This article was previously published on StratfordToday.ca.
Are you ready to be scared?
The fourth annual Escape-It Stratford Haunted House is kicking off on October 17.
“We shut our escape rooms down for two weeks,” said owner Caylie Butcher. “Every year we try and make it longer, by adding more.”
The haunted house will run daily all the way up to Halloween. Fear not as there will be varying levels of scary for all ages.
“We offer a less scary option which is for younger kids or those who don’t like going through when it is super scary, so there are no actors, just animatronics,” said Butcher. “The medium-level offers actors but no jump scares, and the most scary allows free reign for the actors to scare you as much as possible.”
Monday to Wednesday from 7-10 p.m. are the least-scary nights; Thursdays from 7-10 p.m. offer the medium scare, while the weekend from 8-11 p.m. offers the scariest experience. The full-blown scary experience isn’t for the faint of heart as event Butcher avoids those nights.
“Last year people told me how good the actors were,” said Butcher. “We have people get really scared; in fact, someone actually fell out of the exit they were running so fast to escape.”
The haunted house experience only takes between five and ten minutes, depending on how brave you are. The annual event will also be doing a raffle, and there will be drinks that can be purchased and at the end, everyone gets some candy.
The haunted house has brought back business and leaves people talking.
“I’ve noticed a lot of people coming back to do escape rooms in like February, and they will mention the haunted house,” said Butcher. “We leave a lasting imprint for people and the feedback continues to be positive.”
If you’d like to come for a scare, tickets are only $10 and for anyone six and under the cost is only $6. More details and hints of the scares can be found here.
