As the heart races, palms get sweaty, and your body goes on alert, being frightened has become a fun way to spend time, especially during Hallowe'en.
The Heward Haunted House will be celebrating their 10th anniversary this month. They have held the event for two years in the hall before moving into the rink for more space.
This year there were added challenges in setting up, which is currently underway, with flooding in the rink.
"We tinned this side of the rink and when we checked inside this year we couldn't believe how much water was inside the rink," Danielle Gibson, one of the Rec Board members, explained. "There was about two inches of water sitting in here"
As a way to get around this Chantelle Duxbury, another Rec Board member, said they have lined the floor after shop vac'ing water out with grain matting which seems to be working. The grain matting is actually creating a spooky effect as well with one portion having numerous layers to prevent water seepage making it feel as though you are walking on a waterbed.
The group of seven Rec Board members and the few volunteers they have of local roofers and others have set up the general layout of the haunted house and will be filling the feature rooms in the coming weeks, preparing for their opening.
Not a small task, Duxbury says they are filling the rink with spooktacular items throughout the approximately 10,000 square feet of space.
"This is our first year for animatronics, we had a large donation this year, and every year we put $500 into it," Gibson explained.
Duxbury added, "That's our budget every year, $500, and we've just collected stuff over the years."
The women also explained that the layout is different every year. Not wanting to give too much away, they explained the one major difference this year includes a tour through the rooms which starts and finishes at one door.
"We used to take them through from this door and let them out on the other side," Duxbury stated. "This year we're entirely keeping them in the building and we won't be letting them out although there is a staff hallway if there's a kid that gets too scared."
With 10 years of spooky planning behind them, the two organizers are confident in their ability to frighten people.
Laughing Duxbury added, "I have quite a convincing scream."
The Heward Haunted House will be held the weekend before Hallowe'en. The Friday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 25, days are rated R for scary, the organizers explain. They'll have 10 to 15 spooks helping scare people on the tours through the haunted house, while the different rooms will all be themed and there are two mazes to make their way through as well.
On both Friday and Saturday organizers have applied for and received a liquor licence, while the kitchen will also be open.
The scariness will be scaled back on Sunday, Oct. 26, for younger kids, although the organizers explained many young kids can handle the scary nights better than some adults. This choice is up to the parents, but the intent of the haunted house is to simply have an evening of family fun.
Tickets will cost $10 for adults to go through and $5 for youth 12-years and younger.
Last year the Heward Haunted House welcomed approximately 350 people through the doors and a few weeks ago Gibson had been in Weyburn where a woman recognized her from the event and asked when it was being held this year.
The Rec Board is currently fundraising in order to tin the other side of the rink as it would make life easier to leave walls up for their haunted house and simply move them around as opposed to setting everything up and needing to tear it all down by mid-November when the rink is flooded for skating.
The haunted house is one of their main fundraisers each year. The Heward Rec Board also hosts a family fun carnival day in the winter, a games day in the spring, and a summer fun day in July.
