BY MAGGIE KENWORTHY

Crosson Mill Park in Syracuse has received its annual change in scenery. The park has been eerily transformed into its very own haunted thrill, a Halloween themed experience. The Syracuse Parks Department and Wawasee High School Choir joined together to make this event possible.

The Haunted Thrill in Crosson Mill is constructed of black walls that house their guest’s most common fears; the darkness, clowns, rodents and of course mysterious masked men. For the cost of $5 guests are able to receive a fright that is well worth it.

“We’ve heard from several people that have attended that it’s one of the best haunted houses they’ve been to,” said Tyler Mclead, Syracuse Parks and Recreation program director. “And at five bucks it’s definitely the most affordable.”

And from the sounds of the screams and the looks of fear from the exiting guests the Haunted Thrill delivered on its promise of fear.

The Wawasee High School choir makes up the majority of the thrill’s volunteers and they receive half of all ticket sales to benefit their program.

Maddy Bradley, a choir member and one of the students who chose to volunteer her time to the haunted thrill, says, “It was an option to help out the choir department and we get half the funds, so why not?” Last Saturday night Bradley decided to volunteer in the black light room.

This isn’t the first year that the haunted thrill has existed; it’s been located at Crosson Mill Park for three years and at the community center for five years prior to that. Moving the haunted thrill allowed the event to have more space while at the same time keeping the community center open to for the public’s use.

But every year the experience is different.

The parks department starts construction with the entrance door and builds off from there. The whole process takes about four days to come into existence. The staff enjoys coming up with their floor plan as they go, making sure the experience is ideal.

Because of the scare factor not all ages should visit the park. “We do a lot of activities for the younger kids, but felt we didn’t do as much for the middle school and up age group,” said Parks Department Superintendent Chad Jonsson. “So we felt like this would be a fun event for our older kids.”

The Haunted Thrill will remain open for one more weekend. Guests may come out Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Five dollars will provide an affordable night of entertainment that’s not far from home.