An old, vacant farmhouse, rumoured to have been the site of paranormal activity for decades, will welcome the public to 19 days of scares. The Fright House, a home on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation reserve transformed into a haunted mansion for Halloween, is about to kick off and this year it will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. “The whole community is invited,” said Daxter Jr. Amos, founder of Fright House, noting it isn’t only for the Morley community. This year, Amos said the theme is “witch cabin” where guests can expect frightful stories throughout the home – all fictitious of course. “Each room you walk into you’ll read the description of what happened in these rooms. Again it’s all made up but it’s that illusion,” Amos said. Shortly after the home was built over 30 years ago, Amos said his grandparents had been living there and worked a farming operation. But according to stories in the family, the home has always seemed to have a paranormal presence. “My grandma told me this, she was in the basement with her children – I think 1982, second year when the house was finished building – when they were doing their laundry downstairs and they heard these weird footsteps on the first floor,” Amos recounted. “It sounded like that old Western style boot walking around and she thought it was her husband coming back from working with the horses and the farming.” But when his grandmother went upstairs there was nobody there. When she returned to the basement, again she heard the thud of footsteps – this time coming down the stairs. Worried it was an intruder, she grabbed her children and ran out of the house, but as she left, she once again saw no one. Amos said this incident would reoccur regularly. “They would hear those same steps in the evening when no one was there. They believe the house was built near an old burial ground,” Amos said. The home is said to have been the site of an exorcism too over the years. The home, as per the Nation’s tradition, was passed on to Amos, where he has tried renting to families for years but has had difficulty getting them to stay. “Over the years since the house was built, there’s been different haunting activities and paranormal activities going on. Not a lot of people will feel comfortable to live there,” Amos said. That’s when he decided to have a Halloween party at the house 20 years ago, which started the Fright House tradition. The haunted house will be open to all each weekend from Oct. 12 to Oct. 31 on Saturday and Sunday evenings. There will be one family afternoon on Oct. 20 where the house will be made more family friendly for those with children. Admission is $10 for adults and $10 for families of four on the family day. Search Fright House Morley on Facebook for more information and updates.
