Halloween haunted forest returns with expanded times

A local Halloween-themed haunted forest will offer more chances for thrills and chills this year — opening for an extra weekend, and offering a new shuttle service from Brandon.

The Haunted Forest, presented by Lucky Break Ranch near Rivers, will offer a transport service this year for the first time, and has expanded to two weekends from the one-weekend event that was hosted for the past four years. Attendance has grown, said Kim Richardson, who runs the forest with her family.

“Its been rising,” Richardson said, adding the event drew 1,385 people last year. “I know it’s been going up and up.”

To allow more people to attend and make the event more accessible, the ranch partnered with the Prairie Rovers charter bus service out of Brandon.

“That’s going to give people without transportation a chance to come,” Richardson said. “Its a huge opportunity for people who can’t normally get out.”

The shuttle service is scheduled to transport guests from The Green Spot in Brandon to the site of the Halloween event. It is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week and next week.

Richardson said the family added another weekend to make better use of the effort they put into the project.

“We just decided it’s a lot of work to put it together, and it’s a shame to have to take it down after one weekend,” Richardson said. “We’ll try it this year and see how it goes.”

Richardson and about seven other family members build the haunted forest for weeks leading up to Halloween. The project includes installing hundreds of props, such as skeletons and animatronics, and maintaining more than a kilometre of trails through the woods. They also set up a bouncy castle, a canteen, carnival games, tables and a fire pit and arrange events like pumpkin carving and outdoor movies.

Kim’s parents, David and Yvonne Richardson, travel from B.C. each year to help set up and take down the haunted forest. They said that the annual event gives them joy.

“It gives us joy to see the joy on the kids faces, and not just the kids, the adults and teenagers,” Yvonne said.

The couple travelled with their camper from Creston, B.C. and arrived in late September. They also picked up a skid steer and side-by-side vehicle in Saskatchewan to clear the path through the forest and haul items for setup and take down.

Yvonne said that she sees the event as a way to give to the community.

“It provides a safe family Halloween event, and it’s affordable. That’s the big-ticket item out here,” she said. “A lot of people have appreciated the fact that they can bring their family out and it’s not costing them a fortune.”

David, 79, and Yvonne, 72 also run the ticket booth during the event.

Yvonne said the event has grown compared to its first year — and it’s more work to put on.

“Oh, it’s definitely getting bigger,” Yvonne said. “But you know, it’s all worth it. It’s all the positive remarks you hear.”

Kim’s niece, Lillian Richardson, helped paint signs for the event this year. She also participates as a scare actor, which she said is always a good time.

“I just like scaring people,” she said. “Usually I find a spot and just pretend to be a prop.”

The family effort is not contained to Halloween, however. Decorations, such as giant human-sized spiders are made by Kim’s sister throughout the year. And now after several years, hundreds of decorations fill a two-door garage during the off season.

Kim said that the family has always eagerly celebrated Halloween.

“Halloween’s a passion. Growing up, we’d always go out and decorate, trying to make things creepier,” she said. “And it just kept going.”

Kim said the family decided to host the haunted forest when Grim Acres closed (another annual Halloween event that raised money for the Canadian Cancer Society near Brandon). The family wanted to continue that tradition and provide a Halloween option in the area, she said.

“It’s because of them we are doing this. They are what we call our inspiration,” she said. “That’s why we did it, because they closed and it was just going to be an empty spot.”

The family bought some decorations from Grim Acres, and received donated items in support of their haunted forest, she said.

The haunted forest is a fundraiser for the Cancercare Manitoba Society and the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba, and collects food for the Riverdale Harvest Food Bank, which receives a coffin full of food donations gathered each year on site.

Kim said about 20 sponsors supported the event this year — including a new sponsorship from CAT heavy equipment, which donated four generators that will help power lights, bouncy castles, projectors, animatronics, speakers and more in the forest. She noted that a long list of sponsors have supported the event over the years.

Volunteers are also important to the event. Scare acting — scaring guests on the haunted forests trails in the dark — and helping run the carnival grounds are two jobs that need volunteers, Kim said. The family aims to have about 15 to 20 scare actors, and a total of between 10 to 40 volunteers to run the event each year.

It has been a bit difficult to find volunteers, however, Kim said.

“Its like everything now, it’s hard to find. Everybody’s so busy, and the economy,” she said.

Kim attended a volunteer fair at Assiniboine College and Brandon University last week where some volunteers were recruited for the year.

“Its been good, we’ve definitely got some people who are coming and some who are interested in doing it.”

The haunted forest is open this year from Oct. 15-18, and Oct. 23-25. The no-scare hours, without scare actors and other scare tactics, run from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. each night, whereas the scare hours run from 7:30 to 10 p.m.

Alison Dawson, who recently started the tourism business Prairie Rovers, will provide the shuttle service to the haunted forest. Dawson said the first pick-up will take place at 5:30 p.m. at The Green Spot. Guests will be shuttled to the site of the Halloween event for no-scare hours. The second pick-up will take place at 7:30 p.m., bringing guests to the max-scare hours. Rides home will also be provided for all guests — with each trip able to bring up to 20 people.

When interviewed last week, Dawson said there were a lot of open seats still available.

The fun will begin during the drive to the forest. Dawson plans to be in costume and in character during the bus ride. There will also be a microphone to use for sharing scary stories, she said.

Dawson said she partnered with the haunted forest because she admired the owner’s commitment to community and tradition.

“To see that strong sense of tradition and spooky spirit inspires collaborations,” she said. “That’s something that I’ve enjoyed about them is their community involvement. That’s something I want to support.”

Kim said that she has plans to continue the haunted forest into the future, and that the trail may be expanded next year.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com