Madison Messenger - November 24, 2021

PAGE 10 - MADISON MESSENGER - October 24, 2021
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Mt. Sterling Haunted House ups its spook factor
By Kristy Zurbrick
Madison Editor
Mount Sterling’s Haunted House is back,
and its keepers, the members of Masonic
Lodge 269, have upped their ghoulish game.
“We had over 3,000 people go through
last year. It went really, really well. Being
our first year, we had no idea what to expect.
We were blown away,” said lodge
member Tom Corbin.
This year’s creepiness is slated for 6-10
p.m. Oct. 29-30 and 1-4 p.m. Oct. 31. The
lodge is located at 54 N. London St., Mount
Sterling. The haunted house occupies the
first floor of the building and is handicap-accessible.
Admission is free, and visitors can
go through the house as many times as they
want or dare.
“We had several people go through multiple
times last year because they said each
time, they saw something new. I asked,
‘Was that because your eyes were closed?’”
Spurred on by their inaugural success,
the lodge has expanded the attraction’s features
inside and out. New this year, a funeral
procession will make its way down
London Street at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 to kick off
the festivities. The lodge also will show horror
movies after dark on an outdoor jumbo
screen.
“Something else that’s new are antique
cars and trucks that have special passengers
and drivers in them. They’ll be parked
on the street outside the building all three
days,” Corbin said.
Once again, a DJ will spin Halloween
and other music while ghouls and goblins—
and a Madison County sheriff’s deputy—
dance with visitors waiting in line.
“Deputy Kelly Sparks will be there the
entire time, and she dances, too. She has
just as good a time as the rest of them,”
Corbin said.
Inside, the route through the building
and many of the exhibits are new.
“We have a husband-and-wife mad workshop
that’s full of power tools; I’ll let your
mind go from there,” Corbin said about one
of the new vignettes. “We also have a demon
hallway—I’m saving the details on that so I
don’t spoil the surprise. We have a shrinking
hallway, like in ‘The Shining,” and we
have a haunted cornfield inside.”
Once visitors survive the spooky gauntlet,
they will exit the building into a
haunted cemetery in the alley where they
will be rewarded with candy.
Helping to pull off the whole Halloween
kit and kaboodle is an expanded roster of
volunteers—60, up from 42 last year. More
people wanted to be involved, and the house
has more exhibits, Corbin said of the boost.
“It takes a lot to do this,” he said. “Take
the butcher, for example. We need three
butchers to fill the time and to allow the actors
to take breaks. We have to have redundancy
at each station.”
Cooks are part of the volunteer roster,
too. Lodge members will be selling hotdogs,
hot chocolate, soda, water, chips and baked
One of 40 actors who populated last year’s
Haunted House at the Mount Sterling Masonic
Lodge prepares to scare. This year,
60 volunteers are helping to make the expanded
event a success.
goods for a small fee. For example, one of
the meal deals is a hotdog, chips and soda
for $2.
All ages are welcome to go through the
haunted house. Organizers shuffle groups at
the door, sending families with younger children
through together when possible so the
cast can adjust their scare factor accordingly.
When the visitors are primarily
adults, the cast dials up the fright.
New this year, the village is closing London
Street in front of the Masonic Lodge
during the haunted house weekend to help
with pedestrian safety.
For More Information call 740-852-0809 • Deadline Tuesday, October 26, 2021 by Noon
In its debut last year, the Haunted House attracted more than 3,000 people. Organizers
are hoping and preparing for an even bigger crowd this year.