RobertXGillis

By Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter 9/2008

There will not be a Jaycee haunted house in 2008.

While we were hoping to have one more season and make it an even 20 years, there simply isn’t enough manpower to make the project feasible. Also, times have changed, and all haunted houses have noticed marked drops in attendance over the years. People’s interest in events like amusement parks and haunted houses have waned.

You may know that in 1989, the Mansfield and Foxboro Jaycees embarked on a new, untested fund raiser – a haunted house. By 1992, the Foxboro Jaycees haunted house was an annual event for more than nine thousand visitors each year. Over the last 19 years, we have run our haunt in tunnels under an abandoned hospital on Payson Road, through the woods of Camp Lincoln Hill, and even at the Walpole Mall. In 2006 and 2007 we were delighted to partner with the Orpheum for the haunted theater. All proceeds — 100% — always went directly back into the community.

The closing of the haunted house means we must look to new fundraisers to support our community work.

The Foxboro Jaycees continue to be a dynamic, enthusiastic volunteer organization dedicated to enhancing quality of life through community development projects while growing the skills of our members and providing an opportunity to make lifelong friendships.

We are responsible for a multitude of Foxboro community service projects, such as Founders Day Activities, Literacy Challenge, Summer Concerts on the Common, Easter Egg Hunt, My Hero Essays, Sand for Seniors, Relay for Life, as well as Christmas activities such as Santa on the common, decorating the common with Christmas lights, and refurbishing and setting up the nativity set, and far more.

We built and maintain the Foxboro Common bandstand, the Booth Skating Park and the Payson Road Playground.

We donate money to over 30 different charities, needy individuals, athletes and human service organizations. We donate thousands of dollars each year to the Foxboro Discretionary Fund, Founders Day fireworks committee, Foxboro High School college bound seniors, South Foxboro Community Club and various sports leagues in Foxboro.

Around Foxboro, we are also actively involved helping other worthwhile causes.

We ask for your continued support for our new Ways & Means projects, which will allow us to continue to do our good work in Foxboro.

And we’d love to meet you. If you’re interested in learning more about us, you can visit our web site at http://www.foxborojaycees.org/.

Interested in joining us? Anyone 18+ is welcome! Come to our meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the South Foxboro Community Club at 8pm.

It’s very important to note that the Jaycees are just one of many community organizations that need your help. Volunteerism and memberships are down in all the fraternal organizations — and that’s a shame. The esteemed Foxboro Grange is no more because of declining membership. And every other organization, including the Jaycees, face a bleak future unless new people start stepping up to “pick up the torch.”

So if you have time, please consider talking to folks at the Knights of Columbus, or the Rotary, or any of the other groups in town. Offer to help at Camp Saint Augustine. Or your child’s school. Or the community farm stand. Help is needed for various Doolittle Home events. The Senior Center can always use more smiling volunteers. And the food pantry and discretionary fund always welcome helpers. Your church can always use volunteers. Even if you have only a little time, make the time to give back and be part of something bigger than yourself. It feels fantastic!

One final note about the haunted house. We sincerely thank the town of Foxboro for letting us use the Payson Road Auditorium and Camp Lincoln Hill. We thank our friends at the Walpole Mall for the store front for the Mini-haunt, and send a very special shout-out and thank you to our great friends at the Orpheum Foxboro for two amazing haunts in 2006 and 2007. Please check out the Orpheum’s impressive schedule and top-quality shows by CLICKING HERE

We thank the tens of thousands of patrons who visited our haunted house over 19 years, as well as the Jaycees and volunteers who performed night after night, built sets and assisted in the seemingly infinite tasks required to create and maintain our haunted house. We also thank the many businesses who donated building materials and our sponsors. All of you made a difference.

It was a privilege and thrill for us to perform for you. And your ticket paid for so many community services activities and scholarships and donations. Thank you.

We’ll all miss the haunted house, but there is still so much more to be done. You can help by supporting any community service group or volunteering your services to those who need it.

