Highway 7 South Haunt offers eerie entertainment
The Highway 7 South Haunt provides free drive-through ghoulish entertainment to thousands of people each year to spread the spirit of Halloween.
Situated on about 3 and a half acres at 7091 Central Ave., the spooky holiday display was born when two neighbors discovered a mutual love for Halloween nearly six years ago.
“When they moved in next door, we found that we both had a common like for Halloween, and from looking around, there really wasn’t anything for people to go to for kids, especially for kids,” creator John Quirk said.
“John said, ‘Oh, you like Halloween?’ And it was kind of like ‘Hold my beer,’” neighbor and artisan Michelle Riley said.
“It started out just as a bunch of storebought blowups and things you buy at Lowe’s or Home Depot,” Quirk said.
That all changed when he attended a class at a Halloween convention three years ago in Houston.
“When I got there, I was hooked,” he said.
“It kind of progressed from there. I learned more of the electronics, the animatronics
and building, and Michelle started doing more of the painting and foam work. Together, we’ve progressed to the point where everything you see out front, the fencing, the columns, the mausoleum, all the tombstones that are out there are made by us.”
Quirk said he draws inspiration from YouTube and what others have done, and “takes it to a grander design.”
“Every year, it’s progressed and gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. Mammoth. I go through phases of replacing existing things by building newer and better. Things keep changing and evolving,” he said. “It’s gone beyond a hobby. It’s an obsession.”
Quirk is already planning for next year and said he was considering adding a “clown town” to the display because he considers clowns to be a common fear.
Quirk estimated 80% of the haunt is homemade and 20% store-bought, with a lot of time and money invested in the display.
“I would say there’s 300 hours in the mausoleum alone,” Quirk said of the plywood and foam structure. The haunt also includes six remote-controlled animatronics, motion-sensing animatronics, hand-carved tombstones, four electronic zombies made from PVC pipes, pool noodles and yoga mats and a spider with a 15 foot-wide span. Some elements are even 3-D printed.
Quirk said up to five hours per day are spent on creating and repairing projects and operating the haunt.
“We worked all through the summer in the 100-degree heat, the two of us, working on that mausoleum every day,” creator and artisan Susan Marie said.
The trio, along with co-creator James DeForest, all work together to make the Halloween treat possible. They also enlist the help of their children when needed.
“It can become a big effort from a group of people to get things done,” Quirk said.
As for cost, Quirk estimated thousands of dollars have been put into the haunt for materials, electricity and candy.
“If I had to guess, just in the last three years, I’m closing in on $20,000,” he said.
“We’re never going to recoup what he puts into it,” Riley said.
That is because there is no admission fee to the display. Donations are accepted, though.
“The reason we ask for donations only and we don’t charge is because I was a single mom. When you have kids and you don’t have any money, you don’t know what to do, because not a whole lot of people do a whole lot for Halloween around here. So we kept it as donations over the years so that a single mom can go through and bring her children,” Riley said.
Quirk estimated nearly 4,000 cars went through the haunt last year and is hoping to see 6,000 to 8,000 this year.
Riley said everyone from church groups, tow trucks and nursing home groups have come to brave the haunt.
“We just want people to come out and enjoy it and have a look,” Marie said.
The Highway 7 South Haunt opened Oct. 18 and will stay open nightly from 7-10 p.m. until Thursday.