New leadership revives Haunted Palouse after last year’s cancellation
PALOUSE, Wash. – Enter, if you dare, a spooky carnival of horrors – with a cause.
Since 2001, this multi-haunted-house event raised money for the community of Palouse by drawing crowds to the town near the Idaho border northeast of Pullman. Haunted Palouse returned in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic but was canceled again last year due partly to lack of volunteers.
New leaders reorganized to bring it back for two weekends starting Friday. They’re calling it Haunted Palouse: Resurrection.
“We can’t let this die,” said Will Perry, the organization’s new director.
A $40 wristband ticket admits attendees, ages 12 and up, into two haunted buildings and a zombie hunt.
The haunts occupy authentically creepy settings: a former health clinic and the town’s old jail below the police station. Expect monsters jumping out from behind black lights, strobe lights, fog machines and fake gore.
Cas Burns, owner of Palouse Paintballers, is the mastermind behind the Shady Lane zombie hunt, a carnival-themed maze following a powerline trail along the Palouse River south of Main Street. Attendees will be equipped with safety glasses and glow-in-the-dark gel guns for shooting targets … and zombies.
New this year is an extra event to include the whole family. A free kids carnival and street fair will run during the afternoon both Saturdays, Oct. 19 and 26, from 2 to 6 p.m. Kids are encouraged to dress up to trick-or-treat on Main Street.
Perry, who lives in the Lewiston-Clarkston area but has strong ties to Palouse, volunteered to take on the project at chamber of commerce meetings last winter.
Putting on the show is no easy task. Perry has been holding regular public planning meetings since April with about 60 volunteers.
He said the event needed to come back as soon as possible, lest it lose its lore, or a similar concept pops up somewhere else nearby.
“If it’s one year, whatever,” Perry said. “But after two years, it starts to not be a thing anymore.”
The tradition can be traced back to 1996 when a flood damaged the historic downtown. Haunted Palouse started a few years later to help continue repairs.
As the scares grew larger, the town amassed a collection of costumes, props, decorations and set pieces stored in a nearby warehouse.
Over the years, Haunted Palouse has supported other projects, including a new community center in 2012. It made $70,000 in net profits in 2022.
This year’s proceeds will go toward upgrading the town swimming pool, Perry said. Funds also benefit various clubs and organizations that volunteer for the event.
One of those groups is Garfield-Palouse High School’s robotics club, Vikotics. The team is working on special effects rigs, including a giant animatronic spider.
Adviser Robert Lopez Jr. said the project teaches practical skills as well as responsibility.
“It’s not just competing,” Lopez said of the robotics club. “It’s very much oriented toward teaching these kids what it means to be a community member and giving back.”
Bradley Banks, a freshman, has enjoyed working on the large-scale project.
“I’ve built haunted houses before when I lived in the city,” Banks said. “But those were only run by neighborhoods, not the whole town.”
Haunted Palouse runs 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26. Tickets can be purchased online at hauntedpalouse.com, with limited tickets available on-site.