Nightmare on Main Street provides Halloween fun
By Martin Nevarez-Ulloa
For $10 a person, attendees can take a tour of a haunted 120-year-old abandoned house off Main Street in Templeton. Photos by Martin Nevarez-Ulloa.
–Nightmare on Main Street Haunted House has returned to Templeton for its fifth year in a row is the. For $10 a person, attendees can take a tour of a haunted 120-year-old abandoned house off Main Street.
Nightmare on Main Street is an event put on by the Templeton Recreation Foundation, and each year generates around $16,000. They begin setting up in mid-June/early July and each year are sure to add a new element to the Haunted House to keep folks guessing. Some sets stay the same, others get tweaked a little, but each year there is a new room.
This year there were four new rooms. The actors mostly consist of members from Templeton Recreation Foundation and local volunteers, but on nights when they’re short on actors, they call in a little extra help from willing family members. There are generally between 15 and 20 actors per night hidden throughout the house.
With 20 rooms, each one is sure to scare, but for those who can’t make it all the way through, for example young ones, the tour offers glow sticks that are used to light the room and keep all the actors in place rather than popping out.
“This house is probably around 100 years old, maybe even more. Even without all the actors it’s still pretty creepy, for example some nights I’ll have to run in and do maintenance when something goes wrong and it just gives me the chills,” said a volunteer. Most props used in the Haunted House come from big Halloween warehouses throughout the state.
Chelsea Hoyt, an 8-year-old attendee said, “It was really scary, and there were a lot of rooms, but I liked the last one! I also liked all the clowns, that was my favorite room!”
Angelique Nunez of Paso Robles said about the experience, “I haven’t been here for a few years, but it was definitely scarier than I remember… I think I’ll wait till next year to go again. But it was great, definitely something any Halloween-lover must do!” Chelsea Hoyt, an 8-year-old attendee said, “It was really scary, and there were a lot of rooms, but I liked the last one! I also liked all the clowns, that was my favorite room!”
The Nightmare on Main Street Haunted House is open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. until Halloween and is located right off Main Street across from Griff’s Bistro & Pizzeria. On Halloween they will be open until 11 p.m. Visit their website at www.nightmareonmain.com.
