The Haunted Parkway Hayride has been a staple of Whitehall Township for years, and the Whitehall Active Volunteer Fire Department Association is ready to put uniforms and helmets aside once more for this October tradition.

Pumpkins, candy, ghosts and goblins define Halloween, and starting this weekend, members of the association will put on the festive horror show in an effort to scare, chill, frighten (and maybe even lightheartedly torture) their neighbors in the name of Halloween fun. This year, patrons can expect a 40-minute hayride through the Whitehall Parkway with eight different scenes of horror fun.

One scene, for example, will feature a butcher for those who love blood and gore. Another will have hayriders enjoying a “time warp” as the ride strolls through a Rocky Horror scene. And last but not least, some crazy clowns will be back once more but with a brand new twist for 2015 that will leave patrons screaming for more.

The event is important not only for Halloween fun, but for the community as a whole because all of the event’s proceeds go to the Whitehall Fire Department. Mark Bilder, a captain of the Whitehall Fire Department, believes that the event is not only fun, but a great time for the community of Whitehall to come together for a good cause.

“This event has done great for us,” Bilder said. “We get a lot of support from both the township leaders and the community. Most of the volunteers are firefighters, and this takes a lot of time to get started.

“The fundraiser is very important because all the proceeds go back to the community in the form of fire preventions,” Bilder said. “In the past, we were able to purchase a fire safety trailer, which was $46,000, and a fire prevention talking robot, which was $12,000. We also supply 35 different fire prevention programs throughout the year, which cost about $3,000, so the fundraising does help immensely. It is our biggest event of the year.”

The Whitehall Parkway is located at 4689 S. Church St. in Whitehall, just off MacArthur Road. The hayrides kick off this Friday, Oct. 2 and will continue every Friday and Saturday in October until Halloween night, Oct. 31. The event runs 7-11 p.m.

There is a fee. Children 5 and under are free, but heed warning, this is considered a PG-13 event due to the scare factor.

Tickets will be available at the starting point of the hayride, and it is cash-only payment. Discount coupons are available at whitehalltownshipfire.org under the Haunted Parkway tab.