For any horror-loving Ohio University student, Murphy’s Field of Screams is a way to support local family farms and receive a fright. Murphy’s Field of Screams, located at 28364 Osborne Rd., opened in 2018 by brothers Mike and John Murphy in Coolville, Ohio, and has been rising in popularity ever since.
Although Murphy’s Field of Screams is a hit across the tri-state area, the founders did not create this agribusiness out of love for the holiday, but the need to supplement income for their farm.
Family farms are at the mercy of the government and corporations, who set the rates farmers receive for their products. The often low rates can be devastating to small farms such as the Murphys'.
“They’re always with these large farms, these government farms, it’s easy to control the pricing and they always seem like they’re wanting to go down,” co-owner John Murphy said.
The impact of these prices led to the creation of Murphy’s Field of Screams by the Murphy family, and all profits from the business go to supporting the farm.
“Me and John have never wrote ourselves a check, and everything goes back to the farm,” co-owner Mike Murphy said.
Murphy’s Field of Screams relies on family and friends to be run. Mike Murphy’s daughter-in-laws man the ticket booth during running hours, his grandkids work in the fields and he and his sons help with the upkeep of the attraction.
Mike Murphy said his son and daughter-in-law, who both have full-time jobs, come each weekend to pitch in for the family during the Halloween season and help on the farm when needed. Tempest Murphy, Mike Murphy’s daughter-in-law, described the time as “Maybe the most stressful part of the year,” as they spend every weekend working at the Field of Screams.
They also hire local kids from their neighborhood who help bring new scares to the team, but working with family and friends can be tough. Mike Murphy claimed, “I’m the mean guy” because he sees “everybody’s sister coming out thinking they can act,“ leading to having to deal with managing the scare actors, which can be difficult with teenage employees.
The process for Murphy’s Field of Screams to be operational is a year-long, continuous process; trees from the farm will be harvested for wood, and structures for the haunt will be built in the woods, all of this grueling work being done by the Murphy family.
During the Halloween season, days are spent getting everything ready for the weekend's guests, including maintaining the buildings, scheduling actors and redesigning the sequence of the haunt, all while maintaining the farm.
Due to the season being over, the team at Murphy’s Field of Screams is looking forward to a restful offseason with fond memories of gleeful screams behind them.
