The Sci-Fi original programming “Scare Tactics” doesn’t have anything on the Long family in Sinking Valley.
For the eighth straight year, Greg and Chris Long have built a haunted house at the Sinking Valley Fairgrounds and once again, they are making it available to the public. This year, the Long’s challenge visitors to “Try our scare tactics.”
“We strive to make things different each year,” said Chris recently.
“My husband (Greg) is really good with coming up with new ideas. This year is one of the best.”
So far, according to Chris, the numbers prove it.
“Usually, we see around 100 people wanting to go through it each night it’s open,” she said.
“One Saturday this year, we had 200 people go through.”
According to the Longs, the popularity of the attraction has grown tremendously in the past eight years. She believes “word of mouth” is the reason for the growing interest.
The elaborate scenes are normally created over a two or three week period. But this year, Greg, Chris, Linda Jones and her son Brian had only 11 days to build the set-up because of a wedding reception held at the site on Sept. 27.
This year’s haunted house theme is the old, wild west. Visitors entering the building immediately see a sign pointing them in the direction of the town of “Deadwood” whose population has slowly dwindled. From there, visitors enter the attraction through the jail. What follows is a sometimes scary, but full-time enjoyable trek through the attraction.
According to Chris, people from all over the area come to see the attraction. She said one girl from Altoona came last year multiple times, each time bringing a different group with her.
“Those who come and have never seen it before are simply amazed,” said Chris.
The cost to build the elaborate scenes this year was around $500.
Chris said because they’ve done it for so many years, their collection of items and props have grown, meaning they re-use a lot of the materials within the exhibit.
Long’s Haunted House is located at the Sinking Valley Fairgrounds. Take the Bellwood Exit of Interstate 99 to the bottom of Skelp.
It is open from 7-10 p.m. tonight, Saturday and Sunday, and from Oct. 28 through Nov. 1. Cost of admission is $4 for adults and $2 for kids 12 and under.
All proceeds from the exhibit benefit the Sinking Valley Farm Show.
Chris also said group rates and private parties, including a bon fire and hayrides, are also available by calling 684-8441 or 684-7469.
