Zombies invade the Sam Adam’s Bar. Photo by Nate Mapplethorpe

MANCHESTER, NH – One of the most terrifying things that I, personally, could entertain on the first night of October—in the midst of what is commonly referred to as “Spooky Season”— happened.

The Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-3 in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series in the Bronx, forcing an even more frightening final game tonight.

But I wasn’t watching baseball last night. Not really.

Instead, I was invited to attend the soft opening for “Fright Nights at the Field: Screaming Line Drive” at Delta Dental Stadium, which included a preview of the 10-15 minute haunted tour that runs through the locker rooms and beneath the stadium where the New Hampshire Fisher Cats play 69 home games each season.

The entrance to Screaming Line Drive. Photo by Nate Mapplethorpe.

The concourse looks slightly different. Photo by Nate Mapplethorpe.

But, as Fisher Cats General Manager Taylor Fisher pointed out to a gathering of the press and friends invited for the soft opening, this underutilizes the facility, which Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), owners of the franchise, are looking to change.

Delta Dental Stadium was one of four sites nationwide that DBH chose to launch “haunted tours” this year, which Fisher referred to as “a privilege” for the Fisher Cats and the city. The Haunted Stadium Tour, which also includes the option to participate in the Save the Ballpark Escape Rooms hosted in the executive suites for $25, opens tonight and will run Thursdays through Sundays for the month of October, closing on Nov. 1.

I wrote an article about “Fright Nights at the Field: Screaming Line Drive” a month ago, after I caught up with Fisher during the team’s penultimate homestand.

A few days ago, I received tickets—including a plus-one—for the soft opening and convinced my wife, who was concerned about losing control of her bladder during The Haunted Stadium Tour, to attend with me.

My wife feared micturating herself during the haunted tour. Photo by Nate Mapplethorpe.

In another spooky turn, I ran into Peter White, who hosts “The Morning Show” on 95.3 WMNH, at the Sam Adams Bar as we waited for the tours to begin. As it turned out, my wife and Peter’s girlfriend shared the same fear of incontinence.

Those fears were justified.

For starters, the set dressings throughout the stadium were top-notch, and if you’ve never been in an empty baseball stadium at night, there is something deeply unsettling about the quietness and space.

The costumes and makeup for the actors were also stellar. In fact, one of the zombies roaming the concourses and the Sam Adams Bar must have bitten Fisher, who looked a little under the weather.

A zombie bit GM Taylor Fisher. Courtesy photo from Taylor Fisher.

After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the zombie version of Taylor Fisher led the group through a tour of the spooked-up stadium, giving us glimpses into the escape rooms—no photos were allowed—in the executive suites before leading us back onto the concourses for the haunted trail.

Peter and I, along with our maidens fearful of micturating themselves, took the tour in a group of four and made it out alive—and relatively dry.

I won’t give anything away, but “Screaming Line Drive” certainly has the potential to become, as Fisher told me in our last interview, “Manchester’s flagship fall event.” It was a great evening and worth experiencing.

Still, I’d rather one of the restless zombies at Delta Dental Stadium bite me in the neck than face Yankee fans if the Red Sox lose this Wild Card series.

The horror! The horror!