🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. The Behind the Screams Story of Kersey Valley Spookywoods and Woods of Terror
2. What We’re Reading
3. Around The State

Enter If You Dare…

In the summer of 1985, 15-year-old  Tony Wohlgemuth was sleeping in a tobacco barn on his family’s property one evening in Archdale with some friends. A chandelier hanging from the rafters came loose and plunged from the ceiling, catching just above their faces. The fall caused the power line to unplug, throwing the barn into darkness.

“That spawned a dare,” Wohlgemuth said. “The dare was, ‘Who’s gonna restore the power?’”

At the time, the tobacco barns were powered by electrical cords routed from a blue farmhouse on the property. One was rumored to be haunted. 

“And I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna,’” Wohlgemuth said. 

But a friend took the dare. On his way inside, the story goes, he was accosted by a bat, prompting another friend to check on him. In the darkness, the two boys collided, and chaos ensued.

“It caused a big ruckus and a memory of a lifetime,” Wohlgemuth said, and one of the friends suggested that they should create a haunted house. 

Four decades later, Kersey Valley Spookywoods is one of the most well-known haunted attractions in North Carolina and beyond. Since its humble beginnings as a five-bedroom haunted house with $2 tickets, it has grown in both popularity and size.

Thirty miles away, Greensboro’s Woods of Terror competes with its own impressive attraction focused on high-quality sets that rival Universal Studios. Together, the two businesses scare patrons who travel to the Triad every year in the weeks leading up to Halloween. 

Read the full story here.

— Sayaka Matsuoka

Thanks for reading The Thread, a 3x week newsletter written by Greensboro editor Joe Killian and reporters Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher. Reach us with tips or ideas at greensboro@theassemblync.com.

What We’re Reading

Farewell to a Trailblazer: Former Guilford County Board of Commissioners member Dorothy “Dot’ Kearns has died at 94. She was the first woman to serve on the Guilford Board. The News & Record’s Nancy McLaughlin has more.

The Wrong Message: Greensboro City Council candidates Nicky Smith and Adam Marshall, both running in District 4, say their campaign signs were recently defaced and stolen. Smith’s signs were spray-painted with the word “RACIST.” Both candidates have condemned the theft and vandalism. WFMY has the story.

Calls for Accountability: The community advocacy group FREE Guilford (Freedom Resistance Empowerment Education) is calling for more police accountability ahead of the general election for Greensboro City Council, reports The Carolina Peacemaker.

Around The State

A Flag the Size of a Basketball Court Divides Greenville

Camping World’s CEO said the flag is a display of patriotism, while others said local […]

Democrats’ Deep Hole

What would it take for North Carolina Democrats to overcome the latest GOP congressional gerrymander? […]

In Siler City, Fear of ICE Hangs Over Latino Community

Residents of this majority-Latino town are afraid, cultural events have been canceled, and the community […]

Joe Killian is The Assembly's Greensboro editor. He joined us from NC Newsline, where he was senior investigative reporter. He spent a decade at The News & Record covering cops and courts, higher education, and government.

Sayaka Matsuoka is a Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She was formerly the managing editor for Triad City Beat, an alt-weekly based in Greensboro. She has reported for INDY Week, The Bitter Southerner, and Nerdist, and is the editorial/diversity chair for AAN Publishers.