For the past 10 years, a St. Albert handyman decorated his Mission Hill home with ever-increasing ghostly and ghastly Halloween paraphernalia. Not this year.
This weekend Dale Sweeney is moving his haunted house of horrors to the St. Albert Community Centre under the moniker Nightmare on Perron Street.
“I started building it for my nieces and nephews. But they got older. And eventually I couldn’t get anyone to come to my house. Last year six kids showed up,” said Sweeney, founder of Frightnight Productions.
In the past he’s rented some of his equipment to Halloween dances. But this year he just wanted to roll up his sleeves and get the Halloween juices flowing. “I’m more of a Halloween than Christmas person. Some people might think it’s strange, but it’s fun to be someone else for a day. Plus I like scaring other people just to see the look on their face. And it’s all in fun.”
Targeted to the pre-teen crowd, those seven and up, the walk-through event plays on people’s superstitions. The haunted house of horror is divided into six themed rooms starting with an eerie foyer to set the scene.
Once inside there’s a creepy operating room run by wild-eyed, insane doctors followed by a pirate ship room sailing with the ill-fated undead. There’s also a haunted circus with demented clowns and a granny room with gruesome zombie babies. And prepare to hear more than a few screams coming from the jungle room peopled with lost bodies overrun by spiders and insects.
Sweeney boosted the scare factor by investing significant amounts of money into importing high-quality attractions. “Ours has a good set design. It’s not just people in a dark room jumping out at you.”
If you enjoy shivers down your spine and the hair on your arms standing on end, check out Nightmare on Perron Street on Saturday, Oct. 30 from 5 to 10 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 31 from 4 to 9 p.m. The St. Albert Community Hall is at 17 Perron Street. Single tickets cost $6 and families are $5 per person at the door.
