Haunted house draws a crowd

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Published on Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Submitted photos. Over 40 people volunteered as ghosts, ghouls and monsters at the Arden Haunted House.

By Tony Eu

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

On Wednesday, Oct. 26 to Saturday, Oct. 29, the Arden Haunted House opened its doors for a fifth year of frightening fun. The haunted house, which utilized the Arden curling rink, saw 500 people pass through the winding corridors and scare-filled scenes.

This number was significantly up from last year, which saw 350 individuals brave the experience. Originally set in the upstairs portion of the rink, the first run of the haunted house, in 2012, had 35 visitors. The year after, it was moved to the rink area, where it has remained since, growing in attendance each year.

The experience this year took about 10 minutes, depending on how quickly you moved through the various spooky areas, with an entry fee of $5 per person. The money raised from the event is donated to the Arden Recreation Commission. The commission puts on events at the Arden Community Hall, the Arden Rink and the Lansdowne Centennial Park.

“We started set up on Oct. 10,” said Sharla Magwood, one of the organizers of the haunted house. “We had 20 volunteers who built and decorated the haunted house,” Magwood added.

This snapshot shows the Arden Haunted House during construction, providing insight into the scope of the project and how much work was put in.

“I would estimate that if you combined all the hours that those people put in, it would be close to 1,000 [hours],” she remarked. Those hours paid off, as the size and quality of the haunted house was remarkable. Once the structure was built and decorated, the only thing left was to find people to do the scaring. “There were over 40 individuals that volunteered their time scaring. We are so thankful for all the volunteers, we couldn’t possibly do it without them,” Magwood said.

“Each year our haunted house is different. We like to think that we get a little bigger and a little better each year. I think it shows by how many people come to enjoy it with us. Not [just] the patrons who go through have a great time, all the volunteers love it [as well],” she noted, adding as a final remark, “We can’t wait until next year to do it again!”