In the movie business, Powell River’s Haunted Ball and Henderson Haunted House would be considered All Hallows’ Eve franchises, rolled out every October like a Freddy Kreuger movie or one of the ten Halloween films released from 1978 to 2009.
The haunted house and ball are the main events in Powell River that follow classic Halloween themes of costumes, hauntings, horrors and ritual begging.
“Halloween has a long, convoluted history and many of the traditions we grew up with are relatively modern,” said Haunted Ball co-creator Blake Drezet. “Rituals like masks, carved lanterns and rowdy community celebrations are much older, so perhaps they stand a better chance of continuing to define the holiday.”
Haunted houses are to horror what picket fences are to apple pie; they go together, especially in movies. The first horror film was made in 1896. Special effects for that movie, Le Manoir du diable (The House of the Devil), are laughable, unlike the fantastic monsters and mayhem Hollywood creates today.
Henderson Haunted House creators keep that new-age type of detail in mind during planning stages, said organizer Darren Nivens. The dark setting with inescapable traps where visitors become lost and something evil lurks around every corner is the fear everyone involved strives for, he added.
Organizers seem to have succeeded; the haunted house in Henderson Elementary School at 5506 Willow Avenue in Townsite has been freaking out visitors for 14 years.
Nivens said visitors should not be fooled into a false sense of calm because the house is located at an elementary school.
“It started out as a fun fundraiser for Henderson PAC and became a fundraising hair-raiser that terrorizes people that just happens to be in an elementary school,” said Nivens.
The house of horror’s theme this year is Willow Manor: Dare to Visit Your Grandma.
“That’s all I’m saying,” said Nivens. “Grandma will be there.”
Down the hill from the haunted house, an adult party takes place at Dwight Hall. Vale Society’s fifth annual Haunted Ball creates illusions and celebrates creativity more than meat cleavers to the head, according to co-creator Skye Morrison.
While the ball allows adults to let their imaginations go wild and let their demons loose, there is a line, she said.
“Some people love to drench themselves with fake blood and wear an axe hat,” said Morrison. “Halloween has a tendency to bring out the monsters, so really, as long as your costume is in good fun and you’re not hurting anyone, you’re welcome at the Haunted Ball.”
Lengths to which attendees went to make a costume for the first four editions of the ball are astounding, said Morrison.
“A few costumes over the years have stood out, including a paper-bag princess, a fully foliated Lot 450 tree with a tree-hugger chained to it and a handmade octopus,” said Morrison. “And every year a Johnny Depp movie character shows up.”
For someone who spends months with a group of volunteers cooking up schemes such as witches chanting around a cauldron to cast evil spells on people, Nivens is not a fan of the horror, but a fan of the reaction to it, he said.
“Why did the movie It, with a clown and a red balloon, have such an impact?” he said, “Where can we find that psychological twist to play with people’s imaginations? We're just trying to amplify things they already fear.”
Some previous visitors to Henderson Haunted House have been so frightened that volunteers have had to walk them out, according to Nivens.
“A few people have been scared so much they won't come back, and others can't wait to,” he said.
Nivens said students who have graduated from Brooks Secondary School and moved away come back for Halloween and bring their families to the haunted house every year.
“They have a nice family dinner Friday night and on Saturday night the whole family comes down to the haunted house,” said Nivens.
Every generation has partaken in some sort of ritual on Halloween. The history of children in disguise going door to door collecting nuts and candies was first reported in a Windsor, Ontario, newspaper in 1911.
The term “trick or treat” was first referenced in Alberta. In 1927, The Blackie Times reported that “youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word ‘trick or treat,’ to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.”
Drezet said it is always up to each generation to decide what and how to celebrate.
Former City of Powell River mayor Stewart Alsgard has several memories of Cranberry Elementary School celebrations, including haunted classrooms, special school assemblies featuring class skits, spooky songs and anticipation of the night itself.
“One occasion involved the original outdoor roller rink next to the cemetery where kids were dressed as ghosts,” said Alsgard. “Dozens of white-sheeted spooks whirled around the deck to creepy music, then we moved to the nearby fireworks where many locals pooled their items and put on a memorable show.”
Not much has changed over the years. Parents might be more protective than they once were, keeping closer watch on their young superhero or princess from the curb, and celebrations have become more elaborate, and in some cases, more scary.
Last year, 1,000 people entered the gates of Henderson Haunted House, which opens at 6 pm on Friday, October 27, and Saturday, October 28.
“The lineup starts at 5:30 pm,” said Nivens. “If you show up at 7 pm, you're going to wait 45 minutes.”
Nivens said it takes five to eight minutes to go through the haunted house and some visitors make more than one trip.
The Haunted Ball starts at 8 pm on Saturday, October 28. For information, search for the ball on Facebook.
