Neighborhood’s $1 Haunted House brings Halloween thrills to the community

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- A South Bend resident’s Halloween passion project is bringing the community together — one scare at a time.

The Olive Street Home Haunt, located at 1725 N Olive St., is opening its backyard to thrill-seekers for its first-ever haunted house experience this weekend.

The least scary part? Admission is just one dollar.

“I never lost the passion,” said Sam the Scarecrow, the creator of the haunt and former scare actor. “We wanted to make it so families with a lot of kids can come and have fun without spending a whole lot of money.”

The homemade haunted house covers the entire backyard, taking visitors through a spooky storyline — escaping a haunted farm before being turned into one of “Ma’s meat pies.”

The elaborate setup took more than three months to build and features everything from chainsaws and scarecrows to eerie sound effects and live actors.

The Near Northwest Neighborhood Association partnered with the organizers to help promote the haunt and ensure a safe space for neighborhood families.

“You don’t have to be afraid of, okay, I’m sending them somewhere or we're going somewhere, and you're not sure how it's going to turn out or if it's going to be safe,” Lisa Chavers with the Near Northwest Neighbor Association said. “It really is safe and I just feel like the kids need this.”

In addition to the haunted house, there will be games for younger children, making it a family-friendly event for all ages.

The Olive Street Home Haunt runs this Friday and Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is $1 per person.