A terrifying, bloody end to the East Kelowna Haunted Hall

KELOWNA – One of Kelowna’s most popular Halloween attractions will soon be as dead as the corpses it used to scare kids and adults for the past three years.

The East Kelowna Haunted Hall has been a yearly fixture ever since organizer Kathy Bullach started it with her own decorations in 2012. She says although she’s relished the screams and laughter, family commitments mean this will have to be its final year.

“I’ve got a mom who’s not well and going downhill and I’m the only one who can look after her so this is going to be my last year doing this for the Hall,” she says.

Bullach, 49, has not only organized the event every year since it started, but also provided all the decorations from her own expansive collection.

“It costs me money every year to put this on,” she says. “I’m always buying new stuff.”

Bullach, who describes herself as 'somewhat warped,' says the idea evolved from a haunted fruit stand she set up with a neighbour to entice and scare trick or treaters.

“I love Halloween but we never get kids because we live on a farm at a dead-end street,” she says. “We’d decorate the whole house and it all went from there.”

The Haunted Hall is a maze of dark passages where volunteers dressed as demon clowns, monsters and other horrible creations will be hiding, ready to jump out when you’re at your most vulnerable. They link to rooms with names like the Torture Chamber, the Lab, and the Spider Room. Bullach says it takes more than a week to set up and gets scarier and more realistic every year.

“It’s hugely different this year,” she says. “Everybody’s saying it’s a better layout and a lot scarier.”

The Haunted Hall runs from 6:15 p.m. until 9 p.m. through Halloween night. Admission is $5 with all proceeds going back to the Community Hall. Kids under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.