The Marquette Journal

Halloween is the time of year when children can dress up, it’s OK to splurge on your diet and you deliberately find activities not only to scare others, but also to scare yourselves. According to Dane Carlson, writer for the Haunted House Association, established to promote the haunted house industry, Halloween is the second largest retail holiday in America next to Christmas. In 2008 the National Retail Federation estimated that Americans would spend about $5 billion on Halloween expenses. Even with the struggling economy, Americans are expected to spend more than $7 billion this year on costumes, candy, Halloween parties and many other Halloween events.

But as college students on tight budgets, who would want to pay for a ticket to a haunted house?

In Oconomowoc, Wis., a 35 minute drive from campus, stands an old abandoned high school that has been turned into Wisconsin’s largest haunted house. At 65,000 square feet, this “Haunted High” may in fact be the largest haunted attraction in all of the Midwest. Oconomowoc High School was built in the early 1900s and according to Tamara Hauck, the project manager of Haunted High, the high school is really haunted. A few of the scary stories date back to nearly 100 years ago.

There have been several student deaths on the school’s campus, according to Hauck. One story is about a boy who went sledding on a hill the school sits upon and fell off his sled. While he was lying on the ground, another sled ran right over his head. He was brought into the auditorium to be saved but did not survive. A recreation of “Sled Head Ed” and his sled haunt the auditorium and will be an attraction at Haunted High. Hauck said she thinks the scariest part of the haunted attraction is that it truly is haunted.

Haunted High started the building process in early August. Hauck says that it should have been a six month project but a group of volunteers brought it altogether in just over two months. In Hauck’s opinion, “The biggest challenge (building the haunted house) is the fact that it’s so huge because we need to make all of it ‘haunted.’ ”

All money that is raised from “Haunted High” goes to the Oconomowoc Public Education Foundation (OPEF). Hauck says that this foundation raises money for grants so teachers can have “innovative and progressive programming for the students of Oconomowoc school district.”

Hauck said she has no idea how much money Haunted High will raise this year, but hopes for anywhere between $25,000 and $100,000. It is expected to get better and better each year and will still fund OPEF in the future. In the end, she says, it’s “really to fund us [Oconomowoc school district] being progressive and innovative” which in today’s world are vital to success. All of the employees are volunteers, and most of the supplies were donated by local businesses.

Hauck says the businesses in the community are very supportive of the school district, which is why they were so willing to donate to Haunted High.

Hauck and the rest of the team anticipate a long life for Haunted High, even though the high school is currently for sale. Everything will remain there until next year’s Halloween rolls around.

Open October 9-10, 16-17, 23-24, 29-31 from 7-10:30 PM (ticket counter opens at 6:30 PM)

$12 fee

Located at 550 E. Forest Street – Oconomowoc, WI, across from Oconomowoc High School (35 min. drive from Marquette’s campus).

For more information go to: www.hauntedhigh.info