And please continue to come out and support the Jaycees at our many upcoming events.

Thank you!

Introduction: From 1989-2007, the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House was the largest not-for-profit Haunt in New England, our biggest fundraiser, an extremely popular event attended by thousands of people, and my favorite Jaycee project. This is the column I wrote for the 2006 and 2007  Haunts. Of course, this is an archive, so things like show times, dates, price, and out-of-date historical context, are removed. So why include this column here? I think it’s well worth a read because the Jaycees’ enthusiasm and dedication to our Haunted House – and helping the community – is readily apparent, as is my great love for the chapter and our Haunted House. I put a lot of passion into these columns, and the excitement of our annual boo-fest always shines through. Those were good times.

For much more about the greatest young persons organization in the world, CLICK HERE

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by Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter 10/2006 and 2007

Introduction: From 1989-2007, the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House was the largest not-for-profit Haunt in New England, our biggest fundraiser, an extremely popular event attended by thousands of people, and my favorite Jaycee project. This is the column I wrote for the 2004 Haunt. Of course, this is an archive, so things like show times, dates, price, and out-of-date historical context, are removed.  So why include this column here? I think it’s well worth a read because the Jaycees’ enthusiasm and dedication to our Haunted House — and helping the community — is readily apparent, as is my great love for the chapter and our Haunted House. I put a lot of passion into these columns, and the excitement of our annual boo-fest always shines through.   Those were good times.

For much more about the greatest young persons organization in the world, CLICK HERE

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By Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter, 10/2004

In 1989, the Mansfield and Foxboro Jaycees embarked on a new, untested fundraiser – a Haunted House. By 1992, the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House (then located at the old State Hospital) was an annual event for more than ten thousand visitors each year. That same year, Sue and I stood in line and twice took in an impressive and scary Haunted House, a visit that would lead to our joining the Jaycees the following summer.

The nineties were truly the glory days for the Jaycee Haunt; we had the underground tunnels of hospital buildings with a history far scarier than our show; lines literally around the block, nights when 1000 visitors was common, and nights we were still scaring folks past 1am.

Times change, and more and more Haunted Houses started opening, seemingly everywhere. Then, in 1999, the Jaycees were dealt a double blow: The state hospital property would require $100,000 in sprinkler and safety improvements (in a building that was effectively condemned anyway) and Spooky World moved to Foxboro.

Ever resourceful and innovative, the Jaycees switched to plan B and relocated our Haunted House to Camp Lincoln Hill on Oak Street – a massive endeavor. We were very grateful to the town for allowing us to use the property for this purpose. While we missed the tunnels and underground mazes, there was no arguing that the new location was better; the tour now took our guests through open air, into the woods, through Haunted cabins. The tour was certainly scarier in the crisp October air under the moonlight. Plus, for the Jaycee workers who started construction in August, it was great to be in the sunshine and open air, rather than the bowels of an old building during hot summer days.

Over the years the Jaycees competed with Spooky World and all the other Haunts out there. While we always competed with Spooky World, we take no joy in its closure; we extend our sincere condolences to David Bertolino on the loss of his business partner, and no one likes to see a business close for any reason. We sincerely wish the management and staff of Spooky World every success in their future endeavors.

But things are changing again. Spooky World’s closure may bring more people to our Haunt but it may be another signal that the glory days of Haunted Houses are truly over – all Haunted Houses have seen diminishing attendance over the last decade, and as a culture, people seem less interested in a scary Haunt than before. In a post 9/11 world, it seems like life is scary enough without Haunted Houses. Add to that the future of Camp Lincoln Hill is uncertain for the Jaycees, and this may very well be our final Haunt — at least – in its present form.

Thankfully, there are still thousands of people who cherish the annual event, and spend much of October checking out the various Haunted in the area, so the Jaycees have been hard at work for the last three months at Camp Lincoln Hill constructing our 16th – and we hope best – Haunted House.

