Unsung Heroes: How Boy Scouts power the nation’s top haunted attraction 

NILES, Mich. — Niles Scream Park was recently named the top haunted attraction in America by Coaster Nation. While thousands of visitors flock here every weekend for spooky season, the park is also giving back to the area in a big way.

But who exactly keeps this massive operation running smoothly behind the scenes?

The park is absolutely spotless, with virtually no trash on the ground. When enjoying a frightful night, the venue's cleanliness is often overlooked, but park organizers tell ABC57 that the unsung heroes of the organization are actually Boy Scouts of America Troop 541.

"One of our biggest groups is our Boy Scout Troop 541, who really is the backbone of a lot of our off-season activities, whether it's tear down, clean up during the season, setting up before the season starts, but basically anything that we need here at the park," said Ross Ratliff, actor manager and volunteer coordinator at Niles Scream Park.

"We get to start at the beginning of the season with the construction and building the props in the rooms and putting the attractions together all the way through the end of the season where we help tear things down for the winter, where we winterize the park," said David Guisbert, former Boy Scout Troop 541 leader and current assistant parking lot supervisor.

Ratliff and Guisbert are just two members of the Scream Park community. Troop 541 has been partnering with the park since 2008, and organizers say the Scouts' reliability has paved the way for more local youth to get involved.

"There's been a lot of positive impacts with the youth on the park itself," Guisbert said. "In that, they have demonstrated that they've been responsible over the years, and with that level of responsibility, the park has actually allowed other youth to come out here because they've seen what youth can do for the benefit of the park."

That hard work doesn't just benefit the park—it offers hands-on experience helping Scouts build real-world careers.

"We had two youth that were really impacted by their volunteering out here, and they made careers out of what they started with here," Guisbert said. "So we're involved in the construction, and we had one Scout get so involved in the construction that he made a career out of working for the United Steelworkers. We've had another Scout who, in working out here, got the opportunity to learn how to drive the equipment out here, and he's developed that into a career where he is very versatile and can drive almost any piece of equipment."

In the end, organizers say the park couldn't operate without them.

"The Scouts are definitely the unsung heroes of keeping the park clean and running smoothly," Ratliff said.

Troop 541, volunteers, and staff members' hard work has not gone unnoticed. Because of their collective efforts, Niles Scream Park earned the title of top haunted house in America according to Coaster Nation.