A well known and popular tradition in Ridgewood, New Jersey is the Haunted Halloween Maze. It is run by Greg and Nancy Stewart, who live on the West Side. The maze operates from October 8th to October 31st, Mondays to Fridays from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The maze is also open Saturdays to Sundays as well as Halloween at 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Every year, the layout is different from the last, ensuring new surprises and jumpscares. Many people partake in this tradition, trying to find their way through the maze.   

To further learn about the secrets of the maze, an interview was conducted with Greg Stewart, the resident maze builder . Mr. Stewart has been creating new layouts and building the maze for over 2 decades now. When asked about how it all started, he (after telling how he answers these questions every year) explained…

Q: What inspired you to start this?

When my son Tyler was 4 years old, he had asked us to do an obstacle course in the backyard and since I didn’t want him to get hurt, spending the afternoon in the emergency room, I suggested we do a maze instead and that was the first maze we did.

Q: How much longer do you plan on doing the maze for? Will someone continue it for you?

Until I can’t. Not that I know of. Putting up a maze is hard. This is our second day working as you can see we have a crew of quite a few people. So it is a labor of love. We do this for the community. It is also a fun spectator sport but I can’t tell if somebody will do it or not but if they do no one has made me a promise.

Q: What time it is most popular for kids or families to come tour the maze?

Weekends are very busy. The busiest time we have is Friday and Saturday after dark. Why after dark? After dark, the maze creatures come out. Up until dark the only things in there are animatronics and decorations. But once it gets dark, we have live maze creatures go into the maze and their only job is to scare people.

Q: What is your favorite part of doing the maze?

I think my favorite part – I love hearing the kids going through it and screaming, “I got it! I know the way!” when I know they haven’t. I love watching when they do solve it and how happy they are when they get out to the exit. You know, because they have a tremendous sense of accomplishment. It’s a fun puzzle.

Q: When you first opened up the maze to the public was it as popular as it is now?

No because a lot of it is word of mouth. Few people know about it, it’s not that popular. The more people know about it, the more [popular] it is. Another thing is there have been a lot of newspaper articles and YouTubes about the maze, and obviously, when we started there were neither of those. Once the Bergen Record did a story it started getting very busy but, then these people come back every single year and they bring their friends and so, it gets a little busier every time and that can be hard. Last year we had so many people. Now the Saturday before Halloween, Halloween was on a Monday, Sunday was scheduled to poor and we do not open the maze when it is raining cause [the maze] is on a slight slope and I don’t want anyone to hurt themselves. So we had such a crowd on Saturday that we had more than an hour wait at 8 o’clock and we had to stop letting people get online because otherwise, they would wait an hour in the line and still not be able to go in because we close at 9 sharp for our neighbors.

Q: How do you pay for everything if there is no admission fee? Why do you not have an admission fee?

Well, this is a Halloween decoration, it is not a commercial venture. It’s not designed to make money. The expenses we do have, we pay out of my pocket.

This Haunted maze is a great addition to the Halloween spirit. Every year, participants are kept on their toes with this spooky attraction. If you’re looking for a good scare this Halloween season, 124 Sheridan Terrace is the place to go. From witches and werewolves to dead ends and clowns you’ll always have a good time at the Stewarts’, never knowing what to expect.