The amount of manpower it takes to put together the Jaycee Haunt is staggering. To be honest, in all the years I guided folks through our Haunt, I never had a true appreciation for the sheer volume of effort that goes into construction. All that changed last year when Lauren Bitar, Dave Reid and I joined forces to create a room of our own – the jungle room, featuring a vibrating engine that literally shook the walls down. It took us nearly three months to create that room.

This year, Lauren and I are back, reconstructing the entire set for even more impressive scares. Also back this year are many of the veteran Jaycee Haunters and some folks chairing a room for the first time. The number of details for one small cabin — electrical, construction, decoration, planning, and far more – is staggering. Our construction guys have been at the camp daily since August performing a lot of miracles.

Our chairman this year is last year’s chairman — veteran Jaycee Dave Fisler is the only Jaycee in our history to chair this project twice – this is unheard of because chairmanship of the Haunted House is literally a six to nine month commitment of your life. But without Dave to chair and organize it, we would not have had a Haunt this year. To Dave, we are very grateful for this great sacrifice.

As the leaves begin to turn, work is beginning to accelerate over on Oak Street. The scripts are being written and revised, props are being created and refurbished, sheet rock is being ordered by the pallet, gallons of paint are flowing, the publicity committee is in overdrive, concessions are being ordered, and there is cleaning – and cleaning, and more cleaning. The twenty or so die-hards have been working their collective asses off for two months now and this event would not exist without their dedication.

Not to mention that once we open, it will take over 70 people to run our Haunted House each night.

So why do it? Well, as a community service and not-for-profit organization, the Jaycees need funds to host all those free events all year – concerts on the common, Santa and Easter bunny on the common, founders day activities, scholarships, thousands (yes, thousands) of dollars in donations to local charities and sports and kids, sand for seniors, family night out, and so much more. If you’re from around here, you know the Jaycee resume – we do a LOT. The Haunted House is our primary fund raiser. Unless we have a successful run each year, we are unable to do as much for the community during the other eleven months.

So here’s the bottom line, friends, please come to the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House during October. The new rooms are scarier than ever – we have scares this year that rival anything you’ve seen elsewhere. The script is one of our very best. Every Jaycee and friend of the Jaycees you will meet at the Haunt has the same goal – give you the best show possible.

If you’ve been to see us before (and thousands of you have) you know how scary – and how much fun – the Jaycee Haunt is, and all we give back to the community. If you’ve never been to see us, now is the time. You’ll see a very professional, all-volunteer show that will make you laugh and scare the hell out of you – and you’ll benefit an organization that helps make our town a better place.

Please come see us in October–You’ll help support a variety of community services, scholarships, and donations throughout Foxboro, you’ll have a great time doing so! We hope to see you at our Haunt!

Introduction: From 1989-2007, the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House was the largest not-for-profit Haunt in New England, our biggest fundraiser, an extremely popular event attended by thousands of people, and my favorite Jaycee project. My Haunted House columns for 2002 and 2003 both used a “Question and Answer” format so there was a great degree of  repetition  between the two years. Therefore, this column (below) is a combination of the two with the duplication removed. Of course, this is an archive, so things like show times, dates, price, and out-of-date historical context, are removed. So why include this column here? I think it’s well worth a read because the Jaycees’ enthusiasm and dedication to our Haunted House – and helping the community – is readily apparent, as is my great love for the chapter and our Haunted House. I put a lot of passion into these columns, and the excitement of our annual boo-fest always shines through. Those were good times.

For much more about the greatest young persons organization in the world, CLICK HERE

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by Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter October 2002 and October 2003, taylored for each year.

For ten years I have been proud to count myself among the membership of the Foxboro Jaycees, and for the eleventh year I am taking part in our Haunted House. To say I’m obsessed is a bit of an understatement; I started the graphics for the web site in February, it’s all I’ve thought about for the last month, and even my mother says I’m “weirder than usual” this time of year.

The Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House is Foxboro’s ORIGINAL Haunted House, and we feature an indoor/outdoor walking guided tour (in groups of 10) set in an abandoned scout camp in the woods. Visit 13 sites and cabins filled with scenes from your worst nightmares. A live-action 25-minute show with more than 50 actors, ghosts and ghouls over a three-acre course. A most professional all-volunteer show in our 15th year. All Volunteer. All proceeds go back to the community. Only $9. Free parking. Concessions and facilities available. We’re easy to find. 100% of our profits directly benefit the community. We WILL scare you, make you laugh, and give you a great show, but… our Haunt is VERY scary and intense, and not recommended for kids under 10.

Now, on to your questions. Yes, you in the front row there.

Q. Who are you?

A. We’re the Foxboro Jaycees. Don’t you read history?

Q. Why do the Jaycees have a Haunted House every October?

A. Our Haunted House is our largest fund-raiser of the year. As a not-for-profit community service organization, the Jaycees must raise the money necessary to fund all our projects. By visiting the Jaycee Haunted House, you help us make possible our multitude of community services, as well as scholarships, donations, and far more.

Q. Projects? Like what?

A. Well, the Haunted House, as well as our Founder’s Day concession/glow stick sales, Christmas tree sales, and so on, funds everything we do for the community such as the Serve food co-op, free summer concerts on the common, Senior Appreciation Day, National Family Night Out, sand for seniors, CYO basketball clinic, New Year’s first baby awards, Easter egg hunt, pancake breakfast to benefit Foxboro Youth Basketball, Founders Day activities, blood drives, teddy bear delivery to traumatized children, moving senior citizens in need of assistance, mothers / fathers day activities, as well as Christmas activities such as tree sales, Santa on the common, and refurbishing and setting up the nativity set, as well as nearly 100 other community development, individual development and membership projects.

Q. Is the Jaycee Haunted House Scary?

A. Of course it’s scary, hence the term, “Haunted House.” On previous journeys through our Haunted House, a rain forest official lost his head, literally. Long dead kings decapitated screaming victims. A camp chef served up eyeball soup and rat surprise. A captured extraterrestrial escaped Area 51. A jealous husband hanged Cassie, his cheating wife. The insane cannibal Colonel Lee Johnson broke out of jail to continue his murderous rampage. 130 angry Jaycees murdered an annoying bear. An evil mine god brought chaos through a mysterious element called Unobtainium. Aliens landed at Roswell and decapitated helpless abductees. The crypt of Edgar Allen Poe brought new meaning to terror. The Chateau de Vampris vampires fed their queen the blood of screaming victims. Pictures, tables and other objects came flying at us. Sometimes, even the walls seemed to be moving. We’ve had brushes with insane murderers, crazed camp counselors, raving corn farmers, ax-wielding mayors, bizarre counterparts of the New England Patriots, doctors wielding chain saws, serial killers, and even more terrifying encounters with supernatural beings like Dracula and the Devil himself. We’ve encountered ghosts in taverns, nautical museums, movie theatres, and a stagecoach. Even the most benign looking places hold unspeakable terrors. It is definitely too intense for kids under 10 – but we have another Haunted House for them.

Q. Do tell?

A. We offer a second Haunted House; our kid-friendly Mini-Haunt at the Walpole Mall! Our Mini-Haunted House is a less intense, less scary, kid-friendly version of our award-winning Haunted House in Foxboro. This Mini-Haunt is also created and staffed by the Foxboro Jaycees and is our way of helping the little ones celebrate Halloween without them being too scared (or traumatized). The Mini Haunt is a guided tour through an entire Haunted store, and is far more “cute” than scary.

