New Halloween attraction promises to rescue you from invading zombies. (But bring your butternut squash just in case.)

Halie Barnaby is a sweet kid. She’s got a shy smile, kind eyes and a tender disposition.

Then an old military truck comes rolling down the muddy road and she turns mean.

Her lips curl back in a snarl.

Her eyes squeeze down to slits.

She begins rocking back and forth in the cage that holds her and an icy scream rises out of her throat.

For the 18 or so riders in the back of the Army truck, Barnaby is a nightmare vision, a 13-year-old horror clutching the bars of a roughly three-by-five-foot cage and shrieking in a way that chills the blood. Is the cage enough to hold her? Nobody knows! That’s part of the fun of a lumbering ride through Harold Brook’s Zombie Invasion Halloween ride.

Things are a little bit different out here in the deep woods of Hebron. Instead of a quaint tractor hauling riders on a trailer heaped with cozy hay, passengers here do their tour of service in the back of five-ton Army trucks, and there’s nothing quaint about it.

The trucks – a half-dozen of them rolling along the muddy, winding course – are not meant to be quaint. The premise here is grim from the start: A meteor has slammed into a cemetery and the dead are coming back to eat the living. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is transporting people to their camps in hopes of rescuing them from a zombie invasion.

Chances of survival? Seem pretty slim. Zombies are everywhere on Brooks’ sprawling acres. They are crawling all over a car-crash site, a scene reminiscent of the always-popular TV show “The Walking Dead.” A few turns later, they have taken over a spooky old church with its steeple rising out of the dark. The cemetery itself just teems with the undead and we’re only halfway through the ride.

In Brooks’ woods, the hungry undead ravage the living at every turn and screams fill the night. For the passengers in the trucks, it’s 20 minutes of uncertainty, with a variety of ghouls chasing after them as the trucks rumble on and on through the mud and through the dark.

For some, it’s that feeling of vulnerability that draws them to the first-time Halloween event. For the Withee family of Auburn it is a chance to test their mettle against the No. 1 threat in current pop culture.

The butternut squash solution

“We have a plan for what we’re going to do in the case of a zombie apocalypse,” says Chantelle Withee, who came with her husband and teenage kids. For one, she’s counting on the youthful guile of her children to keep them alive and safe.

“I’ll survive it until the end,” says 15-year-old Gabriel. “I’m a headstrong teenager.”

Gabriel’s little brother is confident he’ll survive the ride, and that will give him practice for the real-world invasion of zombies. He’s got a definite plan for that, too.

“I’m going to put a butternut squash inside a sock and use that to defend myself,” Jordan says.

Why butternut squash? Nobody knows. Jordan isn’t sure, exactly, but he’s sticking to his plan. Even so, his whole family predicts that Jordan will be the first to scream once the ride begins. Jordan himself does not dispute them.

Before they climb onto the military trucks, the riders stand around a bonfire in the middle of a rolling field, awaiting their fate. There, they get to listen to the screams from the woods and wonder what’s to come.

For Elizabeth and Barry Doyle of Bowdoin, it isn’t so much about the zombies specifically. When Halloween season comes along, any source of chills will do.

“We’re fun-seekers,” Elizabeth says. “That’s what we are.”

“We just love thrills,” Barry agrees.

The couple planned to take the ride and then report back to their daughter, a true zombie fan. With that in mind, they climbed to the back of one of the trucks and prepared to ride off into darkness.

“Am I scared?” Elizabeth asked herself. “A little – of the unexpected, mostly. As long as they don’t touch me, I’ll be all right. I just hope they don’t have chain saws out there. Just the sound of chain saws gives me goosebumps.”

Spoiler alert: There are chain saws, and the ghouls are not shy about using them. In fact, they rather relish the opportunity.

“I like to just bang the chain saw against the side of the truck,” says deep woods creepster Kyle Stetson. “I stare right at the riders while I do it. That really creeps them out.”

Creeps them out so much, in fact, that one teenage girl dropped her phone in reaction to Stetson’s chain saw antics. It tumbled into the mud below, where it was promptly run over by one of the rig’s fat tires. The phone survived. We assume the teenager did as well.

Bloody thrills, subtle scares

Brooks, creator of the original Redneck Olympics (now known as the Redneck Blank) and other events, said he’s been mulling this kind of Halloween attraction for years. He loves zombies, for one thing, and some of his fondest memories are of hayrides.

In July, Brooks bought six beefy military trucks at an auction and that was the crucial piece he needed. By the time he was ready for opening night, Saturday, Oct. 10, most of the elements were in place. Brooks was happy.

“Every time I do something like this,” Brooks said, “it comes out even better than I thought it was going to. I think people are just going to be thrilled just by the ride itself – just to ride on a country farm at night with a bunch of happy people in the back of a truck, that alone is the thrill. The rest of it just makes it better. Throw some zombies in there and it’s going to be great.”

