Other options for fright-filled fun this month include offerings by a local family and bowling alley.
Roger Hayes and family are inviting the public to return to the backyard of their 7435 Cavaletti Circle home for the last two weekends of October, as well as on Halloween night for Hayes Haunt.
“Every year we redesign it and re-lay it out and improve it and add things and take things away,” Hayes said.
“We’re getting to the point now where we’ve got more stuff than we ever display.”
The homespun attraction is open from 7 to 10:30 p.m. the last two Friday and Saturday nights of the month and on Oct. 31.
Admission is $5 per person and proceeds will go to Canine Assistants.
For more information, go online at www.hayeshaunt.com.
Stars and Strikes kicked off its month of “Hallo Fun” on Friday.
The features include a haunted house to benefit Forsyth County Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA.
Carolyn Canouse, marketing coordinator, said the activities will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Halloween.
She said the festivities include a pumpkin patch and haunted laser tag. “We took our normal laser tag and stepped it up a notch.”
The haunted house is toned down during the day for kids 8 and older and gets scarier after sunset for visitors age 12 and older.
She said admission is $7 and includes a $5 game card and food and bowling specials.
For more information go online at www.starsandstrikes.com.
-- Julie Arrington
A bloody maze of terror set up by a local law enforcement organization is sure to frighten those seeking a little Halloween fun this month.
The Haunted Lodge, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 82’s nightmare attraction, opened this weekend at the group’s new home on Castleberry Industrial Drive in Cumming.
Tuck Nicholls, lodge president, said the lodge bought the facility in August and next year will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Nicholls said proceeds from the event will go toward the Cops and Kids program, formerly known as Shop with a Cop. Admission is $10 for students and $12 for adults.
Aaron Coe, a Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputy and lodge member, said it takes about 15 minutes to walk through the Haunted Lodge, which was built on the side of the organization’s new home.
“Our idea is to get bigger and better every year,” Coe said. “This is just year one and we’ve worked our tail ends off on this.
“We’re a nonprofit and we raised funds to be able to buy the materials and props.”
Coe said he hopes the haunted lodge will eventually double in size and become a main local attraction during Halloween season.
The lodge is not for the faint of heart.
Visitors will find themselves traveling through the bloody slaughterhouse of butcher Aaron Varna, who doesn’t discriminate when it comes to selecting a host for a nice piece of meat.
Pictures on the walls show faces that change and seem to follow those who dare pass.
And of course, no haunted house is complete without chainsaws, flashing lights and fog.
Fingers in an aquarium may also remind visitors to keep their hands to themselves.
Members of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Explorer Program, which teaches 14- to 20-year-olds about the law enforcement profession, will be hiding in the dark throughout the gory labyrinth, ensuring screams erupt from the blackened walls.
Those who show up shouldn’t be fooled by the lodge’s seemingly harmless and quiet exterior either.
“All we want to hear is the screams,” Coe said.
The Haunted Lodge, 248 Castleberry Industrial Drive, is open from 7 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights until Oct. 29. For more information, send an e-mail to hauntedlodge82@yahoo.com.