FALL EVENT
Halloween is around the corner, and two Jones County ladies are ramping up the spooky vibes by turning an old school in the area into a haunted school called Highway 11 Halls of Horror.
The former Bradley-Wayside School building is located at 1035 Highway 11 in Gray next to Jones County Animal Services and the Convenience Center.
Dixie Curtis, one of the ladies running the haunted school, said she’s excited for what will come soon with Highway 11 Halls of Horror.
“We hope for Highway 11 Halls of Horror to become something large, and something compatible with other haunts in the surrounding areas,” she said. “We want to bring in as many locals and outsiders as possible. The building was vacant, so we decided a haunted school theme would be great to put along with the history of the school itself.”
She said she was told that the school had real apparitions, such as a little girl, an old man and an old woman who wander the halls of the old vacant school. She said a paranormal group supposedly came to investigate the school at one point. Now they plan to turn the place into a haunted attraction as Halloween looms closer.
“This brings something new to Jones County. There is nothing here on this level of haunted locations. We just have to get this started, because we could do birthday parties here and other special events. We just need to bring this to the county,” she said.
Mandy Handley, the other person in charge of the haunted school, said the school gives her an opportunity to put her art skills to good use. She said she’s excited for the attraction to be seen.
She said she feels their haunted attraction is different since it’s a school, not a house. She said the spaces are also large, so people who visit won’t get claustrophobic inside the building. She said since its inside weather will never be an issue, and the place is handicap accessible.
“We don’t want to stop with the haunted school, we want to make it bigger and better each year,” Handley said. “This isn’t supposed to be temporary. This is our trial and error year, so it’s a learning opportunity. We plan to add on each year.”
Curtis said they plan to get Highway 11 Halls of Horror up and running by the end of September, having it run every Friday and Saturday night starting the last weekend of September. She said on the week before Halloween they would like to extend it to the entire weekend, leading up to the day of Halloween, which falls on a Monday this year.
“This year is a total 100 percent non-profit year, and all the proceeds will go back into the haunted school to make it bigger and better. We will have online booking, and a booth on location to get access to Halls of Horror,” Curtis said.
She said a lot of the materials they have used have been donated. They are still looking for volunteers to help finish up the school, and those who want to be cast as part of the haunt. She said they still have things to finish up before the haunted school is up and running.
Curtis said there will be a waiver to sign for the haunted school since there is no age limit right now. She said they aren’t sure what the cover charge will be yet, so she would like to hear suggestions on what people think the haunt should cost.
“We have gotten a good response so far. I’ve done haunted houses before, so I think this could be something great,” she said. “It’s going to be fun and scary. I’m glad we can share our excitement with other people.”
For more information about Highway 11 Halls of Horror and to find out when to volunteer, call 478-808-9073, or send a message on https:// www.facebook.com/ hwy11hallsofhorror.
