Snowstorm Delays Brings in the Biggest WHS Haunted House Event Ever

Saturday's freak snowstorm was going to put a real damper on the Haunted House event this year, thought Beth Amory. 

The haunted house was cancelled and rescheduled for Sunday.

"I didn't think we'd have much of a turnout," said Amory, the longtime choir director and choreographer of the intricacies of the annual Halloween funfest.

But instead, the long empty parking lot of Linens 'n Things, which closed up shop in three years ago when the homegoods chain store on Green St. went out of business, was filled for the first time in years.

Ghosts, ghoulies, hobgoblins, and more than a few zombies lined up for their Halloween kicks. 

"This is our biggest turnout ever," said Amory, beaming with pride at how the enormous store had been transformed into a haunted house that would've rivaled anything put on by halloween filmmaker William Castle (or even Alfred Hitchcock, but we're talking limited budget here.)

Amory said that Mayor John McCormac was instrumental in obtaining the use of the the defunct Linens n' Things building for the haunted house event.

"The mayor was very helpful," she said.

The original halloween event established a program for young kids at 6 pm, to be followed by one for older kids, teens, and adults at 7 pm. The only real difference was, Amory said, "that we turn the lights off at 7."

That meant that trick-or-treaters would have to go through the maze set up in the dark or via blacklight. Going through the maze that Amory devised and dads of the choir members built was an incredible experience with the lights on. 

This year's innovation - the 14th in the event's history - included a spinning tunnel. In the light it was a metal bridge that patrons walked across, while a spinning tube of gauze spun around.

"This is incredible when the lights are off. You feel like you're really spinning," Amory said.

But there was no lack of imagination in the design of the maze, and anyone interested in the creativity of Woodbridge High School choir members should be relieved.

The ghoulish TV program "The Walking Dead" couldn't hold a candle to the costumes and the make up design of the Woodbridge High students.

"Hi, how are you? Happy Halloween!" said one cheery ghoul with what looked like an ax cutting her head in half.

When the lights went out, Amory said, the goblins and zombies would come popping out of black gauze-covered holes in the wall to spook maze navigators. There were automatons, fishing line hanging from the ceiling ("It's look great under the black lights," Amory whispered), and a few disembodied heads floating in mid-air.

Up close, they looked lot more like gauze-covered styrofoam heads. "We read it in a craft magazine," said Amory, who seeks inspiration year round for outdoing herself the following Halloween.

Some of the littlest Halloweeners participated in kiddie-oriented facepainting and other fun stuff in one part of the store. The store fixtures left behind in Linens n' Things bankruptcy served as impromptu props on which to mount parts of the maze.

"It's a lot of fun," said Amory, but time was a-wasting. It was almost 7 pm.

Time for the lights to go off, and the real party to begin.

"You sure you won't stay?" Amory said as she texted yet another wayward spook who needed advise.

There were plenty who were waiting for the real spooky stuff. As the lights dimmed, they lined up, in makeup to rival that of the choir members hidden away to provide plenty of good-natured and pretty creepy Halloween fun.