Niles Scream Park brings community screams and scares for charity

With more than 200 volunteers working every night, the Niles Scream Park is nationally recognized.

It is one of the largest non-profit haunted houses in the nation. And it's not just made up of one haunted house.

The park is comprised of three indoor haunted houses, a haunted hayride, a field of screams, and more.  It's a Halloween festival that is open for 22 nights in September and October.

But volunteers don't just work the park to scare people, even though they do enjoy pushing the limits.  They do it to give back to the community.

The volunteers don't work for money. They work the season, and the Park compensates their choice of charity after all the festivities is over.

Last year, the park contributed over $106,000 to more than 65 local charities. And over the past 18 years, they've given about $1.8 million. 

William Trepanier is a volunteer of more than 20 years. He says he looks forward to it every year.

"A lot of the workers out here are like family. I've grown up with a lot of them, I've seen their kids grow up, and my kids grew up at this park," he says.

That's why Matt Herm, Scream Park Manager, does it: he loves seeing the community come together to give back in a fun way.

"When you think of a town of 15,000 people putting about 30-40 thousand people into 20 nights," he says. "It's amazing."