Q. Two Haunted Houses. Sounds like a lot of work.

A. That’s more of an observation rather than a question, but yes, it’s a huge endeavor involving over two months work. The committee — led by the chairman — coordinate every aspect of our Haunted House: finances and budget, writing a script, supervising construction, obtaining the proper permits, finding and purchasing needed construction supplies and props, makeup, cleaning, painting, cleaning up the vampire cabin after a fresh kill, publicity, graphics, web design, manpower, concessions, landscaping, plumbing, electrical, ticket sales, and about a zillion other logistic concerns. Each committee member is responsible for a specific area of our Haunt, and several of these areas (for example, publicity) require sub-committees to get all the work done! Reading this roster, you can appreciate what a massive undertaking out Haunted House really is. We’re very proud of our committee and the impressive Haunted House they have produced.

Q. So who is the 2002 Haunted House chairman?

A. Derek House is this year’s Haunted House chairman, and he is the supervisor of every aspect of our Haunt. Derek, a Jaycee Senator, has been very active in the Jaycees chapters here in Foxboro and elsewhere and had done an excellent job coordinating our Haunt this year.

Q. So who is the 2003 Haunted House chairman?

A. This year we are fortunate to have David Fisler and Paul Lanza, two long-time Jaycees who have been closely involved in all aspects of most of our previous Haunted Houses. They and their committee coordinate every aspect of our Haunted House.

Q. Are all Jaycees vampires?

A. Not all, but the coolest guides and best room people are usually vampires.

Q. I see you guys at the camp in August. Do you really have to start so early?

A. Yes! We clean. We landscape. We have committee meetings. We began planning the scares for each cabin and walk by. We begin sawing. Hammering. Raking. Wiring. Cleaning. Painting. Refurbishing. We spend the summer creating our illusions. The script is written. Costumes are assembled and purchased. Concessions are readied. Speakers are wired. The atomic pile is recharged. Entire cabins are restructured. Hundreds of gallons of paint and dozens of panels of sheet rock, and countless stacks of lumber are used in construction. We dig out our props and begin incorporating them into our sets. We hide the bodies where they will never be found. We make new props. The electrical wiring needs are implemented. We rehearse. We advertise. We consume a lot of potato chips and soda… Must… sleep… now

Q. You’ve been doing this how long?

A. The Jaycees Haunted House started in October 1989, the same month as the meteor shower over Smallville, Kansas.

Q. How do I get to the Jaycee Haunted House – the scary one here in Foxboro?
We’re easy to find. We’re located at Camp Lincoln Hill Foxboro, 156 Oak Street. Take Mass Route 95 to Exit 8 (Mechanic Street Foxboro) and turn onto Oak Street at the blinking light, we are 1.5 miles on the left. You can get detailed directions on the Jaycees web site at www.foxborojaycees.org

Q. Do use strobe lights in your Haunt?

A. Yes — beware that we use strobe lights and fog machines in our Haunt. Our research has proven that only 1 in 9 people will go insane and burst into flames when exposed to these lights, so the odds are in your favor!

Q. How much is parking?

A. Our parking is free. Isn’t that nice of us? We thought it was really nice of us.

Q. Have any Jaycees guides ever been convicted of murdering unruly haunted house patrons?

A. Convicted? No.

Q. Is Pluto a planet?

Yes. Pluto was labeled a planet at the time of its discovery by the international astronomical union who has authority over such matters.

Q. Anything else?

A. One more thing. My first encounter with the Jaycees 10 years ago was at the haunted house – a decade later, I am proud to be counted among the membership of an organization that continues to do so much for Foxboro. Come see the Foxboro Jaycees haunted house this month. You won’t spend a lot of money and you’ll benefit your community, and the organization that daily exemplifies its creed that, “…service to humanity is the best work of life”

