This years marks the third year in a row that I am am volunteering to design, organize and operate the haunted house at Vintage Parkway Elementary School during the Harvest Carnival on October 23. I call the haunt, The 6th Fright and will be the first year we have adopted a theme. CLOWNS! Coulrophobia, seems to be the word around the school as everyone continually tells me they don’t like clowns. I guess this means I am doing something right if clowns scare people.

After last year and all the problems suffered on the day of the event, I didn’t put much thought into this year’s haunt until the middle of September. I had no inspiration to put my time, lots of effort only to have things run poorly and not have that warm and fuzzy feeling when the haunt was over that guests had a good time. Yet there was some inspiration in comments from PTA and parents who said their kids had a good time or they say kids coming out of the haunt crying. Proof positive that even though the kids didn’t see it, the haunt was indeed successful.

Thankfully I had some inspiration from friends, who aren’t afraid of clowns and I pulled out my graph paper and the plans from the last few years and started sketching a design. I also decided to bite the bullet and buy what I needed without looking to be reimbursed. With all the hardware I have purchased and what I plan to donate when my son leaves Vintage Parkway, they should be set for years to come that is if some father (or mother) steps up to volunteer.

The haunt will be built using PVC and wood for the walls, in fact there will be a total of 12 wood panels (4’x8′) used this year through two rooms. Unlike the last few years, the layout is more simple in design than in previous year, hopefully the scares are a bit more shocking this year. Time will tell.