Tabatha Webber knows what it’s like to get a good scare, and she’s hoping now she can share the surprise with even more people in the Comox Valley.
Webber, along with her parents, have spent the past 10 years creating a haunted house for the public in their front yard of their Valley home, and now the family has donated their materials, displays and items to the LINC Youth Centre.
“My parents started it when I was around 13 years old as a way to teach us to give back to the community, even if you don’t have a lot of money,” she explained.
“We loved to decorate and make things, and every year it got bigger and bigger.”
Webber said after her and her brother moved out of the house, the haunted house continued, and eventually reached its goal.
“It was created to teach kids about giving back, and it succeeded.”
Working in youth programming, Webber heard about a similar haunted house hosted by the LINC, and thought it was an appropriate way to truly give back to the community.
“A lot of our items were homemade, and many were donated by the community. Every year after Halloween different stores would give us items. We had an entire shed full of things,” she added.
Christine Klupsas, co-ordinator of youth services at the LINC, said the donation is being well-used toward their annual haunted house, which is run on a limited budget.
“It’s really fantastic,” she noted. “It was great to see. So much of it was high quality and it came from years of collecting. The kids are most happy about the fake bones because they don’t have to make them.”
A group of children aged nine to 15 make up the ‘Ghoul Schoolers’ who will help construct and operate the haunted house, explained Klupas, and they created this year’s theme: the history of death.
“We’re known for being one of the scarier haunted houses. This year, we’re going to try and put on the full scare,” she said. “Even adults will get scared.”
She added the building will be transformed into a maze with tight corners and small children hidden away ready to scare.
While the opportunity to volunteer for the Ghoul Schoolers has closed, Klupsas noted any youth looking to help out can aid during the haunted house for a few extra hours.
The LINC haunted house will be open Oct. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m., then Oct. 28 thru Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission is $2 per person or $5 per family. Anyone wishing to volunteer can call 250-334-8138 x 222.