A lot of my friends will scoff at my headline because Halloween at any age can be fun. There are probably a handful of people who remember my Waldo antics last year, finding my way into the background of as many photos as possible. That’s right, this photographer likes to photobomb.
My headline eludes to the fact that Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year, and with a full-time job it’s tough to justify going out for a good ol’ fashion party on a hump-day evening.
This year however, I found a way to dress up, and scare the crap out of some children and adults at the annual Boys and Girls Club of Airdrie (BGCA) AirScares Haunted House for the final two nights. (See follow-up story on page 34).
I have been attending the haunted house for about six years now, having to cover it, first for school, then for the local newspaper. It was always fun to see, and get a little scared, but this year the organization hit the jackpot.
As we all know, the local RCMP building recently relocated to its new location on the eastside of town, and the BGCA asked Airdrie City council to use the old facility for a post-apocalyptic-themed haunted house.
The rest is history. The BGCA put together an extensive display of a zombie apocalypse, complete with infection testing, to real live (or dead) zombies locked up in authentic jail cells.
Being a fan of the zombie genre, I figured I would ask how I could help. I was prepared to help out in any way, but I was put on “wandering zombie” duty. I could not have been happier.
I volunteered on Oct. 29 and 30. I was told by BGCA Executive Director Denisa Saness to wear grubby old clothes as I would be covered in blood before the house opens.
I found my best Peter Brown for Mayor shirt and headed down. I was covered in blood from my hair to the tips of my fingers. I was in it for the scare, not comfort.
Eric Hvidsten, or Mud as he is known at the BCGA, gave me a tour of the building with all the lights on. I was shocked at how scary the whole production was even without any cast members in their places and all the lights on.
It was time, I was ready to scare!
In the house, there are a couple spots to hide. The guests focus is typically straight ahead, you can really sneak up behind people without them knowing. Aside from the boo-type scares, there are a lot of situational instances that caused organizers to give a safe word, which let the guest leave the house without any more scares.
The second group to go through the house on Oct. 29 was two parents and four young girls. I was just about in position to scare them when the safe word was muttered.
Not knowing the procedures as much as those who had been volunteering for seven nights prior, I didn’t think to turn away, and when the young girls were ushered past me all I could do was smile to ease their fears.
In hindsight, smiling with the amount of blood running down my face probably seemed creepier than if I had been trying to scare them.
Overall, the experience was awesome. I have been reading The Walking Dead comics and watching the AMC series for some time now, as well as playing the odd video game surrounding the zombie genre, so having the opportunity to scare within that genre was really cool.
My favourite memories from the two days of scaring were as follows; one group had two girls in the middle group who collapsed in fear from myself and Mud popping out from a corner. That was pretty entertaining.
Any time you could sneak into the pitch black “containment cell,” which patrons thought was secure and get a scream or two when you flashed a flashlight was fantastic.
Lastly, I found a good amount of entertainment from wandering around the house and shambling past the line of guests waiting to enter the house. One of the last families who visited on Oct. 30 couldn’t stay near me, and almost didn’t enter the house because of it.
I hope everyone who stopped by the house enjoyed themselves. I know I did.
I have to tell every person involved with the BGCA and the haunted house they did an outstanding job.
Without the countless hours of hard work from those individuals we wouldn’t have these fun attractions to visit each year.
