The Bates Motel Haunted Attractions began in 1991 as a small haunted hayride thru the 200 year old, dark forest at Arasapha Farm, located a half hour west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Randy and Anne Bates, it has grown over the years into a major destination Haunted Scream Park. In 1995, Randy attended the Transworld Halloween trade show in Chicago, and came home with the idea to build a haunted house, and the Bates Motel was born.
Then, in 2000 they added a haunted trail in a two acre corn filed, completing this trilogy of terror.
These attractions, along with other seasonal events has allowed the Bates family keep the farm from being developed. Bates Motel employs over 300 staff each fall, with 10 full time employees. Anne is the CFO and handles the bills and all financial work. Randy’s son, Ben, has taken over management and construction, while daughters Diana and Veronica handle payroll, concessions and the gift shops. Ben’s wife, Nicole, runs the very successful donut stand. So this is truly a family run operation.
In 2020, due to the pandemic, the Bates Motel crew changed the hayride trail into a walking haunted attraction called, what else but the Psychopath! It has been a huge hit with most folks and the Bates Motel is deciding to keep it or move back to a hayride in 2022. Very little changes were made in 2020 as they didn’t know if they were going to be allowed to open right up until mid-August. 2021 saw major additions in the Bates Motel and the Revenge of the Scarecrow Haunted Trail. For this year, the Bates build crew are working on several new sets on the hayride trail including some very high tech projection mapping in the opening scene.
The Bates Motel has been featured on numerous top 10 lists and was recently rated as the most entertaining haunted attraction in the country. They have also been featured on the Travel Channel, and have had several movies shot on the farm. When asked about his lifelong work, Randy just says he has always loved scaring people.
