A Record Fright

It’s been a spooky week here in Estherville. With numerous events going on in the community including Halloween portraits and company trick or treating you are probably sure to have had a scare or two from the last couple of weeks. These events have been leading up to a big event that has been looked forward to by adults and children alike. The Estherville Fright Hike has brought in people from outside the community to poor into this one night only event. 

This year the Fright Hike was on Oct. 26th with two separate, but equally spooky hikes going on. The first part of the event was held from 6-7 p.m. which was lights on hour. This was designated for children or people that may have been too scared to go to the full scare event. This part of the event helped children get slowly introduced to the event, that way they can come back when they get older and can go to the full scare event. The second part of the event is considered the “full-scare” event. This is for adults and children who are brave enough to go through the dark trails of Fort Defiance at night. 

The “full-scare” event started at 7:30 p.m. and was supposed to only last until 9:30 p.m., but the actors didn’t realize how full the event actually was. This year was a record year with a little over 1300 people paying for the scare. The event ended up lasting until closer to 10 p.m. because of the overwhelming demand for the scares. The event has continued to get bigger and more expensive as well. William Breck, one of the main runners of the event, has been doing this for five years and discussed how important this year’s event was for him. 

“All of the proceeds go back to the community,” said Breck, “Setup took the whole day and tear down took close to four hours as well. Every year you continue to build-up and as you build, you build a rapport. Word of mouth is one of the biggest reasons why we are so successful”

Breck also discussed some other details about the event and what they do for the event every year. He discussed that they tend to not follow a normal format like most haunts by changing. He makes it the same every year and doesn’t change the format too often.

“I was always told if you can’t be scared, to scare,” said Breck, “My little seven-year-old got to work with me and he was so professional for a seven-year-old. He scared people and stayed out there the whole hike which was against the original plan, but we were just having so much fun that he decided to stay. I was so proud of him.”

This year’s hike was roughly 20 minutes long and was a five-dollar fee. Ian Fraser  talked about his experience compared to other haunted houses. 

“I thought that it was really well put together and you could tell how much care went into it with all the setup,” said Fraser, “The entry fee compared to professional attractions is a steal. Sleepy Hollow was one that I went to and it had a lot of stuff. It had a wide area of attractions, but it wasn’t as well put together as the Fright Hike.”