The students at Princess Margaret Secondary School are getting ready to give the community a fright with their haunted house.

Running on Oct. 26 to 28, from 5 to 8:30 p.m., this student-run event is the school’s largest fundraiser, with a majority of the proceeds going to the YES Project.

The remainder will be put towards various school initiatives.

Grade 12 students, Sarah Wood and Husain Sattar, who are the event organizers alongside Grade 11 student Autumn Janzen, feel that this is an important opportunity for youth to show off their capabilities.

“We both have been with the YES Project for about four years … so it’s knowing that just by doing this simple fundraiser we can raise thousands of dollars for the project is crazy,” said Sattar. “And that will go towards the youth centre which isn’t just for us, its for all the kids in the lower grades too.”

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The two say that organizing the haunted house is no easy task, but with the help of other student volunteers and staff it has become a labour of love.

“We’ve put in a lot of hours and so does everyone else in our group (to put this together). Everyone shows up and try their best and put their best effort forward,” said Wood. “Everyone is very creative too, so it’s nice — the more minds, the better ideas.”

Wood and Sattar say this year’s haunted house draws inspirations from the Insidious series, the Conjuring series, the Annabelle series, and the Nun. The YES Project also lent the students thousands of dollars worth of decorations and special effects equipment to utilize thanks to the generous donation from the LocoLanding Adventure Park.

Many of the students that will be participating in the haunted house have a theatre background and are fully prepared to get into their creepy roles and give attendees a scare. Some chose to get involved as a way to branch out while others are simply excited to scare people.

Sattar said they are constantly looking for ways to improve their set up as they continue to rehearse. He said this is a common practice in theatre to keep the mindset that nothing is ever perfect and there is always room for improvement.

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“If you come the Friday and then come the Sunday, thing will be tweaked and (hopefully) it will be scarier. Because after three hours on the first day, (we’ll figure out) what could have been done better,” said Sattar.

The two are making sure to get the involvement of the younger grades and their other organizer to ensure the event will continue to be a success after they graduate.

“They’re working with us closely to take notes of what we’ve been doing this year,” said Sattar.

“Personally, we’ve been working on this for so long and the funds go to a good cause, so it means a lot to us to pass this on to raise more money for the youth centre.”

The two also noted that this will be one of the biggest Halloween events in the city and it is completely student-organized.

“Times have changed a lot, even during my time in high school, where people are realizing youths are able to run things and pull them off on their own,” said Wood.

“It’s the same with the YES Project, even though there are lots of adults, it’s a youth-led project so it’s our ideas. So for us to be able to pull of big things like this it just proves the point of our capability.”

Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and $3 for kids under 10. The event will also feature a family-friendly movie, games and treats.

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