About Haunt In The Park
Our Haunting History
Embracing Fear for a Good Cause
Haunt In The Park is not just a haunted house; it's a charitable endeavor that brings scares and smiles to our community. Every scream supports our non-profit initiatives, making a positive impact on those in need.
But where did it all begin?
The First Years
1994-1996
Bob and Sue Little lived on First Ave. in
Shelburne, Ontario with their 3 children:
Stacey, Jeremy and Andrew
As the kids started into their teenage years, Bob and Sue wanted to entice them to stay home on Halloween instead of perhaps getting into shenanigans around town.
But how....?
A natural prankster, Bob soon caught their interest with a plan to have the front door open by itself as kids approached....
It worked! People jumped, kids laughed, and an annual tradition was born.....
The next year it progressed to having a dummy in a rocking chair rock by itself.... roaming characters dressed in welding masks... a few props set about, leaning against the tree along the path...
The Early Years
1997-2008
Already outgrowing their front porch, Bob and Sue approached their friends Terry and Trish Cockton that lived on Victoria St in Shelburne. Their home had a wrap around enclosed porch which gave so much more opportunity for expansion!
By now Shane Fendley, Sue's brother, was in on the fun too!
Jeremy and Shane began to build and create the first free standing, life sized characters for the Haunt.
Every year brought another gimic....
Though only blurry photographic evidence could be found, there is a long standing family memory of the year they strung the youngest sibling, Andrew, up in the tree just outside the porch on Victoria St.
With video cameras and switches, Shane and Jeremy ran the haunted hallway from inside the house.... distant but effective! People started coming from outside town, even from Orangeville, because they had heard how much fun this particular house was.
Disaster almost struck when the house was sold. But luckily the new owner, Lynda Clare, was a family friend of Jeremy's new girlfriend Carola and thus the tradition could continue.
Soon it spilled from the enclosed porch, onto the front walkway, then the side yards, and then even the sidewalk.... space was becoming a premium! Also it was starting to take more than an afternoon to set up and take down. For the first time, Shane and Jeremy had to take time off work to try and get everything up and down within the span of a couple of days. You can still find some of these original creations in the Haunt today!
Once again, disaster was averted when newly married Andrew bought his first house on Centre St in Shelburne. This allowed the expansion into a whole backyard!
The Middle Years
2009-2014
A backyard is just a big square space, until you start building tunnels, pathways and areas! With the expansion into Andrew & Sylvia's backyard, it was the first time that we started creating real areas: a mine shaft, a polkadot room, a spider tunnel...
Later we had a circus tent with a large Jack In The Box. And roaming clowns that popped up in the oddest of places, and may or may not have been seen looking for victims out front in the streets....
We started to have children too afraid to come through for their candy, so we introduced the "Good Witch" who would lead those that were too afraid through and all of our monsters were on their best behaviour when they saw her coming.
All the weeks of work for just one night of fright! Still only open on Halloween night, it was now taking more and more time to set up. Often 2 weeks before, construction would begin. Tunnels began to be made more weather tight as rain would often turn the yard into mud. More and more people began asking to help, coming in costumes and creating characters.
Andrew would wake up on November 1st with a destroyed backyard, but with notes and cards stuck in the front door saying thank you for such a great experience. People began asking if we were taking donations because they would love to support the initiative. Thusly one year we left a small empty tote out front with the sign "Food Bank Donations" We were so excited when it ended up half filled with cans after one evening!
And yet in 6 short years we grew so big so fast, that once again we were on the hunt for more space.... when a town councilor suggested setting up in Fiddlepark...
Fiddlepark
2015 - present
Fiddlepark in the early years was just an empty field. There were no structures except the kitchen building. So we were out in the open, in the weather, just like we had been in Andrew's backyard. So we created something out of nothing, and upped our game by way of costumes and makeup effects.
The excitement grew as the pavillion was built thanks to Greg and Heather Holmes. For the first time ever, we had a ROOF! The wind was a bigger issue out at the Fiddlepark. One year one windy afternoon cost us a weeks worth of work on the corn maze, and took one of the tents and sent it careening into the rest of the Haunt. It took days to fix the damage and the tent was unsalvageable.
Word spread and the event became more and more popular. We started playing with the idea of being open for more than just Halloween night. With growth came growing pains however. Despite the influx of amazing family and friends, we realized we were no longer able to put this event on without more support from the community. We began to accept help from local businesses who sponsored money or materials, allowing us to keep up with the unprecedented growth. We started keeping track of how many people were coming through, and we would weigh the food donations at Sawyers Feed Mill in Shelburne, so we could gauge how well the event was being received.
By 2019 we were taking almost 4 weeks to set up, and we had almost 60 volunteers a night in costume helping in the Haunt. That year also saw the Little Family receive the Community Excellence Award from the Town of Shelburne.
And then came 2020.....
Covid presented its own set of challenges. Of course we weren't able to do our traditional Haunt but we firmly believed that you can't cancel Halloween, right!?1 And the food bank still needed support regardless. So we came up with the idea of a parade through town. We dressed up, took trucks and trailers, and took to the streets, walking through the majority of town over 4 hours, gathering donations from the end of driveways.
In the following year we could indeed put on the Haunt as we are in an open air event, but our hallways needed to be wider to accommodate the minimum distances required. This presented new challenges as we had to redesign the Haunt more than we usually do.
However the Haunt in the Park continued to grow and was becoming one of the most well attended events in town!
Over the years the ranks have grown to include not just Bob & Sue and their kids, but also the grandchildren, sisters and inlaws, cousins and spouses, friends, neighbours and simply fellow haunters at heart. The Haunt In The Park is at such a scale now, it wouldn't be possible without all hands on deck, tool belts at the ready, creative juices flowing and the enthusiasm and Halloween spirit that brings it all to life!
And what will the 3rd decade of haunting bring....?
Come out and see for yourself
Ready to see what all the hype is about?
No tickets necessary!!
Just come out to the Fiddlepark on our event nights, bring a donation for the Shelburne Foodbank - like non perishable food products or cash - and check out what a community of like minded people can create... we promise you an experience you won't forget!
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