Entertainment / Family Fun

Davenport Jaycees use the human element to scare

By Stephanie De Pasquale | Monday, October 13, 2008 | () comments

Greg Graf of Rock Island and Terri Nelson of East Moline thought the scariest room in the Davenport Jaycees Haunted House was one that was completely dark except for the glowing Michael Myers hockey masks lining the walls.

“They’re just hanging there, and then, all of a sudden, a couple of them started moving,” said Nelson, who had figured at least one would move, adding that it was just a guessing game as to which one. “There was never a dull moment. There was always somebody there.”

Chris Mandle, co-chairman of the haunted house project and president of the Jaycees chapter, said they rely on human volunteers to provide the scares rather than using animatronics.

“I think that our haunted house is more of a psychological haunted house, that we really try to play upon people’s emotions,” he said. “A lot of haunted houses are kid-oriented, where it’s like ‘boo’ in a costume. But we really try to set the mood.”

The mood is established in the first room, where Alvin Rayburn, also known as Lone Wolf, presides. He singlehandedly chased 50 people out of last year’s haunted house. When Beckie Combs of Buffalo, Iowa, tried to leave the room Rayburn was in, he made her think twice about whether that was really a good idea.

“He said, ‘Since you know where to go, or you think you do, you have to go first,’ ” Combs recalled. She then decided it would be better to stay with her group, and with Rayburn, than proceed.

Other new rooms include an insane asylum, Nelson and Graf’s favorite, the mask room, which was inspired by the movie “The Strangers,” and a clown room.

“We know people have phobias of clowns, so we avoided that for years because we thought it was too obvious,” Mandle said. “But we had enough people ask us in line, ‘There aren’t clowns in there are there?’ So we played up kind of a carny carnage or circus.”

The people who provide the scares at the Jaycees Haunted House are all volunteers. Many of the costumes were donated by area stores, and Wise Guys Pizza donates pizza to feed the volunteers. All of the money raised from the haunted house will be donated to a local charity.

Mandle said the haunted house might scare some children, so the Jaycees will offer a free lights-on event 1-3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24.

Stephanie De Pasquale can be contacted at (563) 333-2639 or sdepasquale@qctimes.com.

If you go

What: Davenport Jaycees Haunted House

When: 7 p.m. to midnight, Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 31, with a lights-on event for children 1-3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24

Where: 319 Western Ave., Davenport

How much: $8, $4 for children 6 years and younger

Information: Send e-mail to davenportjaycees@gmail.com or call (563) 738-5967