There Are 'Demons & Dangers' Inside This Year's 'A-Maz-Ing Haunted House'
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
This year, Scout Troop 726 and the North Webster Lions Club are keeping the tradition going as The A-Maz-ing Haunted House will be at the Mermaid Festival grounds for the fifth year.
The scares start at 6 p.m. Oct. 19-20 and Oct. 26-27. A special edition of the haunted house, in conjunction with the North Webster Fire Department and EMS Halloween activities, will be Oct. 31 from 6 to 9 p.m.
The cost is $8, but free for children 5 years old and younger with a paid admission.
“It’s a very fair price compared to what everyone else does,” said Jay Johnson, Boy Scout leader, Lions Club member and “head spook.” “There’s $2 coupons floating around the county, too.”
The North Webster Lions Club are the oldest and longest continuous-charter member of Scouts in Indiana, Johnson said. They charter Cub Scouts. The Boy Scouts are chartered by the North Webster United Methodist Church. But the Boy Scouts and the Lions Club work together on the Haunted House project as a “fun-raiser” for the community, Johnson said.
Work on the haunted house started right after Labor Day. Planning, however, began right after last year’s spooky attraction was taken down, Johnson said.
While last year’s theme was “Spirits of North Webster,” this year’s is “Demons & Dangers.”
Between the scares inside and outside of the building, Johnson said there will be 6,000 square feet of paranormal activity.
Johnson provided a quick run-through of this year’s spooktacular.
Members of the public who dare to take the journey hop on the “body bus,” which takes you to the “Zombie Construction Zone.” From there, you crawl through the culvert into the Forest of Fear where Bigfoot is.
If you survive, you then enter the Ghostly Gallows Graveyard where bodies hang around. Then, if your heart can take it, you go inside the haunted house.
Stalactites hang down as you hunch over and get through the entrance. From the demon hallway, you then work your way past the mortuary, the bat way and up to the castle door way and bridge, over the moats to where Witchy Rapunzel cackles.
Watch out for the dragon under the bridge!
Once you leave the castle and the beheader, you head through the doors of doom, past rodent alley and into the dungeon where you are greeted by the inhabitants – including Mad Merlin.
After leaving the dungeon, you check into the Bloody Bed & Breakfast, then enter tornado alley where Windy Way and Twister take you to Road Kill Curve.
On that stop, you can eat from the Coffin Buffet at Road Kill Café.
Finally, you exit to the bonfire.[[In-content Ad]]Johnson estimated a person can get through everything in 15 minutes, or make it last a half hour. In 2011, he said most people took 20 to 25 minutes to go through it all.
“The funds go to local Scouting and Lions Club activities,” Johnson said. “It’s a ‘fun-raiser’ for the community. Lots of the community is involved so it’s definitely a community event. The number of people involved last year was the size of North Webster. It’s a way to get kids off the street. We teach them hand tools and they learn how to build. We have kids not involved in Scouting who get involved in this.”
One haunted night takes about 30 actors to “care for the victims,” Johnson said.
It is geared toward elementary and middle school aged participants.
“We rely on the actors to rely on their judgment,” he said. If younger kids come through, the actors know to tone down their scary factor. Older walkers get a little more scare.
The haunted house is inspected by the Department of Homeland Security for security purposes, Johnson said. Actors don’t touch those who walk through the facilities, and participants are asked not to touch the actors.
Holy Smokes BBQ will provide hot food and drink each night of the haunted house again this year, Johnson said.
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This year, Scout Troop 726 and the North Webster Lions Club are keeping the tradition going as The A-Maz-ing Haunted House will be at the Mermaid Festival grounds for the fifth year.
The scares start at 6 p.m. Oct. 19-20 and Oct. 26-27. A special edition of the haunted house, in conjunction with the North Webster Fire Department and EMS Halloween activities, will be Oct. 31 from 6 to 9 p.m.
The cost is $8, but free for children 5 years old and younger with a paid admission.
“It’s a very fair price compared to what everyone else does,” said Jay Johnson, Boy Scout leader, Lions Club member and “head spook.” “There’s $2 coupons floating around the county, too.”
The North Webster Lions Club are the oldest and longest continuous-charter member of Scouts in Indiana, Johnson said. They charter Cub Scouts. The Boy Scouts are chartered by the North Webster United Methodist Church. But the Boy Scouts and the Lions Club work together on the Haunted House project as a “fun-raiser” for the community, Johnson said.
Work on the haunted house started right after Labor Day. Planning, however, began right after last year’s spooky attraction was taken down, Johnson said.
While last year’s theme was “Spirits of North Webster,” this year’s is “Demons & Dangers.”
Between the scares inside and outside of the building, Johnson said there will be 6,000 square feet of paranormal activity.
Johnson provided a quick run-through of this year’s spooktacular.
Members of the public who dare to take the journey hop on the “body bus,” which takes you to the “Zombie Construction Zone.” From there, you crawl through the culvert into the Forest of Fear where Bigfoot is.
If you survive, you then enter the Ghostly Gallows Graveyard where bodies hang around. Then, if your heart can take it, you go inside the haunted house.
Stalactites hang down as you hunch over and get through the entrance. From the demon hallway, you then work your way past the mortuary, the bat way and up to the castle door way and bridge, over the moats to where Witchy Rapunzel cackles.
Watch out for the dragon under the bridge!
Once you leave the castle and the beheader, you head through the doors of doom, past rodent alley and into the dungeon where you are greeted by the inhabitants – including Mad Merlin.
After leaving the dungeon, you check into the Bloody Bed & Breakfast, then enter tornado alley where Windy Way and Twister take you to Road Kill Curve.
On that stop, you can eat from the Coffin Buffet at Road Kill Café.
Finally, you exit to the bonfire.[[In-content Ad]]Johnson estimated a person can get through everything in 15 minutes, or make it last a half hour. In 2011, he said most people took 20 to 25 minutes to go through it all.
“The funds go to local Scouting and Lions Club activities,” Johnson said. “It’s a ‘fun-raiser’ for the community. Lots of the community is involved so it’s definitely a community event. The number of people involved last year was the size of North Webster. It’s a way to get kids off the street. We teach them hand tools and they learn how to build. We have kids not involved in Scouting who get involved in this.”
One haunted night takes about 30 actors to “care for the victims,” Johnson said.
It is geared toward elementary and middle school aged participants.
“We rely on the actors to rely on their judgment,” he said. If younger kids come through, the actors know to tone down their scary factor. Older walkers get a little more scare.
The haunted house is inspected by the Department of Homeland Security for security purposes, Johnson said. Actors don’t touch those who walk through the facilities, and participants are asked not to touch the actors.
Holy Smokes BBQ will provide hot food and drink each night of the haunted house again this year, Johnson said.
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