: Unbeknownst to the partygoers, a real-life serial killer named Malcolm Guffin has escaped police custody nearby and is hiding in the dense woods where the hayride takes place.

The plot follows college student Steven Summers and his girlfriend, Amanda, as they return to Steven's hometown for his Uncle Morgan’s annual "Haunted Hayride". The evening's tension is built on two converging threats:

: Uncle Morgan entertains visitors with the tale of a local farmer who went insane and slaughtered his family.

As the hayride begins, a killer wearing a burlap sack mask begins picking off patrons and staff. The horror stems from the victims' inability to distinguish between the staged scares of the attraction and the actual murders occurring in the dark. Morgan Richard Tyson Steven Jeremy Ivy Amanda Sherri Eakin Detective Loomis Corlandos Scott Pitchfork Bennett Wayne Dean Sr.