BATAVIA — Brodie Mairet was minding his own business, leaning over the ticket taker’s table when a devil came up behind him.
The devil said nothing. It just leaned over and waited. Brodie lost interest in staring at the street beyond the table, as children will when there’s nothing happening. He stood and started turning around. The devil took a half step back and straightened as well.
Brodie caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. Just enough for him to whip his head around. He looked up, did a double-take and very nearly jumped out of his skin.
OK, it wasn’t really a devil. Just Andy Pearson dressed like one. But the horns brought his apparent height to nearly seven feet and he was imposing.
And Brodie really did jump.
The Batavia Haunted House is a new fundraiser for the Batavia Days Committee. No one is really sure how it will work out. Terry Irwin said the committee is fairly recent as well, a group of people trying to draw interest back to Batavia and give the town a boost since the bypass pulled most of the traffic away.
Volunteers built the haunted house in the appropriately deserted old post office building. They found a good rental deal from a real estate agent. Nothing fancy, just two-by-four frames since they couldn’t put any holes in the walls. But it was enough for a commitment through the first week of November.
They started building. They drafted “kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews,” said Tycene Weber.
“Anybody we could pull off the street,” Irwin agreed.
Stefany Rachford was one of the volunteer-slash-draftees who spent part of Friday evening getting her makeup put on. This wasn’t your standard Friday night, going-out-on-a-date makeup. It was blood and pale highlighted by dark circles around her eyes. Turns out it takes some work to make a person look dead.
She kept going back and forth between her spot among the 10 rooms of the haunted house and the makeup room. It sounds strange given the disorienting layout, but her spot was in the building’s bathroom — one of the few with a real mirror.
Beth Rysdam handled the makeup work. Like the others she came because she wanted to help out. And, like the others, she admitted she has no experience with haunted houses.
Rysdam has plenty of experience with Halloween, though. She enjoys it. “For one time of the year you can be anything you want,” she said.
Weber left the cramped makeup room and headed outside to man the ticket table as 7 p.m. approached. She said she scares easily. Staying inside wasn’t a good idea since the house was intended to scare visitors, not residents. Sounds bled out the open door as preparations continued inside.
“My horns are getting knocked off,” Pearson grumbled.
“Does somebody have blood?” Rysdam called.
Groups started arriving right at 7 p.m. Most were younger children. Brodie was one of the first ones in.
He was one of the first out, too. He made it through but wasn’t saying much afterwards. A track from tears gleamed in the streetlights.
Brodie had jumped inside as well, it turned out.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
For Your Information
The Batavia Haunted House is open at the old post office building today from 7-11 p.m.; October 23-24 from 7-11 p.m.; and Oct. 30-31 from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. The cost is $5.
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Ghouls with a cause: Haunted house raises funds for Batavia Days Committee
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