On Halloween, when witches take flight and spirits roam the earth, many of Woodgrove High School’s students can be found at Round Hill’s annual haunted house. A non-profit organization, the haunted house was created by Kathleen Kuzma, who has been assisted by Tim Smith for the past 13 years.
Although Kuzma has lived in Round Hill for 35 years, she only began hosting the haunted house about 25 years ago. One Halloween, when Kuzma finished setting up her decorations, her neighbor compared them to the fire-breathing dragon set up on their roof and laughed. From there, it grew into a competition, and continued to grow even after her neighbor moved away. “It just kept getting bigger. It used to be just some of the yard, then it was all of the yard, then it was the porch, and then for a while it went through the house,” Kuzma explained.
Although the layout of the haunted house changes each year, the admissions for the haunted house do not. Each year, the haunted house is free to the public, meaning that there is no entry fee. However, donations are accepted, and any money that is donated goes to the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation. Not only does Kuzma donate her profits to the foundation, she also volunteers and fosters dogs through it. “Although I haven’t in a couple of months, I take in puppies, pregnant moms, and moms with puppies,” Kuzma stated. “I’ve been doing that for about 20 years.”
Each year, Kuzma is sure to add in little details throughout the haunted house, although she is never sure if people notice them. On a previous Halloween, Kuzma created a story setting in each section of the haunted house to portray an immersive witch trial story. “When [visitors] went in they were going into the courtroom, and the next room is where they got thrown in jail, and then in the next room someone would try to sneak them out, and I thought that was fun,” Kuzma described. This year, one of her favorite aspects of the haunted house is the corn maze. “We go out and cut down about 2,000 stalks of corn, and then we have to drag them up here, build a frame, and then put scary things in there,” Kuzma explained.
An annual attendee of the haunted house, junior Amelia Zinn went with senior Jesse Cable this year. Although they were both scared, they still had a fun time. “It kind of freaked me out, but we tried to laugh about it to get through it,” Zinn expressed. “I think he was also freaked out, but he had to go first.”
As Halloween candy is slowly replaced on grocery store shelves by candy canes and Hershey Kisses, the decorations covering Kuzma’s yard are tucked away into storage until next September. A seasonal staple and landmark in the Round Hill community, the haunted house will make its annual appearance next Halloween-and with it a new layout filled with jumpscares and animatronics. One thing is for certain: this haunted house is eerie-sistible!