Harmony's Monster Bash returns, supporting Fillmore-Central schools

Oct. 17—HARMONY — This fall, there's a town within a town in southeast Minnesota. It's not a calm place to be, but that's really the whole point.

After a year off due to the pandemic, the Monster Bash haunted house has reopened here. This time, it depicts an old ghost town — Specter Gulch — a place where everything ended tragically.

The reopening of Monster Bash has more meaning than just the return of an opportunity for people to get scared out of their minds. The annual event serves as a fundraiser for the arts at Fillmore-Central Public Schools. To date, Monster Bash has raised nearly $90,0000 for the school district.

"We like helping kids," said Jay Masters, president of Monster Bash. "We want to give kids every opportunity to succeed. And we feel this helps them to succeed."

The attraction is open every Thursday through Sunday through Halloween. Cost is $13 per person, although kids younger than 5 are free.

This year's theme tells the story of an old West town where everything went wrong, Masters saidThe townspeople were digging in the mine when they found human bodies. The town became cursed. The water went bad. The crops dried up. And eventually, the townspeople themselves started to die.

"The only people that are left 100 years later are the souls and the ghosts of the people that never left," Masters said.

Participants find themselves screaming their way through a mine shaft, an autopsy room, an old-town saloon, and a doctor's office, among a handful of other frightening rooms.

Monster Bash's actors represent ghosts and decaying cowboys, ready to scare anyone. A cacophony of real-life screams and shrieks are interspersed with the recorded sounds of the creepy ghost town.

"There's my heart attack of the day," one woman said as she came out at the end.

There's also a no-scare option, where participants can carry a glow-stick through the experience, letting the actors know they shouldn't scare those individuals.

Even that option may require a dose of bravery. Six-year-old Kyler Whitcomb came out of the experience clutching a glow stick in one hand, while being carried in the arms of her father, Kent.

"It was kind of scary," Kyler said.

This is the ninth year for the Monster Bash haunted house, and no two seasons have been the same. One year's theme was "Sinister Stronghold," which depicted a haunted castle. Another year's theme was "Haunted High," depicting an eerie school setting. Other years have included "CarnEvil of Fear," "Hotel of Horrors" and "Night Terrors."

According to Masters, Monster Bash has gained quite a following. It routinely brings in thousands of people a year, drawing from at least five states.

Before Specter Gulch opened to the public this past Saturday, a group of Fillmore-Central students was upstairs, getting their makeup and costumes ready.

Adrik Nevalainen, a Fillmore-Central junior, was helping a number of other students with their makeup. Although this was his first year taking part in Monster Bash, he's been involved with the theater since the seventh grade.

"(I love) how we all just come together," Nevalainen said. "We all aren't afraid to express our weird selves and be creative."

Jackie Whitacre, a teacher at Fillmore Central, said Monster Bash has greatly helped the arts in the school district, in addition to individual students.

Students who work in the haunted house earn credits that help pay for trips the school takes. Students have told Masters they wouldn't have been able to go on the class trip without working at the Monster Bash, he said.

It also helps the arts programs overall.

"I spent I don't know how many years begging for props and costumes because I never had any money to spend on all that, not wanting the kids to spend money on their own costumes," Whitacre said. "So to get a sizeable donation on a regular basis. ... It's been a game changer."