After a three year absence, the Blunden Yard Haunt is back and it’s bigger and better than ever.
That’s not just marketing boilerplate. After nearly 15 years of running the haunted house out of their back yard, they have partnered with the TR Days Society to host the Haunted House out at the new Fair Grounds.
Terry Cosgrove says it’s very exciting to have all the space. “And we have an indoor space, which is something we’ve never had before. That gives us the opportunity to do all this,” she says, gesturing around at the decorations they’ve put up. “All this stuff could not be outside in the elements.”
She says there will be two experiences for people this year. “Golden Arrow is donating a bus for the night. They will pick people up and drop them off, so they don’t have to drive or walk. People will come in the front gate, like they did for the fall fair. They’ll walk through our cemetery and everyone will enter into the building, which is not scary. There’s nothing scary in here. We won’t scare you if you don’t want to be scared. If you choose to not be scared, you could look around in the shop, then head out that way.” She points to a door at the far end of the building. “That takes you out to the bonfire and the hot chocolate. We’ll have free popcorn, donated by the credit union. Eye for Detail Photography be taking pictures of people for the costume contest. There’ll be some games for the kids. That’s out there.”
She points to another door. “But if you do want to be scared, you go this way.”
We walk out the door, and are greeted by an open area, full of two-by-four frames. “It’s still in progress, and will by until the day of,” says Cosgrove. “Right now, it’s just framed in. The plan is to put poly up for the walls, which we can’t do yet, as it’s too windy, but this will take you through our witches swamp, which exits out by the bonfire, too. So everyone ends at the same place.”
The theme this year is Hocus Pocus, a nod to the newly released sequel to the classic movie, but it isn’t built completely around that. Instead, it’s all about Witches, Warlocks and Wizards. “We’ve done a little bit of everything in the magic realm. The idea is that anything you would ever find that deals with magic—movies, TV shows, books—we don’t treat them as shows, we treat them as reality.” She points to a terrarium, filled with large eggs, and toy dinosaurs. “this is our Jurassic Park section. The eggs will be in there under the heat lamp.” Above the terrarium is a mosquito in amber, and a book, written by Alan Grant.
Nearby is a face-hugger from Aliens. Elswhere is a replica of Nakatomi Plaza. There is Mjolnir, a pirate’s chest, a wooden box with 9906753 on the side. (Those who know, know.)
Despite nearly 15 year’s worth of history, much of the stuff in here is now. “Because of the pandemic we were on hold for years there. We’ve pretty much been planning this for three years. In that three years, we’ve been making these items.”
As in the past, this year’s Yard Haunt is a fundraiser for the Tumbler Ridge Food Bank. While there is no entry fee to get in, they request that you bring a non-perishable food item to donate. “We have always donated to the food bank. It was always our thing. Even when we lived in Kelowna, it was the one charity that we supported, so when we came here and there was a food bank, it’s like, ‘well, let’s do that.’ And all of a sudden, we were getting boxes of food. The last time, we literally had a truckload, which we had drag into our house with all our Halloween stuff, and then back to the food bank. So it was quite a production.”
Cosgrove says the thing she’s proudest of this year is also something that is a secret. But she’s also proud with the way the witch’s shop has turned out. “It’s new, and it’s like nothing we’ve ever done before.”
She says she’s happy that the haunt is happening at the fair grounds, because it can get a bit much staring at it all the time when it was in the back yard. “The only thing is, we are out here morning till night. We come out here first thing in the morning and we leave when it’s too dark to see anymore. That’s what it takes. We started setting up after the Fall Fair. The fall fair was September 11, and on September 12 we started setting up. Normally it takes us two months when we do it at our house with just the family. Now we have a few TR Days board members helping out, so we’re hoping to have everything done, but it is a bigger scale.”
Cosgrove says she hopes the big takeaway is that there is something for everyone this year. “If you don’t want to be scared, you won’t be scared. If you want to be scared, we will absolutely do our best to terrify you. Because it’s a fundraiser we would love people to bring a donation. The more the better. We will have free hot chocolate and free Tim Hortons coffee, free popcorn by Lake View Credit Union. There will be a costume contest, a pumpkin carving contest. These will have great prizes.”
This year’s haunt happens Oct 29 from 6-10. A bus will be available.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
