Haunted houses a labour of love for Sask. homeowners

Brad Levartu’s home no longer fits in with the friendly splendour of Hampton Village.

The house is currently blocked by what looks like a creepy shack, made of plywood boards and topped with a metal roof, which spans his entire driveway and front lawn.

“It just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Levartu said. “From just the walkway by the front door, to in the garage, then we built the first section on the driveway.”

This year’s House of Horrors is four feet larger in each direction, making it around 1,000 square feet. It’s one of many Halloween spots featured on an online map of Saskatchewan haunts.

Guests are first taken to a waiting area where a red light signals the haunt is ready to enter. Then, the fun begins.

“Different themes in different rooms and we hope to get some good screams,” Levartu said. “The jump scares are the best.”

There will be plenty of screams as guests walk through rooms with bugs, clowns and creepy dolls. What’s more, it’s all caught on video.

“Hoping to capture some good scares,” Levartu said, while playing back the walk-through with 650 CKOM.

The homeowner noted the cameras also serve as a security measure and a way for the team of about 20 actors – including Levartu’s three children – to ensure they’re ready for the next group.

Levartu said around 4,700 people came through the haunted house last year in five days, and he expects similar numbers this Halloween.

They’re providing porta pottys, and youth members of the Hampton Free Methodist Church will be making hot chocolate.

Levartu’s haunted house will once again collect donations as well. Proceeds will go towards the Ernest Lindner playground project in Hampton Village, and to a partnership with Brainsport to buy winter boots for kids at St. John School.

Location: 3259 McClocklin Road
Hours: Friday and Saturday 6-10 p.m., Sunday and Monday 6-9 p.m. and Halloween night from 6-10 p.m.

Terror in the Trees

The obsession began before Bailey Waldner was born – the day her mother bought a single plastic skull.

“We hang it every year in tribute because it’s the one that started it all,” Waldner said.

While Waldner’s family has always done a Halloween yard display, they stepped up their game once her mother moved out to an acreage near Pike Lake four years ago.

Now that single skull is just one prop of hundreds in the massive haunt known as Terror in the Trees.

More than a dozen live actors are involved in the set-up, and Waldner said her family begins building the displays in May.

“We’re already planning for next year,” she laughed.

The Halloween enthusiast said around 400 people walked through the haunt for each of the five nights last year.

Terror in the Trees will also be accepting donations, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Pike Lake Hall and Community school. The rest will go towards the Jim Patterson Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Location: The haunt is located near the Pike Lake access. A Google pin of its exact location can be found here.
Hours: Friday, Saturday and Halloween full-scare from 7-10:30 p.m. with a kid-friendly no scare event – also for people with sensitivity to strobe lights – on Saturday from noon to 3:30 p.m.

The Witches Lair

The idea for a rural Saskatchewan haunt came to Paige Sawatsky and her mother over tea last year.

“(My mother) said, ‘Wouldn’t that be just fun if we had a witches lair? The local kids could come by, we could scare them,’” Sawatsky recalled. “We ended up having 100 people last year, so that’s how it all started.”

The lair is located in a century-old barn Sawatsky’s family has been reconstructing near Herschel.

“You kind of wander through until you get to the lair and you might actually meet the witch that lives there,” she said.

Visitors have to first drive through 12 kilometres of gravel back road, before reaching an ominous farmyard.

Location: SE 30-30-17w3 – 12 km north of Fiske on the 656. Look for the sign that says The Witches Lair.
Hours: Monday and Halloween Tuesday 7pm -10pm.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s David Kirton.