Chad Cooke wants you to be scared silly this Halloween season and says the Severn Slaughterhouse will do just that starting Friday night.
Cooke, president of the Orillia and District Agricultural Society (ODAS), provided a tour of the ghoulish goings-on at the property on Fairgrounds Road.
“This is our third year and we are trying to grow it every year," Cooke said of the popular Halloween attraction at ODAS Park.
"Every year is drastically different. We have new scares, new things to see inside and out, not just inside, but a full outdoor walking trail in the bush, there is a whole lot to this," he explained.
Inside you will be taken through a dark and dingy maze with different settings and characters to shock you. The outside trail also winds though dangers and hidden horrors to give you a scare when you least expect it.
ODAS Park general manager Erin Abbott said the idea was introduced when they were at a provincial fairs convention and found Northern Screams out of Sudbury who produce the event and build everything you see inside.
"We design the outdoor part. We’ve had it since the beginning because we wanted to make it big right off the hop and we just keep expanding it," explained Cooke.
He said the effect it has on visitors is pretty dramatic.
“I saw a guy last year with his girlfriend, she was walking out of the bush, while he was all out running to the car," recalled Cooke. "She was calling him back, and he just kept on going. We know our efforts are very effective."
He noted visitors from Sault Ste. Marie who were doing a family tour of various haunted houses commented this was the best one.
Abbott added the first half hour of the attraction, from 7 to 7:30 p.m., is more family friendly with less frights from the cast for the wee ones, or those faint of heart. The terror then ramps up until the 10 p.m.closing.
The show engages many local high school students who can get their volunteer hours as hired hands in the haunting. Abbott said they are still looking to sign up more frighteners.
The haunted happening opens this Friday and Saturday, takes a break for Thanksgiving and then returns Oct. 16-19 and Oct. 23-27. Admission is $15 per person.
Cooke is pleased with the increasing popularity of their frightening event.
“We’ve been growing it, and created a great local following," he said.
There is no rest for Cooke or Abbott and their team as they will be working non-stop until the end of the month.
ODAS Park is hosting three events back-to-back-to-back. Next weekend is the Orillia Fall Fair and then there is a dance the following weekend ... all while people are getting their scare on at the Severn Slaughterhouse.
You can learn more about all three events on-line at odaspark.com.
