A cloud of fog hangs thick in the air; dead branches dangle above.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a shape appears in the mist’green, brown and stringy’somehow moving closer and closer, as if it’s alive. It seems hungry, thirsty, determined.
The shape is Adam Denz, who put more than 30 hours of work into his handmade Ghillie suit. For some, it’s the stuff swampy nightmares are made of.
And that’s the idea.
Denz is one of a large group of people who spent the last two weeks building this year’s version of the Davisburg Rotary House of Horrors.
In addition to the swampy creature, the house utilizes strobe lights, a microwave oven, trap doors, coffins, drooling monsters, nightmarish children, lots of good old fashioned fake blood and many other surprises to make for a memorable Halloween fright.
‘We’ve got a lot of engineers in our club,? said Rotarian Elizabeth Kelly. ‘So we’ve been able to come up with a lot of fun tricks.?
For example, a 30-foot bridge crosses through a vortex tunnel’or black hole’and upon entering, the structure appears to sway and tip, making those who dare to cross it feel as though they might just fall off and disappear into the blackness forever.
Chicken? A bypass allows the faint-of-heart to avoid the dizzying tunnel.
Although 2007 marks the fourth year for the creepy experience, organizers are careful to point out that the set-up, mazes, and monsters change ever year to keep things, well, electrifying.
This year, Springfield Township volunteer firefighter John Murphy built two electric chairs for the haunted house.
After the plans were purchased on E-bay, Murphy and other firefighters got to work.
‘We didn’t go exactly by the plans,? said Matt Strickland, who coordinates the fire department’s role in the haunted house project. ‘We modified it and tweaked it and make it even better.?
About 28 hours of labor went into constructing the chairs, he said.
‘To do a good haunted house you have to have good scares as well as good gags,? said Rotarian Mike Wise, who co-chairs the project with friend and fellow Rotarian Jerry Jackson. ‘We do a good job with both.?
The haunted house came to life after Wise and Jackson kicked the idea around for several years.
‘Finally the club said it was time to put up or shut up,? he said.
And so it began.
‘I never really liked haunted houses,? Wise said. ‘I think I went to one as a kid. But when I got involved in this I found out how much fun it is to scare people.?
Since the Davisburg Rotary is a small club compared to those in more highly populated areas, Wise and his cohorts decided to make the haunted house a community project that would benefit other groups, as well.
This year, the project employs help and shares profits with six other organizations: the Lake Orion Rotary; Michigan Youth Theatre; Truck Town Thunder Robotics Team; Springfield Township Fire Department; Boy Scout Troop 192; and the Holly Interact Club.
Admission is $10 per person, and a trip through the House of Horrors takes about 10 minutes.
Davisburg Rotary House of Horrors is located off Andersonville Road at Springfield Oaks County Park in Davisburg, and runs 7 p.m.-11 p.m. every Friday and Saturday evening in October.
For more information, call the House of Horrors hotline at 248-561-7028.