Alconbury offers spooky experience

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kristina Barrett
  • 501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs
RAF ALCONBURY, United Kingdom --  Fancy a good haunting? Are you brave enough to meet ghoulish characters and twisted souls and be prepared to get scared out of your wits? Then look no further than the haunted house at RAF Alconbury. The Airmen at the air base are looking forward to frightening you.

One thing everyone can agree on is the delicious self-induced terror of going into a dark, unfamiliar place just waiting and wanted to be frightened.

The adventure has begun and the haunted house is a maze of scary rooms,
creepy noises and who knows what lurking around the corner. But it's just all in fun, according to Master Sgt. Jay McKinney, organizer of the event.

"I love doing this kind of stuff," he explained. "It's fun to decorate and pretend for a few days out of the year."

Sergeant McKinney spends the month leading up to Halloween fluffing cobwebs, splattering fake blood and trying to create an atmosphere that will elicit screams of fun.

"The haunted house is a tradition here on the base," he said. "Every year we try and make it better than the previous year.

"People go into haunted houses wanting to be scared," he laughed. "They know what's coming and they're scared anyway. Then they can't wait to come back through again."

More than 40 volunteers are working to create the best haunted adventure so far. One volunteer, Staff Sgt. Tammy Cassidy, is looking forward to the two-night event.

"I love to do this because it's fun," she said. "It's entertainment for adults and kids."

The room she is working on is the hospital of hell - guaranteed to make everyone just a little squeamish.

"Everyone is a big kid at heart - what's better than dressing up and scaring people?" she asked.

The house features a maze of rooms sponsored by different organizations on base. Each group is responsible for decorating their room to give customers the best scare for their money. All of the volunteers guarantee there will be something special in each room that will guarantee a good time. The proceeds from the house is split between the various organizations to sponsor other events throughout the year. Some money goes back into the house to mainain the fog machines and animated equipment. Also, money is used to upgrade the scare factor. Mainly the group does it for fun.

If terror wasn't enough, the gang is makes it better with hot dogs and popcorn balls. Of course they'll be candy - no Halloween is complete without sweets.

One new attraction this year is addition of a hay ride. For just 1 pound, kids and adults alike can take a moonlit ride around the base.

EVENT INFO:
Date: Oct 29, 30, 31
Cost: £3 or $4