COLUMBUS, Ind. — Just when unsuspecting visitors to The Haunting at Shireman Homestead figure their jolting journey through the darkness is over, volunteer Andrea Short offers one big surprise farewell.
Remote-controlled flamethrowers lighting up the night.
“Usually, people will suddenly jump, scream, or hold on to each other,” said Short, one of the longtime volunteers and Halloween characters at the family-oriented attraction on Columbus’ west side.
The seasonal Shireman spine-chiller is just one among several mask-required and socially-distanced options open this weekend for one nearly last blast of fear factor — one is open next weekend — before the holiday becomes a ghostly, or maybe ghastly, memory. And it has been a hauntingly good season. Already, the nonprofit Haunting’s attendance of 4,000 people this month is by far a record in the attraction’s 10 years, according to organizer Cheryl Moore-Shireman.
“I think a lot of that (attendance) is because people have been desperate to get out and enjoy themselves,” Moore-Shireman said.
So desperate, in fact, that Brett Hays, the founder of Seymour’s Fear Fair haunted house that he said attracts plenty of Bartholomew County customers, has a response for Bartholomew County coronavirus task force officials recommending that people skip these type of events.
“My response is that we are the absolute safest facility or building to visit in all of Jackson County,” Hays said, detailing strict mask, distancing and cleaning procedures that he filed with the Jackson County Health Department — plus the fact that people violating any health codes are turned away each night. “We always err on the side of caution.”
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
