1990

The maze was first constructed on October of 1990. Ronald and his friends were throwing a Halloween party the weekend before Halloween. They started planning for it at the beginning of October.

The first maze was built outside right next to the side of a two car garage. The entrance was through a side door in the garage. The maze extended to the edge of the swimming pool and through the large gate in the fence. It was a cold October, they had planned ahead for it. An extra stand alone furnace in the garage and Nip-co heaters were borrowed to heat the maze. Fiberboard plywood panels framed on all four sizes and were the center supports. Tarps were also used to cover the maze to make it darker. A nearby streetlight didn't help. There were very few decorations and props used. There weren't any sound effects used. Beer, mixed drinks, and scary movies were our special effects.

1991

The next year (1991) the maze was built inside the garage. It took a lot of work and time to clear out floor space. The windows were covered with cardboard to make it darker. Help in constructing the maze was hard to come by. Ronald designed and built the maze that year. Kathy and Scott did all the planning for the party. That year was extremely cold, the 16 gallon keg was hardly touched. The maze was much bigger, darker and harder, lots of twists and turns. Bedspreads hung up became doorways when pulled back. With a separate entrance and exit which could be closed and locked for extra nastiness. Unfortunately that was the last year the maze was would be held at Ronald’s house.

1992

In 1992, the maze materials were borrowed to one of the founders. The Halloween party still went on but, there was no maze. After the Halloween party the Maze panels were stored at a farm south of Mankato.

Scott and Kathy moved back to the Mankato area in February of 1994. Halloween parties were held in the Mankato area for the next few years, with the maze pieces just collecting dust in what seamed to be their final resting place. Possibly never to be used again.

1997

The maze was in storage from November 1992 until October of 1997. However Scott and I thought we would try our hands at building a Halloween maze. Arranging for a use of a pickup was difficult. While transporting the maze panels Scott and I learned a lot (about aerodynamics and LIFT). That learning experience came on route, between the farm near Waldorf, MN and Mankato, MN. Scott and I thought that the panels were secure, they were not. It was windy that day, and two of the panels flew at least 30 feet in the air! One of them received major damage, the other landed without much harm. The maze built in Scott and Kathy's back yard. It was quite challenging to make several rooms that twisted and turned and also decorate the maze. Light was the major problem again, but was some what blocked by the garage roof. Plastic tarps were used to help keep light out. The tarps being stapled on were coming unsecured by the wind, so we placed planks on top to hold the tarps down. Many family and friends / co-workers were invited. Few new-comers showed up.

1998, 1999

The maze went back into storage for those years till a more suitable build site could be found.

2000

It was decided to have the Halloween party and Haunted maze at the Smith family farm just south of Mapleton, MN. A large 37 x 82 ft. (or 3034 sq. feet) farm shed was loaned to us in September and the planning began. A tractor and other farming things had to be moved out first before anything could be done. Designing the maze for its new space was a problem from the start. A small workshop and workbench were fixed in place and couldn't be moved. Planning and designing the maze on paper didn't work. For the most part, Scott and I just made it up as they went. Transporting the maze panels worked more efficiently using a grain truck (No demonstrations about lift that year). It took about a month of weekends to build, working at least 8 hours a night. After all the hard work of building it, The hard part came in decorating it. Figuring out the placement of lighting, sound effects, and the fog machine. When all was said and done the finished maze was 832 feet square.

2001

With rave reviews from our guests, it was decided to do it again next year. Even though Highway 22 was under re-paving we learned the back roads to the farm to build the maze. Construction of the maze began in September. Funds available for the maze were very tight. I purchased a fog machine (our most expensive purchase), which brought the number or foggers to two. Scott bought a sound effects CD and some props. Being on a tight budget, we borrowed props and lighting from Chad. He was happy to let us use them. This year we made a graveyard in front. Placed the maze 4 feet back from the front sliding doors to account for bad weather. Black lights were used throughout the maze. Having two fog machines, a fog chiller or cooler was made and tested, which was sent back to r&d for further development. After everything was setup, our creation had grown to 1147 square feet. Gained 315 sq. ft. over last year's maze. Charging for admission had been discussed to offset costs. After researching it, the liability, and insurance became issues. A donation bucket was placed in the line. Many people went through the night of the party. A Boy Scout troop came through on the 30th. The donated amount of $78 was added to next years fund.

2002

The maze needed a name if it was to bring repeats so it was name "The Maze of Terror" mainly because that is what Scott and I had started to call it. The Maze of Terror was big. with the funds that were available, more lumber was purchased and paint was purchased for the new lumber. Scott and I had fun, and got paint almost every ware. a five gallon bucket of paint was found at Menards rely cheap. 2002 featured a motion sensor, a coffin doorway, crepy street lamps , and a large black tunnel. the maze was larger than ever. The bare sheets of OSB was just screwed together in any old way with no time to build sturdy panels. There were many recycled pieces of lumber that were collected at Mankato's garbage days. There was a problem with some of the guests that called into question if there would be a maze in 2003, there will probably be, who really knows what 2003 will bring to "The Maze of Terror"

2003 & 2004

If you have ever put on a haunt yourself you know that once you have the bug you can't get rid of it. we decided to keep building the maze. 2003 was nice there were lots of familiar faces. 2004 was more difficult as I moved up to Circle Pines, MN. However that couldn't keep me away. I drove the nearly two hours almost every weekend to work on the maze. My other uncle Ronald, the original founder or the maze, came down to help those years.

2005

Each year as we unpack the maze from its storage place, which is in the shed that we build it in, both Scott and I are amazed at how many panels, sheets of wood, and other building supplies we have collected. The maze had originally started with about 100 linear feet of walls and has grown at an amazing pace in recent years. The 2005 maze promises to be bigger and better than ever b4 with possibly 4 foggers, 3 motion sensors activating effects, rooms of doors, massive 8 foot high front, nearly a dozen black lights, and more scary sounds than before.