30 years of big scares at Haunt in the Park
The Little family and their friends have been dishing out big scares for 30 years at The Haunt in the Park in Shelburne.
The media was given a sneak peak Saturday night of the elaborate haunted house that winds through the 6,000 square foot pavilion at Fiddlepark, where a corn maze, hall of spiders, and spooky swamp boardwalk take visitors through a creepy circus tent, old time town, an apothecary and witches’ coven.
The construction happens over several weeks with a crew of volunteers contributing more than 1,000 hours to create an immersive experience. Inside, more than 30 characters are waiting to scare the daylights out of anyone who dares to enter.
In 2022, 2,600 people visited the haunted house which has grown in size and manpower since it began in 1993. At that time, Bob and Sue Little encouraged their three teenagers to stay home on Halloween night by recruiting them for an enhanced trick-or-treat experience, rigging the front door of their Shelburne home to open on its own. After three years of enhanced pranks, the operation outgrew the front porch so they asked their friends if they could take over their large enclosed porch, and eventually the yard. The haunt later moved to Fiddlepark in 2015, before the pavilion was built, and has continued to grow and evolve without missing a year by adapting to a parade for one year during the pandemic.
The 30th anniversary Haunt in the Park is bigger than ever with a horde of 60 volunteers pulling it off.
Get the full scare on Oct. 27 and 28 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Halloween night. There is a child friendly less scary event, the Mini Boo, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28. The Mini Boo is a masks-off, daylight event for all ages and takes place alongside many other events in Shelburne that day, including Treats In The Streets happening in the downtown core. A free shuttle bus is provided to go between the events.
Admission is free but donations of non-perishable food or money are being collected for the Shepherd’s Cupboard Food Bank in Shelburne.
