Paulette Family will Host 6th Annual Free Haunted House in Wakulla County

The 6th Annual Free Haunted House (hosted by the Paulette Family) will be held in Wakulla County the weekend prior to Halloween.  According to Shana and Mike Paulette, the event will be open Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th from dark until 11:00 p.m.  "We may hold it on Halloween night as well, which is Wednesday, October 31," said Shana, "but only until 10:00 p.m. since it's a school night."

The Paulettes have been hosting their "fright fest" for the past five years, with the help of their children, Shawn, Kara, Amber and Garrett.  The event began as something Mike and a few neighbors put together for their own kids.  "After that first year, it just grew and grew," said Mike.  "Now it's huge, and it just keeps getting bigger and better."

{sidebar id=1}The Paulettes, along with a group of loyal volunteers, begin putting the haunted maze together in mid-September, and work diligently on it until opening night, usually putting the finishing touches on at the very last minute.  "It's a huge undertaking," says Mike, "but it's always worth it.  We have so much fun doing it; that's what makes us keep holding it year after year."

According to Mike, new surprises are added each year.  "We always add new features for those people who return year after year," he says.  "We don't want them to see the same thing over and over again, and we haven't had a disappointed return customer yet."  The haunted maze is family-friendly and alcohol free, and is made up of a series of "halls" full of scary creatures like ghostly pirates, creepy clowns, ghouls, hairy spiders, corpse brides, and other frightening scenes, including some straight out of your favorite horror movies.  The event has quickly become one of the most popular Halloween events in Wakulla County; a definite "must see".

"It's a major operation," says Shanna.  "We usually have a few good friends who help us put the maze together each year, and we start working on it in September.  Every year it seems like we won't be able to get it done in time, but somehow it always seems to come together in the end."  The Paulettes build an eight foot tall tower in the middle of the yard, where all the "special effects" are controlled.  "We use fishing rods,  monorails, whatever it takes to get our attractions to work," says Paulette.  "We break the trail down into what we call "halls", and each hall has its own theme."  Some of the different themes include vampires, ghosts, witches, a torture chamber (complete with electric chair!), psycho ward, and many more.  The tower also allows the "engineers" to keep a watchful eye over what's going on in the attraction.  "We've never had any major problems," said Mike.  "People are usually very respectful of each other and of the volunteers.  I think they understand how much work goes into the event."

The Paulettes rely on both monetary and in-kind donations to help cover the cost of putting the house together, and are still trying to find sponsors for this year's event.  "We couldn't do it without the help of the business community," says Mike.  "They always seem to come through for us each year with donations of building supplies and other items needed to get the maze done."  The Paulettes don't make any money off the event.  "Last year's event ended up costing us $600 out of pocket, but we continue to do it anyway because we have so much fun with it," says Mike.  "Admission is free; we really rely on donations from local businesses and community members to make it all happen."

"One thing we need are volunteers to be there on the nights we are open," adds Mike.  "We can always use more people to serve as "Ghost Hosts" to actually take people through the maze.  We like to have about 25 or 30 volunteers there each night to make sure all goes well."  The Paulettes don't allow anyone to go through the maze alone; they must be accompanied by a volunteer.  "It helps us keep control over what's going on," said Mike.  The Ghost Hosts are mostly friends and acquaintances of the Paulette Family.  Last year several of the Wakulla High School drama students helped out, as well.  "It's pretty scary," says Mike.  "We get some pretty interesting reactions from people as they are coming out at the end."  According to Mike, kids of all ages go through the maze.  "We keep an eye on things from up above, and if someone gets too frightened, we have volunteers who will escort them out," says Mike.  Mike says they also tone things down quite a bit for the younger kids.

The Haunted House is a drug-free, alchohol free event, so the whole family can feel good about coming out.  Again, this year's event will run for two nights:  Friday, October 26th (from dusk to 11:00 p.m.) and Saturday, October 27th, (from dusk until 11:00 p.m.).  It may also run on Halloween night, Wednesday, October 31, from dusk until 10:00 p.m.  

The Haunted House is located at the Paulette home at 88 Kirkland Drive, approximately 1.8 miles east of downtown Crawfordville on Highway 61 (the Shadeville Highway).  Look for signs which will be posted along Highway 61 and Kirkland Drive.  Photography is not allowed inside the maze, but visitors are welcome to take pictures outside the maze.

Please call (850) 926-3431for information, to make a donation, or to schedule a supply drop-off. 

Thanks to the following sponsors:

Harrison Bail Bonds
Crawfordville Ace Hardware
Printing on Demand
Wakulla Bank
Keith Key Heating and Air
Subway in Downtown Crawfordville
Gulf Coast Lumber of Wakulla
El Jalisco #3

Click here to see a Photo Gallery of this year's progress!  

Click here to see some scary photos from last year's event!

This article originally published on September 19, 2007.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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