and open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 26. The festival doesn’t have a permanent home and fans know it comes in a lot of iterations: Depending on the year, there might be corn mazes, hayrides or haunted houses. This year, the fear goes outdoors with a spooky setting in Warminster.

“We have two paths people can take. One is called the Village and it’s much tamer, with a guided tour and storyline,” Gardner says. “Then we have the Psycho Path. That really ups the scare factor.”

As the name suggests, the Psycho Path is for the brave. Without giving away secrets and surprises, just know it’s a self-guided tour and no one can ever be quite certain when man or beast will jump out to scare the pants off you.

But, like a strip club, there is a no-touch rule at Festival of Fears.

“We actually state it in the rules. Do not touch anything within these walls living or dead, for if you do, it just might touch you back and that’s most unpleasant,” he says.

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