NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Oct. 16.
Something wicked is coming to the North Olympic Peninsula, beginning tonight with the Psycho Social in Forks and the Haunted Dungeon at Troll Haven in Gardiner.
By Halloween, five houses haunted by design will creak, groan and terrify willing adults and teens from Forks to Port Townsend.
Some are family-friendly while others are adults-only, but all are guaranteed to put the fear of Halloween into those who cross their thresholds.
Haunt the Hangar
One of the first North Olympic Peninsula haunted houses to open its doors is the Haunt at the Hangar at Quillayute Airport near Forks.
Hours are from 6 p.m. to midnight today and Saturday, as well as Oct. 23-24, Oct. 30 and Halloween night.
Entry is $8 per person age 12 to adult.
This year’s theme is “Psycho Social.” The two-floored haunted house is in an old World War II aircraft hangar.
“We have a collection of psychotic people we have combed the planet for,” said Phillip Sifuentes, chairman of the haunted house planning committee.
From scream queen Emma Fleck to some of the most terrifying 5-year-olds in the world (or do they only look like children?), the denizens of Forks have taken on the challenge of being judged the scariest haunted house in Washington state.
Children younger than 12 should not enter the haunted house, and emergency medical technicians are on-site, Sifuentes said.
The 2014 haunted house was so frightening that only about 50 percent of those who entered the haunted house in its first year made it through the end, he said.
‘Bigger, scarier’
Sifuentes said to forget last year’s event because this year, “it’s bigger, and it’s scarier.”
“I’ve seen on Facebook where people are saying, ‘I’m going to get all the way though this year,’” he said.
The West End can be pretty creepy in the dark, with moss-covered trees, bearded woodsmen and rumors of Sasquatch providing inspiration for residents’ fertile imaginations.
“We have some pretty sick people,” Sifuentes said.
Proceeds will benefit Sarge’s Place, the Forks Salmon Coalition and the Forks Old Fashioned Fourth of July.
Troll Dungeon
Troll Haven will introduce the Haunted Dungeon tonight at the castle, 950 Gardiner Beach Road, on the western shore of Discovery Bay.
The Haunted Dungeon is open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and Saturday, as well as Oct. 23-24.
The castle’s living area will not be open to the public.
Admission to the dungeon is $10 for adults and teens, $5 for children ages 8 to 12.
Children ages 8 and younger are not recommended in the dungeon, which is scarier than last year’s haunted house, organizers said.
A free children’s autumn season barn scare will be held in the antique barn for children 7 and younger, with treat bags, hot apple cider, hot cocoa and other children’s activities.
For more information, phone 559-577-3067 or visit www.trollhaven.org.
The Fifth Floor
The Elks Naval Lodge in Port Angeles is seeking volunteers for The Fifth Floor — this year’s classic horror house — and a meeting for volunteers is set for 6 p.m. today on the second floor of the lodge at 131 E. First St.
Volunteers do not have to be Elks members, said Toni Pringle, chairwoman of the haunted house committee.
Since 2008, the haunted house at the Elks Naval Lodge has offered child-friendly and adult-terrifying Halloween season entertainment.
The adult-orientated, scream-inducing nights will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 23-24 and Oct. 29-31.
A child-friendly version of the haunted house will be held during a downtown trick-or-treat from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Halloween.
Admission will be $6 for kids and $9 for adults.
Funds raised by the haunted house benefit Elks projects, including student scholarships, home nursing care and children’s therapy.
Haunt Town
Volunteers also are needed for Port Townsend’s newest ghoulish Haunt Town, which will be from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oct. 22-24 and Oct. 29-30 in the basement of the Elks Lodge at 555 Otto St.
On Halloween, night hours will be extended into the witching hours — 7 p.m. to midnight.
Cost of entry will be $10 per person.
Children younger than 10 years old are not recommended to enter Haunt Town.
Haunt Town will benefit the Port Townsend Kiwanis Club’s children’s projects, Elks Lodge 317 and all the local high school Associated Student Body programs.
To volunteer, email Christy Spencer at croppingchristy1@gmail.com.
For more information phone David Crozier at 360-531-0557 or Steve Spencer at 360-774-0879.
Also next weekend
Port Townsend’s Haunted Bordello — a haunted house for mature audiences only — will open to the public in the Old Consulate Inn at 313 Walker St. from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Oct. 30-31.
Cash-only admission will be $10.
Themes are mature and include strobe lights, artificial smoke, steep stairs and graphic scenes of violence with sexual content.
Proof of age will be required for entry, which will be limited to those 17 and older.
For more information, visit www.hauntedbordello.com.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
