By Mikaela STONE

The spooky season is here and on Tuesday, Halloween night, David Krohn’s haunted house at 413 Whiting Woods Dr. will be ready for visitors.

Krohn’s creations are Crescenta Valley staples and highly anticipated by celebrants of Halloween. This year, visitors will check into the haunted house’s hotel theming only to realize that they are not where they thought they were.

“A few things [they have] never done before,” teased Krohn referring to certain special effects and the return of an old gag that has not been staged in eight years that will be performed this year by his daughter.

Krohn’s children have been enthusiastic about being involved in the haunted house since they were small enough to be tucked away in corners, ready to scare unsuspecting victims. Last year, his son spent the night lying on his stomach above a hallway, ready to drop his arms and legs down to scare unsuspecting victims. Will similar scares be found this year? The only way to find out is to attend.

As in every year, the haunted house is an expansive set up meticulously crafted by those who Krohn calls “the main culprits:” Krohn, Geoff Deboskey, Gary Tousdale, Alan Bernhoft, Colin Lublin, Mark Enright, Brad Jorban and Armen Derian. The haunted house tradition began before Krohn’s children were born when his wife wished for more trick-or-treaters on their cul de sac in Vista Court. Gary Tousdale, then living in Northridge, had success hosting his own haunted house and the idea was born.

While the haunted house started off as a small event catering mainly to friends, it has evolved into a beloved part of the community. Even during the restrictions imposed during the 2020 COVID outbreak, Krohn saw how his efforts brought locals together when nearly 1,000 people attended the haunted house’s evolution into a haunted drive-through. What the years have taught Krohn is that he must “control what [he] can and accept what [he] can’t control … there’s a lot of people and moving parts.”

While every year brings a new theme and new challenges, almost all of the set pieces are broken down and reused the following year. The catalog of pieces kept is so varied that a U-Haul rental is required from Crescenta Valley Storage and the pieces are transferred, on average, in four trips.

After painting, building and repurposing, the pieces are unrecognizable from year to year. For example, last year’s three Victorian houses have been given new life within the haunted hotel and visitors are challenged to spot them in their new forms. Some props have been staples for nearly 30 years. This year, though, the team has involved new technology into the planning using AI rendering to generate three possible rooms for their horrifying hotel’s lobby. Krohn and Tousdale took their favorite aesthetics from the ideas presented and turned them into workable props and set pieces to greet guests.

The hotel idea has been something the team has toyed with for a while and it is pleased the plans can finally come to fruition. Each of the people involved do have day jobs, choosing to spend their free time working on the haunted house out of a desire to do something engaging for the community.

The locals are excited to see how this group of creatives top previous themes, which have been as elaborate in years past as an entire gothic castle in Krohn’s backyard and a spooky western saloon. Krohn assures the experience is “free, always has been, and always will be.”

The event will begin at sundown on Halloween and continue until 11 p.m. at 413 Whiting Woods Drive. Visitors are asked not to park in front of the beginning of the admission line for both safety and traffic reasons.