SEBASTIAN — For 30 years, the Sebastian River Junior Woman’s Club has been scaring up screams for the Halloween season – and this year is expected to do the same. A few thousand people will go through the Haunted House on Main Street, seeking scares and screams to put them in the mood for the holiday.
After a bit of debate, the club decided to go with “Night Terror” as this year’s theme.
“We were going to call it ‘Night Sweats’ but we figured only the women would get it,” organizer Teddy Hulse said while walking the Haunted House and determining what still needed be done.
Trick lighting and creative painting should keep thrill seekers off balance as they pass down corridors and travel from room to room.
“This will mess with them a bit,” Hulse said.
The Sebastian River Junior Woman’s Club haunting begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. The dates for the Haunted House are Oct. 14 and 15, 21 and 22, and from Oct. 26 through 31. Admission is $5.
The organization has had to make some changes to the way its decorations and props are operated – switching mostly to battery power.
“Me and Dollar Tree are going to be good friends,” Hulse said of picking up battery operated props.
Other items have been found through the Internet, according to Hulse, who pointed out a couple items from home style maven Martha Stewart.
“She makes some great props, man,” Hulse said. They’re gruesome and eerie, too.
One of the oldest props to return to the Haunted House is a real boar’s head – a gift from a Fellsmere resident.
“Only five of us will pick it up,” Hulse said, explaining the head is so old that the fur is starting to come out, leaving behind patches of skin. Aside from her, her husband and a couple others, the rest of the Junior Woman’s Club volunteers refuse to touch it.
“Bunch of cowards,” Hulse chided.
The Haunted House has three areas to it – inside, outside and a maze. Those who decide to come back multiple times over the three weekends most likely won’t find the same route through the maze. The maze has three possible escapes, depending on which one volunteers set up.
There are a few rules visitors to the Haunted House must follow before being allowed entry. They include:
- No hats
- No cigarette lighters
- No knives or firearms
- No touching the spooks or the props
- No food or drink
The Haunted House volunteers will let in visitors in groups of six or less at a time, giving each group enough time to visit each portion of the house and grounds and interact with the spooks.
Just how long it takes the groups to get through is up to the group.
Getting through the Haunted House can take anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour – if not longer.
“It depends on how fast you run,” Hulse said, adding it could take longer if you get lost. Haunted House workers might not be too quick to rescue the lost. “We’re sick like that!”
The Haunted House serves as the major fund-raiser for the Sebastian River Junior Woman’s Club. Proceeds from the haunting are used to fund club projects, including arts and crafts for children around Christmas and providing Thanksgiving meals to seniors at the Senior Center, to name a couple.
“It helps fund everything we do,” Hulse said.