Throughout October, the local haunted house put visitors in the middle of horror movie scene re-enactments, in the Dr. Giggles Theatre of Pain.
“It was fantastic. We were sold out the last couple of weeks. It seems unanimous, it’s a 10 this year,” Mike Koroll.
“It’s all been positive feedback, I’m pretty happy about it, sometimes that’s a concern because we try to push the envelope and get pretty dicey with the scenes,” he said.
The recreated scenes were from movies that Koroll and the Dr. Giggles crew found particularly scary.
“The House of Pain needs to keep getting edgier every year. It’s exemplary, it turned out really awesome,” Koroll said.
“We had a few jump scares, coupled with very theatrical scenes that were really fun,” he added. “My scenes in the last couple of years have been theatrical, that seems to be what I gravitate towards. I don’t try to be scary; I try to be over the top.”
In the past, Koroll and crew would host a pub night fundraiser to support the House of Pain.
“The last couple of years we did a pub night fundraiser, which was a blast, but it’s a ton of work. We had to start thinking outside the box, we want to keep this going, I want to build this thing until I can’t build it anymore, but the price goes up and up,” Koroll said.
This year, tickets were available on Eventbrite, with 17 and under getting in with a food bank donation on Halloween night.
Throughout October, Theatre of Pain visitors could have a personalized experience, with groups of six going through every 15 minutes.
“I wish I could experience the fear that they felt,” Koroll said.
Without the continued support from the community, and the dedication of the Dr. Giggles crew the haunted house wouldn’t be possible each year.
“A huge thank you to the crew, everyone that helped out and got involved with Dr. Giggles, the community for supporting us, it makes it all worthwhile. This is why we do it, to give back to the community and have something really special in Chestermere,” Koroll said.
