Local Haunted House brings frights to life in Chestermere

To find the scariest place in Chestermere this Halloween, all one needs to do is follow the screams.
The Koroll family have been busy, with the help of their friends and neighbours, turning their driveway and garage into a terrifying haunted house.
“[Last year] I heard there were screams for blocks,” said Mike Koroll, who was described by his wife Siobhan as the evil brains behind the haunted house.
“Everybody loves it, it’s a great time,” he said.
The idea for this years haunted house was suggested by one of Koroll’s buddy’s after they closed the house last Halloween.
Koroll doesn’t want to give away too much about this year’s house but would say the theme is a little south of heaven.
He describes the initial idea as putting a Halloween twist on the traditional Christmas event of children visiting Santa.
The Korolls want everybody to be able to enjoy the haunted house but say it can be frightening, especially since one never knows whether it’s an actor or mannequin in front of them as the navigate the various rooms.
“It’s scary when you can’t tell what’s real and what’s not,” he said.
They will tone down the frights for little kids but as a haunted house it is inherently scary.
“Adults are fair game, if they’re going through they’re going to get the pants scared off them,” said Siobhan.
They suggest that parents need to gauge their kid’s tolerance to being scared before entering the haunted house.
“There’s lots of people that come here that want to be scared, they want to get that thrill,” said Koroll.
“We try to put the best haunted house together that we can and make it scary,” he said.
Last years haunted house attracted nearly 1000 people over two evenings.
The theme last year was an asylum.
The main room was an operating theatre.
In the operating room there was an actor strapped down to a table while Koroll, playing the part of a mad doctor, performed a lobotomy with the help of two nurses.
“In comparison our main scene this year is like that but on steroids,” he said.
He has been building a haunted house in his front yard every Halloween for the past 14 years.
“I always thought Halloween was fun,” he said, “and then I had kids and kind of got carried away with it.”
He enjoys that people can dress up, have fun and just be a kid again.
The normally clean shaven Koroll has even grown a beard for the character he is playing in this year’s haunted house.
“I was so committed this year I grew the beard,” he said.
“I’ve never had a beard in my life, I’m looking forward to a shave here after Halloween,” laughed Koroll.
The haunted house has been expanding every year, when Koroll reached the edge of his property he started to focus on improving each room in his haunted house.
“We’re limited to the confines of the street,” he said, “that’s as big as its going to get.”
“I think the scenes [have] started getting a little bit more sophisticated,” said Koroll.
The room he is most excited to show and scare people with is the devils nest, an intricate room that fills most of the garage.
Along with getting bigger and scarier, the haunted house has grown so much in popularity that Koroll has started collecting donations for the food bank.
“It’s like a win-win for everybody,” he said.
Building the haunted house is a huge undertaking each year with work often starting in August.
Koroll has been helped by five of his friends with the construction and is being sponsored by Printer Works West who are donating a huge printed backdrop for the scene in the garage.
He also is being sponsored by No Frills, Rona and Safeway.
“I couldn’t do this without the help of friends and neighbours,” he said.
The whole endeavor is as much for their enjoyment as it is the publics.
“If I hated it I wouldn’t do,” said Koroll.
The haunted house is located at the corner of Westchester Blvd and Crimson Lane.
It will be open Oct. 30 and 31 from 5:30 p.m. until about 10 p.m. People looking for a fright are encouraged to bring a donation for the food bank.