Introduction: From 1989-2007, the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House was the largest not-for-profit Haunt in New England, our biggest fundraiser, an extremely popular event attended by thousands of people, and my favorite Jaycee project. This is the column I wrote for the 2001 Haunt. Of course, this is an archive, so things like show times, dates, price, and out-of-date historical context, are removed. So why include this column here? I think it’s well worth a read because the Jaycees’ enthusiasm and dedication to our Haunted House — and helping the community — is readily apparent, as is my great love for the chapter and our Haunted House. I put a lot of passion into these columns, and the excitement of our annual boo-fest always shines through. Also, this particular year shows the challenges we faced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, to “go on with the show” because it was financially necessary for chapter’s works. One of my most vivid memories of this Haunt: Each night at 7pm, as the house opened, we played the national anthem over the loud speakers…

For much more about the greatest young persons organization in the world, CLICK HERE

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by Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter, 10/2001

One of the first questions the Foxboro Jaycees were asked in the days following September 11 was, “Are you still having the Haunted House this year?”

The answer is yes — we have to. The Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House, besides being the largest charitable Haunted House in Massachusetts, is the largest fund-raiser of the year for the Jaycees. Without the funds the annual boo-fest brings in, we could not run such activities as the food co-op, Santa and concerts on the common, Senior Appreciation Day, DARE National Family Night Out, sand for seniors, basketball clinic, New Year’s First baby awards, Easter egg hunt, pancake breakfast to benefit Foxboro Youth Basketball, Founders Day activities, blood drives, teddy bear delivery to traumatized children, and dozens of other community projects.

Without the income from the Haunted House, we could not donate money to over 26 different charities, needy individuals, athletes and human service organizations, nor would we be able to donate thousands of dollars to the Foxboro Discretionary Fund, Fireworks committee, Foxboro High School college bound seniors, South Foxboro Community Club and various sports leagues in Foxboro.

Simply put, we could not do any of these things without the Haunted House.

The show must go on, but in these unimaginable times, some things had to change. After the attacks on America, we took a closer look at every aspect of the 13th annual Haunted House. Alterations were needed. Although our theme is still time-travel, the original name, terror through time, had to be scrapped. All the Jaycees felt the same way — there would be no terror in the name. Two skits involving war were changed, as were references to explosions, bombs and the like.

Many other Haunted Houses have made similar alterations.

Make no mistake — we’re still a Haunted House. We’ve still very scary. We’re still very funny. But the line between entertainment/fantasy and the real world could easily get a little blurry this time around and we could not allow that — the Jaycees are first and foremost a community service organization.

Our Haunted House this year is truly one of the best we’ve offered in some time. I really mean that. Yeah, I’m obviously partial to the Jaycees and our Haunted House, but I write about the group so enthusiastically because the Jaycees truly make Foxboro a better place to live and I am proud to be counted among their membership.

The Jaycees are pretty hard working, too. It all began back in August, with construction and planning. While others were at the beach and having fun, the Jaycees were volunteering their time building, painting, and assembling a new Haunted House on the grounds of Camp Lincoln Hill. For the past month or so, a handful have been pretty much working round the clock there.

This year’s Haunted House Chairman is Tom Whiffen. Tom has been a very active Jaycee for many years, and has served in most Jaycee board positions, projects, as well as every aspect of the previous Haunted Houses. You may remember Tom’s demonic “Legion” character a few years back — the guy with the bright white eyes. Tom, along with Paul Lanza, crafted the impressive “jail” scare last year and won “Best Scare” and “Best Room.” Tom knows his Haunted Houses!

This year, he assumes the job of chairing the Haunted House — he’ll be ultimately responsible for every aspect of our Haunted House, and get very little sleep for two months.

Tom has gone out of his way to set this Haunt apart from the others. There are new scares that better mimic the claustrophobic feeling we had when the Haunt was located at the State Hospital. There are many more scares per room this year, and two new cabins have been added along with new mazes. The time-travel aspect has allowed us to greatly expand what we can do, and the various themes and time periods of each room reflect that.

Another new aspect to this year’s Haunted House will be a quiz at the end. Our guests are encouraged to take a quiz, testing their memories of the Haunted tour. From all the correct entries, each night we will draw one winner for a $50 gift certificate donated by Lafayette House. So pay attention to the details of the skits. What was your guide’s name? What was the vampire’s name? And so on.

