Big scare or little scare? It was about 10 years ago, and I was relieved when my young daughter opted for the little scare at the Haunted Hall in Glenora. I assumed the level of scare applied to me as well. However, as I held my daughter’s hand and was pointing out all the cool things to notice, one of the immobile figures I thought was a prop made a scary face when my daughter wasn’t looking. As soon as we exited the hall, my daughter wanted to go through again, this time for a big scare — and thankfully for me, with her older brother.
“I’m sorry, but if you’re an adult you’re getting a big scare,” says Curtis Mccorkell, who, with his father Frank, came up with the idea in 2013 to transform the Glenora Community Hall into a Haunted Hall. These days, this largely applies to adults who go through without kids, because when a kid requests a little scare, the lights are turned on so it won’t be frightening and none of the live-action ghoulish characters make scary faces.
Back then, my kids would go through multiple times because the word hadn’t spread yet how good it is. Tonight, Halloween night, is the last of four nights for the Haunted Hall, open from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 3660 Glenora Rd., and while the lines may have grown a bit longer, from what I hear, the frights just keep getting better.
A maze of spooktacular delights
It’s only a six-minute drive from downtown Duncan to the Glenora Community Hall, but it feels much further than that. The area has a quaint rural charm, and the Haunted Hall was started as an activity for the local community, Mccorkell says. He is president of the Glenora Community Association and his dad is a past president, and the two of them had previously created an informal haunted Halloween experience at their family home before deciding to see what they could create at the community hall.
“We’re kind of a hidden treasure,” says Judy Desrochers, hall rental coordinator since 2005 for the Glenora Community Association, about the Haunted Hall. Each year, she is one of the “spookers” who cackle, howl and sometimes chase, as attendees go through. This year, there are 12 people playing this role, with about nine doing the scaring per evening.
“I love the thrill of making kids scream,” Desrochers says. She was a demon last year and this year has been a witch, although she may change it up for the final night. “If you’re afraid, don’t come to the Haunted Hall … I would never walk through it in the dark, even though I know what’s going to happen.”
In the early years, participants would follow an essentially circular route through the community hall, encountering all sorts of creepy items and ghoulish figures, some live-action, some not. Then, Mccorkell started building temporary walls inside the hall to create a complex maze aimed at disorienting participants and creating a longer experience.
He says the maze this year is the most disorienting yet. He is also a spooker this year and his costume is Michael Myers, from the horror classic “Halloween.” Scaring teenagers is the most fun, Mccorkell says.
His favourite memory is from a few years ago when a group of five teenage girls entered the Haunted Hall. “We had them screaming from one end to the other, chasing them,” he recalls. “One of them ran through one of the walls — they’re plastic — and she was out of here. It was priceless. It was the best thing ever.”
Word is getting out about ‘what a gem’ the Glenora Haunted Hall is
It takes a full day and a half for a crew of volunteers to set up the maze, Mccorkell says. Every year, new features are added, such as a 12-foot-tall grim reaper making its debut this year. There are also creepy animatronic characters built by local resident Adrian Phillips who uses old windshield wiper motors to move them.
“It’s a lot of work but worth it,” Mccorkell says. Although their initial focus was the local community, word has increasingly spread about the Haunted Hall, he says. Last year, the Haunted Hall expanded from two to four nights and a total of 312 adults and 170 children went through. The first two nights this year were slow, but yesterday evening 194 people went through, the most they’ve ever had in a single day, according to Mccorkell.
“We’re happy to let more people experience it,” Mccorkell says. “It makes us want to do the best we can.”
Deanna Ward lived in Glenora recently for two years, and she and her husband were so impressed the first year by the Haunted Hall that they volunteered the following year as spookers.
“The amount of time, labor and creativity that the community volunteers put in is incredible. It’s such a fabulous haunted house every year,” says Ward, who now lives in Nanaimo. “It’s worth the drive out of town for sure … People don’t realize what a gem that haunted house is.”
In the name of fun
As always, kids who go through the Haunted Hall receive a goodie bag. This year, for the first time, the Haunted Hall has an admission fee: $5 per person or $10 per family. Previously, people were asked to bring canned foods for admission, with the option to donate money.
The proceeds will go toward an ongoing effort to build a new playground at Waldon Park, just up the road from the community hall. The “dangerous” old equipment at the playground has been taken out, Mccorkell says, and the cost of purchasing and installing a new playground is estimated to be $50,000.
But while it is a fundraiser, Haunted Hall volunteers say that is not the primary reason for doing what they do. “It’s more about the thrill of the chase … it’s fun for us to know they’re having fun,” Desrochers says.
This year, the line to get in has been reconfigured so that people won’t get wet if it’s raining, Mccorkell explains. He says the goal is to move people through rather quickly so the line doesn’t get too long, while still giving everyone a full experience.
Sometimes, Halloween night is a little quieter than the other nights because kids are out trick or treating. But if there is a line tonight, don’t fret if it looks like you won’t be able to get in before the official ending time.
”If it’s eight o’clock, and there’s still a crowd, we keep ‘em coming,” Mccorkell says. “One time we didn’t get out of there until 9:30. We’re all volunteers, and we’re all doing it for fun.”
