Picture: BRITTANY DENTON
IF WINDING through a dark maze with zombies, ghouls and witches lurking around every corner sounds like your cup of tea, an old church hall on the corner of Boandik Terrace and Pick Avenue is just the ticket.
A fun adrenaline rush or a nightmare-inducing ordeal depending on how you feel about things that go bump in the night, the haunted house experience is raising money for a Mount Gambier woman battling cancer.
Veronica Miller transformed the old church – with the help of property owner Sian Goodridge – using Ms Miller’s extensive collection of Halloween decorations.
All proceeds raised from the $5 entry fee will be donated to her close friend Theresa Moulden, who is now in the palliative stage of her cancer battle.
“She wants her boys to have their own rooms before she is gone, so we will aim to raise money for building materials and hopefully people will pitch in with labour,” Ms Miller said.
“We have opened every night since Saturday and so far we have raised just over $1000.
“We had around 50 people through for the first two nights and 75 through on Tuesday night and we have had great feedback.”
Ms Miller said she hoped to have a strong crowd flow through the maze yesterday for Halloween night.
Though she admits she is not a horror fan, Ms Miller has an impressive collection of motion-activated decorations owing to her daughter’s birthday on All Hallows Eve-eve.
“My daughter’s birthday is the day before Halloween, so I quite often do a Halloween-themed birthday party for her,” Ms Miller explained.
“I’m not really into horror movies, I just love decorations that come alive – you cannot have such cool decorations at Christmas time.
“Everything here is mine except for the life-sized Freddy Krueger robot, we borrowed him.
“We will also have people dressed up and jumping out at people on Halloween night.”
As for whether the haunted house will become a regular feature at Halloween, Ms Miller said she hoped to create something “bigger and better” next year.
“The lovely girls who have donated this house have said they are happy to host it again next year and I already have all the gear, so I guess there is no reason not to,” she said.
“Hopefully I can collect plenty of new things to make it even better.
“We play around with the layout and do something a bit different every night – I think we are having just as much fun as the people walking through.”
The haunted house will be open from 4pm to 10pm from tonight through to Sunday night, with a $5 entry fee.
Located on the corner of Boandik Terrace and Pick Avenue – look out for the big scarecrow.
