Haunted school to end long run

Haunted houses have become a Halloween tradition, but one of the scariest venues in the south suburbs is about to retire its ghouls.

The Haunted School will be 'graduating its final class ever' this season in the old Hamilton School on Route 88.

Last used as a school in June 1969, the three-story red brick building with the tall bell tower sits in a parking lot where the Castle Shannon Volunteer Fire Co. leases spaces for commuter parking.

The condition of the school, dedicated in 1904, has greatly deteriorated, and the fire company plans to demolish it to make room for more parking.

Because this is the last year, the Haunted School is opening a week earlier than usual. It will open at 7 p.m. today.

Castle Shannon firefighters bought the Hamilton School property from the Keystone Oaks School District for $60,000 in the 1970s, and began holding the haunted school in 1986.

Haunted School

When: 7 p.m. tonight, Saturday and Oct. 12, 13, 19-21 and 26-30 Where: Hamilton School, Route 88 at Grove Road, Castle Shannon Cost: $7 per person. Call for special rate for groups of 10 or more. Details: The event is designed for those 10 and older. A portion of the money raised will go to the New York Fallen Firefighters Fund. Call: (412) 884-7913 for more information.

It became one of the company's largest annual fund-raisers.

'There's a generation of people who grew up coming to it,' said firefighter Rich Goff, who oversees the event. 'We see some of the same faces every year.'

Erin Kuhns has been a part of the event for more than five years. She now lives in Elliott, but she attended Keystone Oaks High School and began working at the haunted school to earn credits for a community service requirement.

Goff said the fire company depends on students from area high schools to help plan the event each year, design the rooms and portray characters.

Kuhns' favorite activity is designing and building scenery, especially for the Castle Room. But she also enjoys dressing up and frightening visitors.

'I like to scare people to death,' she said.

Characters who pop out of scenery and scare visitors as they walk through rooms and hallways are the main attraction, Goff said.

'We're not real high tech,' he said. 'We work with surprise.'

The group also takes advantage of nooks and crannies in the old building.

'We capitalize on the dark spaces,' Goff said.

'It's pitch black and you'll never find me until I'm right on top of you,' Kuhns added.

Goff declined to say how much money the all-volunteer fire company raises during the event.

'It's a good portion of the budget for us,' he said.

The firefighters hope revenue from the new parking spaces will offset the loss of the haunted school event.

The group has changed the attraction each year, often adding new rooms or new features to popular rooms.

'There's always things they didn't see the year before,' Goff said

This year, there will be even more room to use because in anticipation of the demolition the fire company's carnival committee moved supplies it used to store in the building.

Susan K. Schmeichel can be reached at sschmeichel@tribweb.com or (412) 306-4527.