House full of haunts
By GAYLE WEBER
Laughter, tears and a few wide eyes.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Youth Organization haunted house at The Mall has produced all three with its more than 300 visitors during the recent weekend.
Visitors to "Nightmare in New York" take a tour through the New York City harbor, a vacant warehouse, a mafia bar and a back alley before going it alone through a maze in the pitch black of night.
"The maze is the best part," Hays High junior Jordan Niernberger said. "A lot of people get stuck."
After the maze, the tour winds into Macy's Department Store and, of course, a Broadway show.
With about 75 active IHM-CYO participants plus their parents, work on the haunted house took about 10 days leading up to the debut Saturday night.
"It's a longtime project of our youth," said Rick Binder, youth ministry coordinator. "Fellowship projects are an opportunity for families to work together and do something constructive while having fun because it does take a lot of work."
The idea behind this year's project came from Stephen Brummer, a longtime contributor to IHM-CYO, though he doesn't have children in the program yet.
"We usually come up with some ideas a month or two in advance," Brummer said. "I just started thinking about the movies with the speakeasies and the bar scenes."
Brummer said the group usually has a maze in the haunted house each year, but he's not always 100 percent successful making his way through it.
"As soon as that black plastic gets put on top, it's a different (animal)," Brummer said. "I usually take a flashlight because I don't want to be the one to end up back at the beginning."
Flashlights, cell phones and other sources of light are discouraged in the maze, according to Binder.
IHM-CYO members are broken up into groups that try to out-scare each other in each room of the house.
Fort Hays State University freshman Preston Becker and his other college-aged friends came back to help on this year's project.
"Why not? We've had so much fun doing this," Becker said. "Other people have helped us raise money, we figured we could help our friends out as well."
Exit surveys will be conducted Thursday and Friday for visitors to judge the scariest room.
Binder said even parents are getting involved and having just as much fun as their children.
"The first night, they're a little hesitant to come up here. But after the first night, they can't stay away," said Paige Lunsford, Hays High freshman.
The IHM-CYO haunted house is meant for all ages, but there are precautions for visitors who might get scared.
"If you have kids freaking out, usually a guide goes with them. But for the most part, you want them to figure it out on their own," Hays High junior Katie Dinkel said.
There also are "chicken" exits in every room, and Binder said no one is allowed to grab a visitor.
The haunted house will be open Thursday and Friday with lighted walk-throughs for about the first 15 minutes of each evening.
The house will be open in the former Midwest Drug location in The Mall from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday and from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday. Entry is $5.
The funds from the haunted house will go toward offsetting the costs of two summer mission trips and next year's trip to the National Catholic Youth Conference.
"It provides a safe environment for kids to come out on Halloween night," Binder said.