Haunted house a good scare for a good cause
BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer

WOODBRIDGE - Kathryn and Erica Ciallella plan to try to entice their mother, Kathy, to tour the annual Woodbridge Haunted House for the first time this year.

"I've never gone in," said Kathy, who has been involved with the event for nine years. "I usually work the ticket booth that night."

The 120 members of the Woodbridge High School competition choirs will hold their ninth annual Halloween Festival and Haunted House from 5 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 28 in the Woodbridge High School parking lot.

The high school has a number of choirs, including women's, men's, show and jazz.

"The haunted house is pretty scary," said Kathryn, who is a junior at Rutgers University and came back to help out her alma mater. "It gets better every year. I spent four years doing this in high school and now my sister is a junior."

Kathryn is one of many alumni who come back and help in the fundraising event.

"It's just a fun experience," she said. "The greatest is the outcome. The scared little faces make it all worth it."

The competition choirs travel each spring to compete with other choirs.

"This year we are going to Chicago," said Beth Amory, who has been choir director for 21 years. "This is our major fund-raising event."

Amory said on average they make $15,000 to $20,000 at the fundraising event.

"We try to make the haunted house have a different layout every year," said Amory. "A lot of kids go through this year after year. We don't want them to anticipate anything. We become smarter and more creative every year."

The choir leaders brainstorm ideas as early as the day after Halloween, but mostly during the summer.

"This year there is going to be a mausoleum," said Amory. "Last year, there was a tomb built."

Choir members belong to the International Association of Haunted Attractions.

"They teach us all the 'blood and gore' literature," said Amory. "There are conferences that we attend and we receive magazines."

Amory said the teamwork is the best thing about the event.

"Everyone is so flexible," she said. "When we started working today, we found out the tent was smaller than what we thought, but we went with it."

Junior Chris Bober and sophomores Maverick Barona and Anthony Comptello have bonded like brothers.

"We all have a lot of fun," said Bober. "It's time for the students who are new to choir and the older students to get to know each other. We work well with each other."

The competition choirs give 10 percent of what they raise to Habitat for Humanity. They also participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

The event features the haunted house in the Woodbridge High School parking lot. Smaller children can walk through a tamer haunted house for fun and games in the high school gymnasium, Amory said.

"From 5 to 6 p.m., the little kids can walk through the 'happy' haunted house," she said. "Then when 6 p.m. hits, the music changes and the lights go down."

Tickets are $5 for children 10 and under and $8 for adults.