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Haunted ‘Booseum’ sends chills down thrill-seekers’ spines

The Stettler Town and Country museum was alight with green lights as people looking for a chill experienced a "Night of Terror."
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The Stettler Town and Country museum was alight with spooky green lights on Friday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 24, as people looking for a chill and thrill headed through the metal gates to experience the first ever "Night of Terror at the Booseum."

Visitors were guided through the old courthouse by a guide as volunteers, who came on board early in the summer, did their best to scare them out of their knickers.

"(Planning) meetings started early summer 2015," museum manager Karen Wahlund said. "We lucked out in gathering a group of interesting volunteers with high Halloween spirit."

Cobwebs coat surfaces, spooky green lights dimly illuminate the pathway through the exhibit, aided by black curtains that leave people with only one way to go — into the maw of terror.

"We had a few younger kids having to 'escape' out the back door from the terror,'" Wahlund said. "We do recommend minimum age is 12, and that depends a lot on the child."

The event was the brainchild of the new museum assistant curator, Lyndsay Daymon, who wanted to create a Halloween event, similar to the Christmas event started by Wahlund in 2014.

"These new events are the museum's way of opening out to the community, to provide an interesting look at the museum," Wahlund said.

She praised the volunteers — and their spouses or partners, who often stepped in to help things happen.

"If it wasn't for a couple of husbands, a lot of maintenance and mechanical faults would be noticed," Wahlund said. "They are great on fixing things.

The Booseum is open for another two nights, Thursday Oct. 29 and Friday, Oct. 30. Admission is $10, and the site is not wheelchair accessible. The location is open from 6-9 p.m., with scary story telling for children between 6:30-7:30 p.m. The stories are geared for children 11-years-of-age and under, as the haunted courthouse is a bit too scary for them, Wahlund said.

In addition to the haunted courthouse and story time hosted by the Adult Learning Council, there's also wagon rides by the Antique Tractor Club and a concession operated by the Heartland Roller Girls.

The first two nights saw about 50 people tour the haunted premises.