Area Halloween activities designed to thrill and chill
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
After hosting the charity Walk of Terror for two years in the yard of their East Troy home and raising more than $10,000 for the Tree House Child and Family Center of Walworth County, Jeff and Vicky McKone realized they were going to need a new venue for 2018.
“We had more than 700 people last year,” Jeff McKone said. “Something small turned into something huge and we needed a bigger yard.”
So, this summer Jeff McKone went to the Village of East Troy and asked if he could build the haunted house in the municipal parking lot on the Village Square.
“They were very supportive of the project,” he said. “It was one of the easiest meetings I’ve ever gone to and they were all for it and had ideas of their own.”
With the new, larger location, Jeff said he started building the props and walls for the haunted house about six weeks ago and set up over the weekend and Monday.
“It’s the scariest haunted house southern Wisconsin has to offer, in my opinion,” he said. “This year we’re an insane asylum and people should expect to be scared and possibly get wet. I would advise you bring someone along you can hold on tight to.”
He added he researches haunted houses from all over the country during the summer months and spends quite a bit of time planning the annual scare.
“I own a snow removal company so people are always asking how I have time to do this, but if it’s not snowing, I have the time. Two months from now, not so much.”
With the move to the Village Square and the expanded haunted house, Jeff said he also spoke to Vanessa Lenz, the executive director of the East Troy Area Chamber of Commerce, and the East Troy Area Historical Society to coordinate the walk with other Halloween activities on the square.
“We wanted to create a Halloween destination in East Troy,” Jeff said. “The Historical Society is having its Ghost Walk on Oct. 20 and the chamber is hosting a pumpkin walk on the square on Halloween along with trick-or-treating on the square.”
Area businesses on the square will have activities and special deals during the Walk of Terror and Ghost Walk so visitors have plenty to do while they wait their turn at the walks.
“We saw this as an opportunity for residents and businesses to work together and create a new event on the Village Square to show off how great East Troy is,” Lenz said.
The Walk of Terror runs from 6 to 11 p.m. on Oct. 19, 20, 26 and 27. Admission is $10 with proceeds going to East Troy Fire and Rescue this year.
A kid friendly walk will be offered from 5 to 8 p.m. on Halloween during trick-or-treat hours. The pumpkin walk will also be open on Halloween during trick or treat.
Jeff said they are still looking for volunteers to help out at the Walk of Terror.
“We can always use more people, so we can run more groups through the walk,” he said. “We especially need people to scare, but we also need people to do makeup and other things. We’re open for five hours a night and the shifts are one hour on and one hour off when you’re scaring.”
To sign up to volunteer, visit walkofterror.com and click on the volunteer button.
Ghost Walk
The East Troy Ghost Walk is one of the Historical Society’s most popular events. Held every other year, the walk features guided tours of multiple homes and businesses on and around the Village Square that are said to be haunted.
Historical Society member and local historian, Betty Parman, said she enjoys being part of the Ghost Walk and seeing the families and visitors who come to the square have so much fun.
“Guided tours of historical homes and businesses have patrons telling a little bit about each place and what lurks between the walls. It’s fun for the whole family,” Parman said.
Tickets for the East Troy Ghost walk go on sale at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 and the tours begin at 5:45 p.m. Cost is $5 for adults and $3 for kids 12 and younger.
All proceeds from the fundraiser support the Historical Society’s museum and collection of artifacts.
For more information, visit etahs.org.