You’ll be especially impressed with the level of detail and complexity. Once again, veteran room people and former guides are chairing the rooms. In fact, three former Haunted House chairmen are constructing rooms this year — we couldn’t have better experts.

Tom is being aided and abetted this year by an experienced team of ghouls, including Assistant Chairman Derek House, who like Tom has put heart and soul into this year’s Haunt, and spent most of the last two months working at the camp. Treasurer Lynda Walsh makes sure the books stay balanced and the bills get paid. Artists Ken Wills and Pauline Brown are responsible for much of the impressive artwork throughout the show.

Head Room Chair Paul Lanza oversees the construction and themes of each room. Concessions chair Elise Behn keeps the food stand stocked with plenty of pretzels, candy, popcorn and other goodies for our guests.

Sandy Smith ensures we have enough people to fill the myriad of required jobs each night. The omnipresent Kathy Brady, whose enthusiasm and dedication to the Jaycees is already legendary, is supervising construction and maintenance. Laureen House is doing a wonderful job with the Herculean tasks of procurement. Tom Sawran, our publicity chair, is ensuring that EVERYONE will know about our Haunted House. Keeping us fed each night the house is open is Karen Apgar, and Linda McGovern will be again be hawking our Jaycee Haunted House t-shirts.

As for me, I design our Foxboro Jaycees web site, and this year I am trying my hand at the job of Head Guide — coordinating the guides and writing the script. Assisting me are the very capable Andrea Cummings, Tami Comeau and my wife, Susan Zakhary-Gillis.

It takes a lot of people to run a Haunted House like ours. The entrance will be manned by James and Joe Gardner, followed by the gothic-clad Niki Melish. Ken Wills and Gerry McNamara have constructed an amazing twisted set for their skit. Tom Sawran and Lynda Walsh’s Haunt will take their groups deep into the Earth. Bob Hickey and Mark Emery will offer a Haunt with a decidedly literary flair.

In Bob Webster and Sandy Smith’s room, the best hint might be, “Established before you were born.” Next comes a room with a nautical flair (one of the most impressive sets we’ve done in years; think “Titanic”) by George Gould and Joe Levasseur. Last but not least is a room by Paul Lanza and Steve Holtzman, which is truly out of this world.

Haunted House veterans will also lend their hands to our “Walk-Byes” that take place between the big cabins. Our Head Electrician Dave Fisler will also will lend his talents to walk bye scares, along with Jaycee Bill Wivell and former “King of Salem” (3 years in a row) Dave Connti. Makeup artist Lauren Bitar will once again transform the Jaycees into even weirder beings. Lauren is also creating a Haunted mausoleum.

Then there are the guides; those oddly dressed, oddly named folks who take each group of ten through the Haunted paths, telling the story along the way. We love making you laugh, and we love scaring the daylights out of you. Most of all, we want to give you a good show.

And of course, there are the myriad of ticket-takers, maze monsters, and other actors behind the scenes. There are at least 100 people each night involved with running our show. We are very grateful to all of them, and also to all the local businesses that so kindly donate time and supplies.

A new feature of this year’s Haunted House is ANOTHER Haunted House. The Walpole Mall has donated an entire store to the Jaycees this month, which we are using for the new Mini-Haunt.

The Mini-Haunt, conceived and supervised by our Ways and Means VP Yvonne McNamara, is geared toward the little kids who would be too traumatized by our regular Haunted House. Located at the Walpole Mall and open every Saturday and Sunday in October from 12-6pm, the Mini-Haunt is very kid-friendly, and great for the little ones to celebrate Halloween.

We use strobe lights throughout the show and are not recommended for little children.

Oh, and as an incentive to come see us, here’s an answer to one of the quiz questions:

Question: How many people visit the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House each year and say, “You’re better than Spooky World?”

Answer: “All of them.”

Come see the Jaycees Haunted House in October. We’re better than ever.