Area man to put on haunted house to benefit Walworth County Alliance for Children
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
While some are out picking up bags of bite-sized treats in preparation for the hordes of ghosts and ghouls that will be flocking to the streets in just a few weeks, Jeff McKone and his friends and family are prepping for an even bigger treat for trick-or-treaters.
What started as a small setup last year from a Halloween store has grown into a way for McKone to take his love of Halloween decorating to a whole new level while also giving back to the community.
“He’s a Halloween freak,” Jeff’s wife, Vicki, said.
From 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 31, Jeff McKone, his family and friends will host their first-ever “Walk of Terror” at Jeff McKone’s home at 3019 Main St., East Troy.
Jeff McKone said with the compliments they received for their small setup last year, he knew they follow up with something a little more elaborate.
What started off as a walkway has now become a haunted house, complete with a full façade and numerous rooms and halls.
“I wanted this to be a different experience for the kids to get their candies,” he said. “You’ve got to earn your candy here.”
Jeff McKone’s Walk of Terror will feature everything from live actors and air props to animatronics and more. While it’s not as large as other haunted houses in the area, Jeff McKone said – without giving away all of the surprises – it would be a shocking experience for all, taking attendees somewhere around five minutes or so to get through.
“We’re not trying to do too much, but we want enough for people to say ‘wow, that got me a couple times,’” he said.
Jeff McKone said the haunted house is fairly family friendly, noting his fairly young nephews are very hands-on in the project. He said while it’s not necessarily a full-blown haunted house, people are going to get scared and as for the age of those who walk through, it’s up to parents’ discretion.
“We don’t touch anyone, there’s no grabbing, no spraying,” he said. “It’s just some things that’ll make you jump a bit, things that might be a little scary for a little kid.”
Helping the community
What’s truly special about Jeff McKone’s Walk of Terror is that while it is free, they will be taking donations at the end, which will then be donated to the Walworth County Alliance for Children.
“We want to raise money for a good cause and we want to scare people,” Jeff McKone said. “And give them candy.”
Vicki McKone said after enjoying doing a Halloween setup last year, when they decided they were going to go bigger this year they knew it had to be for a cause.
“I said, ‘well, if we’re going to do that, then we’re going to do it for a reason,’” she said.
Jeff McKone said they were looking for a way to give back to the community, thinking of various ideas such as animal shelters or Vietnam veterans, before a friend came to them with the idea.
“We all thought it was a hit as soon as he let us know,” Jeff McKone said. “We just want to do something for the community.”
In looking to draw in more people to increase the donations to the advocacy center, Jeff McKone said he’s reached out to several area businesses in hopes they would provide donations for a raffle, something which he said has been well received so far.
Having toured the advocacy center recently and collecting literature, Jeff McKone said he plans to take it around to area businesses and explain his plans to hopefully collect further donations and get the word out.
Having recently launched a Facebook page with videos and photos – found by searching for “Walk of Terror, Charity event for WCAC” – Jeff McKone said the response has been really good so far, noting people he hasn’t yet met have come up to him in public to ask about the Walk of Terror and how they can help.
“I told them about what we’re doing and they’ve asked about how they can help,” he said. “I said just show up, spread the word, give a donation. It’s a good thing and I’m glad we’re doing it.”
Jeff McKone said the plan is to continue the Walk of Terror in coming years, switching up which organizations proceeds would be donated to.
“We’re trying to raise some money, we’re building a haunted house and hopefully it’ll keep growing and growing,” he said.
Speaking of the future, Jeff McKone said he’s waiting to see how the turnout is for this year’s Walk of Terror, waiting to hear the responses from attendees to hopefully improve and expand the haunted house for the future.
“If it looks like people are wanting more, we’ll make it a little bigger every year and take it from there,” he said.
“As long as we’re having fun doing it and we’re helping out a good cause we’ll keep going.”
Constructing terror
In a shed he built in his backyard, partly for the storage of props and panels for future years, Jeff McKone has been putting together the pieces of the Walk of Terror for more than a month.
Jeff McKone said they’ve been working on the project every weekend and putting in two to three days during the week as well, working together with friends and family to pull together the Walk of Terror.
“I’m consumed by this, I’m even missing football,” Jeff McKone joked.
The front of Jeff McKone’s Walk of Terror is constructed with wood and Styrofoam. With a Dremel, a heat gun and a little bit of paint, the group has transformed Styrofoam into a realistic castle wall.
“It’s a process, that’s for sure,” he said. “My wife is the painter. She’s the expert painter, not me.”
For constructing the rest of building, Jeff McKone has built numerous wood panels, all of which will be covered in plywood and carefully joined to create several rooms and hallways for visitors to travel through. To top it all off – literally – Jeff McKone plans to build a roof frame to drape a tarp over which will not only keep the rooms dark, but keep their visitors dry in the event of poor weather.
In pulling together props and special effects for the Walk of Terror, Jeff McKone said his brother-in-law, Craig Friemoth, reached out to Fin ‘N’ Feather Sportsmans Club in Palmyra, which hosted a haunted woods up until about two years ago.
When they learned about what he was looking to do, Jeff McKone said they were more than happy to let the pair drive up and dig through what remained of their props and decorations.
“We got doors, a bunch of masks and a bunch of costumes,” he said. “They contributed and gave it to us for free, so we owe a big thank you to them for sure.”
With crunch time looming, Jeff McKone said all that’s really left construction-wise is to make some minor repairs to the castle façade and finish off the panels for the walls.
“Once I get all of these panels done, then all the major stuff is done,” he said. “Then it’s just starting to place the walls, starting the decorating process, putting the lights on. That’s really the easy part.
“Getting the construction done, that’s the hard part. It’s like, just get it done so I’ll be able to breathe.”
Finishing up the technical, construction side of the project, Jeff McKone said that’s when they get into the fun part, the part of the project where they get to be a little more creative.