Zombies and a few other staples of hayride season. A bloody bride here, a psycho with a cleaver there, and few clowns that don’t fit the script, exactly, but which provide for some uncomfortable moments nonetheless. There’s a lone figure in a gas mask working a “decontamination tunnel” and there are plenty of things that spring out of the darkness when you really wish they wouldn’t.

By 8 p.m. on opening night, the lines were plenty long at Brooks’ farm. It was the usual mix of Halloween thrill-seekers: middle-aged couples with kids in tow, a few groups of young women on an unusual girls’ night out, and plenty of teenage couples doing their teenage things.

Teenage girl: “I’m cold.”

Boyfriend: “Geesh, already?”

Teenage girl: “This is going to be creepy. You better not try to scare me.”

Boyfriend: Grins.

Then they climbed onto one of the trucks and the screams began soon after.

If you’re a fan of “The Walking Dead,” many of the scenes on Brooks’ farm will look and feel chillingly familiar. Watch for a forlorn-looking Teddy bear in a place where no child’s toy belongs. Watch for a scowling old man in a chair, who happens to be Harold Brooks’ father.

Keep an eye out for that bloody bride. And pay attention to what she cradles in her arms. On Brooks’ demented ride through the woods, some of the best stuff is subtle.

And some of the best is in your face, like the the spine-tingling shriek of Halie Barnaby, which causes the little hairs to rise on the back of your neck and makes you wish the truck would move along just a little quicker.

She’s really a nice lass once you get to know her.

Zombie Invasion — the ride

What: Zombie Invasion Halloween ride. In their words: “Ride in a safe and exciting 5-ton Army truck with other refugees trying to avoid being eaten by the zombies and crazies that have infested a 210-acre farm in Hebron.”

When: Every Friday and Saturday night in October. Gate opens at 5 p.m. Last ride leaves at 11.

How much: Free parking. Tickets $18 per adult; kids 12 and under ride for $12.

Where: 12 Harold Lane, Hebron. The same location as the Redneck Blank.

FMI: Zombie Invasion Halloween Ride Facebook page.

Want more Halloween fun?

Here are a few more ways to get your spook on in the area. This list is not complete; check other entertainment sources for events.

* Wallingford’s Nightmare on the Ridge: 1240 Perkins Ridge Road, Auburn. Fridays and Saturdays, 6-11 p.m. “This is one journey you’ll need to scream to survive deep within the woods of the ridge. As you walk through the eerie woods, you’ll feel the chilling breath of spirits whispering in your ears.” Find out more on the Wallingford Facebook page.

* Harvest Hill Farms/Pumpkin Land: 125 Pigeon Hill Road, Mechanic Falls. The Big Corn Maze Adventure is now open weekends through Nov. 1. “Night Maze: Bring your flashlights for an amazing evening in the maze!” Hours are nightfall to 10 p.m. Find out more at harvesthillfarms.com.

* Haunted Trail in Livermore. This event to benefit the class of 2017. Contact Mary St. Pierre at 446-9933. “With eerie, haunting displays and scary ghouls and monsters to keep you — um — entertained, you’ll love your time at the Halloween Haunted Trail of Livermore. Each year the trail is different, with new twists, new turns and new scares around every corner.” From 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, through the end of the month. Visit the website at hauntedtrailoflivermore.com

* Sandy River Farms in Farmington: The Amazing Maize will take place on the 10-acre cornfield south of the farm at 755 Farmington Falls Road from Oct. 29-31. “The Maize is a series of paths cut into the cornfield and will provide ample fun for young and old.” Find out more at the Sandy River Farms website at www.sandyriverfarms.com.

* Buckfield Junior-Senior High School: Haunted Hayride, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24, at Bessey’s Field on Paris Hill Road in Buckfield. Cost is $5. The ride will run from 6 to 10 p.m., rain or shine. The event is a fundraiser for this year’s graduating class. Food will be available and raffle items will be on display.

* Pineland Farms in New Gloucester: 2nd Annual Harvest Festival and Haunted Woods Walk. The festival is on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the Haunted Woods Walk will be Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. $5 per person for each event. The festival will include apple cider demonstrations, “Click, Clack, Boo” woods walk, face painting, farmers Olympics, 4-acre corn “maize” and a showing of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Costumes highly encouraged and parent supervision required. The woods walks will leave every half-hour, beginning with an optional trip through the corn “maize” (flashlights required) and finishing with a scare-your-pants-off journey through the dark forest. www.pinelandfarms.org.

* Maine Wildlife Park Halloween Fest in Gray: Off Route 26 in Gray, the park’s festival will run on both Friday and Saturday nights, Oct. 23 and 24, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Adults and kids alike are encouraged to wear costumes. “Park staff and volunteers will stop at nothing to give you and your family new scares and fun!” Admission: free for ages 3 and under; $5.50 ages 4-12; $7.50 for adults; $5.50 for seniors.