Screams, laughter echo through halls of former nursing home

Haunted house was a fundraiser for GES

Screams and laughter echoed the hallways of the old Bonnie Bluejacket Memorial Nursing Home last weekend. The shuttered facility made for the perfect setting for the Greybull Elementary School’s annual haunted house. 

There was a morgue, a boys zombie basketball locker room, girls zombie cheerleader locker room, along with a spider room, asylum room, skull tunnel, witch room, a pitch black dark room, doll room, skelton room, Jeepers creepers area, laboratory room, Beetlejuice waiting room, clown room, and a butcher room. A long hallway of hanging body bags drew guests to the conclusion: Freddy Krueger with a chainsaw.

Jump scares, costumes with gore galore, and surprises around every turn. Despite most actors being children, adults were heard screaming in fear. There were tears. There was joy. And repeat customers who took multiple trips through the haunted hallways. 

In its third year, the event is spearheaded by GES teacher Amanda Otto who organized the first haunted house for the Basin Recreation Center and now two for GES. 

Many hours were spent setting up rooms, creating props at home and making walls. “We spent every weekend in October setting up and decorating. I was really appreciative of Tamara and our GES staff for all of their help,” said Otto. 

Three Rivers Health’s human resource staff member Tamara Sawyer said, “We want to be part of the community and give back. It’s an opportunity to support the Greybull school district and help fundraise.” 

“The hospital is a spooky element, it brings more excitement,” she added. 

With an entry fee of $5 for the haunting and the same price for the carnival, the students raised over $2,300 this year. 

“We use the money to do activities for the students and staff like the sock hop event, gifts for staff for appreciation days, decorations for other events like homecoming, and chalk for the fifth grade moving-up ceremony, among many other things for our student body.  We had funds that helped pay for decorations and materials for the haunted house also. In the past we have purchased a new popcorn machine and DJ equipment for our sock hop,” said Otto. 

Over 60 volunteers contributed to make the event a success. 

For Otto, “the many laughs, screams, and tears make it all worth it. It’s an amazing community event that brought people of all ages to work together. We had many elementary, middle and high school students along with tons of adults that made it amazing.”

“My own children begged me to do another haunted house after taking a year off. I brought it up to the student council students last year and they all jumped on board with many great ideas and their excitement made me realize it would be a perfect fundraiser for us,” she said.

“Hearing people laugh and scream as they enter and leave rooms makes all of the hard work worth it. I loved hearing all of the positive reviews and also how much fun the crew had,” said Otto.  

She added, “A huge thank you to Three Rivers Health for hosting our haunted house! It was the perfect location. We hope to do it again next year.”

Community member and father of one of the thrilling actors Paul Thur said, “If you did not get a chance to visit the haunted house at Three Rivers Health this weekend, put it on your list of must-do things for next year. It was truly impressive how much work the student council and others (other students, teachers, family, friends and volunteers) put into the event. Way to go kiddos!”