Boys and ghouls will be out in droves on Monday night, dressed as their favourite or scariest character while trick-or-treating for candy.
Continuing a local tradition, Elmira District Secondary School teacher DJ Carroll and his drama students will be hosting a haunted house in the subdivision on Church Street West, inviting local kids to take a step into the Haunted Manor.
Paranormal investigators will be guiding trick-or-treaters through the rooms of a haunted mansion, all constructed in Carroll’s garage, looking for ghosts, demons and a way out.
“We have a haunted pumpkin graveyard, and ghouls that you will meet along the way through the house. You are going to meet the owner of the manor, and see if you can escape,” teased Carroll.
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Grade 10 student Kendra Barnai is just one of the group of students gearing up for Halloween night. She plays one of two porcelain dolls in the haunted manor.
“It looks like their eyes are always watching you. Just the look they have – it is so creepy,” she said, adding that she can’t wait to act spooky and maybe get a few screams. “I am looking forward to seeing all the kids enjoying the haunted house. It will be really cool. We will be bringing a haunted house to life.”
Carroll says the group will cater the scariness of the house to the crowd that comes by for a scare.
“We will do a fun one, and then there will be a scarier version,” he said.
He puts together an elaborate haunted house at his home every year, and he says he is going to keep on doing it.
“For me, Halloween is about having fun. There is a chance, for one day, for people to be anything they want to be. It is so important, because nowadays we have been losing touch with our imaginations,” he said. “It is so important to have those days where we can play dress-up and just have a little fun. And of course, the candy.”
The haunted house’s doors will creak open around 5 p.m. for the early trick-or-treaters, and will close at 8:30 p.m. The students will also be collecting non-perishable food items for the food bank.
Barnai says everyone should come out. Being a little scared is what Halloween is all about.
“I feel like kids should just come out, even if it is a little bit scary. It is Halloween, that is what it is supposed to be,” she said.
The Haunted Manor will be open to the public at 14 Limera Ave.
