Science Hill Haunted House offers thrills and chills for a good cause

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October 7, 2009

By CHRIS HARRIS, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Wed Oct 07, 2009, 01:38 AM EDT

You wouldn’t expect a place called Science Hill to have much interest in the unexplained, in ghosts and goblins but for the month of October, the northern Pulaski community might just be the scariest place for miles around.

The Science Hill Haunted House has been brought to life this Halloween season like Dr. Frankenstein shocking his monster into existence, and already put a good fright into folks last weekend.

“We had a great crowd Saturday night,” said Melanie Reynolds, one of the many individuals putting their time and effort into making the haunted house a reality. “We scared every group that came through.”

The Halloween-themed attraction is open until midnight every Friday and Saturday this month. It’s a labor of love (and yes, a little terror) by the Somerset Junior Woman's Club and the Somerset Pulaski Area Juniorettes, as well as the volunteers who put hammer to nail to build the haunted house.

Best of all, you’re not getting scared for no good reason. Proceeds benefit the Lake Cumberland Area Children's Advocacy Center, which serves a 10 county area, including Pulaski. The Advocacy center is located in Jamestown. And while it costs $6 to get in, you can knock a buck off of that if you also bring in two cans of food for God’s Food Pantry.

Lots of fake blood goes into making a truly terrifying haunted house, but it’s your own real blood that will come in handy in this case. All blood donors at Kentucky Blood Center of Somerset will receive two free tickets to the Science Hill Haunted House. In addition, the Science Hill Haunted House will host a blood drive at the haunted house on October 30 from 4-7 p.m. Those donors will receive two free tickets and be eligible to win a basket of fall items.

Reynolds and Nathan Roysdon are joined by haunted house veteran Tim Leigh as site managers and creators of Science Hill Haunted House. Roysdon has put his love of Halloween and horror movies to good use in helping the abused children served by the advocacy center.

“I hated that I wasn't allowed to trick or treat when I was 13 so I decided to decorate my yard and hand out candy each year,” said Roysdon, whose spookily-decorated yard on north Ky. 1247 in Science Hill has been a favorite of many several years. He states that his yard will be dark this year but fans can come see his handy work and mannequins at the haunted house.

Leigh is no stranger to this process, having built close to 30 haunted houses since he was 6 years old. He said that any no other haunted house he has been involved with has been for such a good cause.

Reynolds — a member of Somerset Junior Woman's Club, locally and Junior Special Project Chair of General Federation of Woman's Clubs on the national level — has always loved Halloween and helping children. Because the GFWC Junior Special Project is Advocates for Children, Reynolds said, “What a better way to advocate for the horrors of abused children than through a haunted house.”

The Science Hill Haunted House is open at 7:30 p.m.. on Fridays and 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and will be open from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday the week of Halloween.

A special date to remember is October 20 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., when the cost will be $7 and all money raised will go to the Ernie Wood Rehab/transportation fund.

Tickets are available for advance purchase at Citizens National Banks and will allow buyers access the haunted house faster. Haunted house staffers say it will take approximately one hour to tour, so long lines are a given. It is also recommended that you not wear good clothes, as crawling is mandatory and liquid will be in use.

Whether you enjoy good, old-fashioned ghosts, favorite characters from slasher movies like Jason or Freddy, or want to see what original scares organizers have come up with, the Science Hill Haunted House promises to be a scream.

“We’ve got a lot of our own (creations),” said Reynolds, “(and) we’ll continue to get into a groove more and more as time goes on.”

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