Thursday, October 1, 2026
After last year’s Haunted Hayride attracted more than 3,000 people and resulted in waits longer than three hours, village officials decided to go with something different this year: a three-night immersive experience, beginning Thursday and continuing through Saturday, that will put visitors in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
Village Clerk Bob Barra said he got the idea when he visited Joe Allocco’s well-known haunted house, the Franklin Square Horror, which Allocco has been hosting at his Norbay Street home in Franklin Square for the last 19 years. The hayride was “too successful, really,” Barra said, as it reached its capacity last year and would require more trucks circling Hendrickson Park to properly accommodate a similar crowd. But that could mean the trucks would run too close together, revealing to each successive truckload of attendees what scares were ahead.
Barra approached Allocco and asked what he could do at the Valley Stream Community Center. Allocco suggested a zombie scenario that would transform the center into a make-believe medical facility where visitors will be screened and inoculated during a catastrophic infestation.
The site will feature a maze full of surprises, as some participants will prove to have been exposed to the virus. Allocco said that the center’s layout lends itself to a transformation into a medical facility, and visitors will find themselves in a realistic and “very intense” situation complete with fake newscasts about the apocalypse’s wider scope.
“All hell’s gonna break loose,” Allocco said.
The maze is meant for teens and adults, Barra said, though there will be activities for children outside the center. Food and souvenirs will also be available. He noted that all activities would be rainproof — either indoors or under shelter. “It’s not gonna be for little kids under 6 or 7,” Barra said. “We don’t want them sleeping with their parents for the next couple of years.”
Allocco has been planning the event for more than four months, directing the village’s purchasing of costumes and props and building the structures that will turn the center into a winding hall of horror. His father Emilio, an architect, used the building’s blueprints to help design the space. Professional makeup artists will turn actors into frightening characters, and the site’s design will create a claustrophobic environment. Allocco earns his living doing specialized painting and faux finishes, and he uses his decorative skills to deck out his projects with a professional touch. He helped design the Bayville Scream Park and was a guest speaker at the Haunt Fair in Islandia in August.
“He’s a very handy guy,” Barra said. “He can do a lot of things, and he’s got a great imagination.”
Tickets are $10, with a group rate for 10 or more people decreasing the price to $7 each. Sales will be limited to 1,000 per night to avoid overcrowding. A portion of the proceeds will go to support children with autism and their families, according to the village. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. each night.
Allocco has won national recognition for the quality of his haunted houses. He said the Valley Stream scene would include police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks.
“We’re trying to make it as realistic as possible,” he said.
