With bags placed over their faces and their hands holding onto a rope, thrill seekers will have the opportunity to experience a whole new level of terror in Niles this fall.

Niles Scream Park manager Matt Herm said organizers of the popular theme park, located at 855 Mayflower Road in Niles, solicited feedback from visitors last year, and learned that people wanted the fear level knocked up a few notches.

“They wanted something more intense,” Herm said. “In California, everyone is doing these really intense things, so we went back to the drawing board and created some new features.”

Among the new amenities is “Hooded,” a “complete sensory experience” in which participants travel through a haunted house while blinded by bags over their heads. Those wishing to test this attraction must be 18 and older, and they are required to sign a waiver before participating.

Another new attraction, titled “Infested,” will give park goers a walk through the creepy crawlies.

“It’s a series of leeches and worms you have to interact with,” Herm said.

Herm is the co-owner of Outsmart Escape Rooms, which has locations in South Bend and Elkhart, and a new room coming soon to Buchanan. The park manager drew on his experience creating escape rooms to bring two similar attractions to the Niles Scream Park.

“Possessed” will ask guests to assist in exorcising a deserted mansion that became a “portal for the undead” after owners bought a Ouija Board to communicate with the paranormal.

“Incarcerated” will take guests to the Four Flags Penitentiary, following the fictional tale of inmates on death row who were used for medical research and psychological testing.

Escape room participants will be given a set amount of time to solve a puzzle and escape the room.

Herm emphasized that, while the park has added some more intense attractions, family friendly activities are still important, as the organization’s main goal is to give back to southwest Michigan.

Staffed by between 150 and 200 local volunteers each year, the Niles Scream Park is a nonprofit community project that allows workers to raise funds for their respective organizations. Since 1996, more than $1.7 million has been donated to local and national nonprofit organizations.

The Scream Park also funds scholarships for students at Niles, Brandywine, Cassopolis, Dowagiac and Edwardsburg schools.

“We still have the regular lineup — the three indoor fun houses and the haunted house,” Herm said. “This year, the haunted house is based off iconic slasher movies. We’ve got Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers and all that stuff.”

Guests will also be able to take advantage of the Field of Screams, a haunted corn maze filled with classic killers.

The Dark Terror-Tory Haunted Hayride, a mile-long hayride filled with more than 30 sets woven together into a narrative, also returns this year.

Another big hit introduced last year, the Bubble Monster, returns.

“It’s a foam tunnel filled floor to ceiling with bubbles,” Herm said. “It seems like it would be fun to walk through, but it gives you a claustrophobic feeling. … We added that last year and it was a big hit.”

The park opens for a “Sneak Peek Party” Friday to kick off the 2017 season. Hosted by promotional partners Verizon and The CW 25, the event will give visitors an early look at Possessed, the Field of Screams and the 2017 Haunted House. Tickets are available at Verizon locations at University Park Mall and in LaPorte, and are available Friday, Sept. 8, only.

Following the sneak peek, the Niles Scream Park will be open 8 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in September beginning Sept. 15; 7 to 11 p.m. Fridays through Saturdays in October and 7 to 10 p.m. Sundays in October; and 7 to 11 p.m. Halloween night. More information is available at haunted.org.