Jaycees haunted house not for the faint of heart

Staff Writer

      Loud music and flashing lights have been leaking out of the half-open doors at the hog barn at McMillan Park for the last few weeks. Dark figures can be seen lurking around inside, carrying everything from power tools to assorted body parts. The hog barn has never looked so menacing, and the haunted house to be located there is still in the set-up stages.

      Starr and Ash of Starr Asylum Tattoo Shop, who said they no longer use last names, are designing and leading construction for this year's Jaycees and Mt. Pleasant Park and Recreation Department haunted house. It is their first venture designing a haunted house. The event opens Saturday, Oct. 12, and runs again the next two weekends, Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26, and again on Halloween night. Hours are 7 to 10:30 p.m. on the weekends and 8 to 10 p.m. on Halloween. Admission is $5, or $4 with a non-perishable food item for charity.

      The two have been working on the building for the last month and a half, and are hoping to take it in a new direction than the previous years.

      "We want to stress that this place has a PG-13 rating," said Starr. "In other years, it's always been aimed at the smaller kids, and we want to attract some of the teenagers back here and freak them out. We're hoping that they'll find out it's 'the tattoo people' doing it this year and check us out."

      "This is going to be more of a horror house than a haunted house," said Ash. They are using varying media, such as lights, music, machinery and scenery, to scare, startle, and possibly even disgust their participants.

      "It's going to be different than all the other years," said Matt Ledbetter, a volunteer helping to set the event up. Also helping Wednesday night was Ian Perron, Brandon Bruns, Michael Dovenspike, and Starr and Ash's son, Syd. Anyone wishing to volunteer at the actual event, preferably over the age of 18, can call Starr Asylum at 367-0666 to find a time when they are needed.

      Most of the materials they use in the haunted house are materials from the previous haunted houses, but also from area businesses, according to Ash. Since they are working through the Jaycees, Starr said area businesses offer donations and discounts for materials.

      She said they have been taking notes on other haunted houses to get ideas, and have come up with a few new ideas of their own. She said the whole process has been a learning experience, and she wants to see it go over well so they can expand on their design in the future.

      "It's going to be the scariest haunted house in southeast Iowa," said Starr.