As they have for many years, Riverbank’s Parks and Recreation Department is coordinating this weekend’s Haunted Hayride, helping get the community in the spirit of the Halloween holiday.

Haunted Hayride hours are Friday, Oct. 23 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 24 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 4 to 12, and children 3 and under are admitted free, if they are riding on a lap.

“People can come down, park in the parking lot (at Jacob Myers Park) and they can buy tickets in the gazebo area, they’ll probably have to wait in line a little,” said Parks and Rec spokesperson Kerrie Webb. “We have five tractors, they will go every two to three minutes, and it is about a 15-minute ride.”

Each tractor hauls a wagon full of people through the park, to a number of scary scenes set up just for the occasion.

“Our theme is scary movies throughout history,” added Webb. “We’ve got about 18 to 20 sites right now with people, I would say it’s the best one we’ve had so far.”

The sites do include plenty of gory, scary scenarios, so those attending should be aware if they have small children with them.

Webb said there is a good mix of participants, with some families taking on ‘scare sites’ this year in addition to the Boy Scouts, Rotary Club, Riverbank Youth Baseball Association, Riverbank High School drama with two sites, and Riverbank city staff.

“The people that are in the sites are there the whole time,” Webb added of participants devoting plenty of time during the event as well as during the prep time beforehand. “Every two or three minutes, they do their scene again.”

Webb said she didn’t have a specific number of years the Haunted Hayride has been offered, but said she is sure it has been more than 10 years, and remains a community favorite.

“I think it has been 13 or 14 years,” she said. “We have done it a long time.”

Among the movies featured in this year’s scare sites will be The Purge, Jeepers Creepers, Scream, Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.