The El Dorado Haunt is back for it's eighth year, and fittingly, it opens to the public today, on Friday the 13th.
The theme of this year's Haunt is "deadtime stories," a play on "bedtime stories," and the haunted trail installation at Camp Wotapi is sure to thrill – and possibly terrify – visitors.
"It's something fun to do as a group, or a family if you have older kids," Harrell said. "We hope it will give people something to do to kind of usher in the fall season."
From "Malice in Wanderland" to the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy, no children's story is safe on the spooky trail, organized by Camp Fire El Dorado each year as a fundraiser for the nonprofit. Harrell said Daryl Parker, a Camp Fire Board member, and his wife Suzanne came up with the theme as last year's Haunt was wrapping up.
"When the last one ended, they already had an idea for this year's," Harrell said. "I call them the masterminds behind the Haunt."
By summer, all 24 Board members had been assigned a site at Camp Wotapi in which to build their section of the haunted trail, and work has been ongoing since then, Harrell said.
"It takes a lot of manpower before to decorate, and then during, just to – because we have to have actors, and then we have to have other staff to man the event. It takes a lot of people to pull it off," she said.
Other attractions at this year's Haunt include a maze, a spooky tunnel and plays on other fairy tales and nursery rhymes. About 40 actors and 15 staff members will be on-site this evening when the Haunt opens to visitors. Harrell said both Camp Fire club members, Board members and local Halloween enthusiasts are all a part of the 2023 Haunt.
"We have some volunteers that have no affiliation with Camp Fire whatsoever – they just love scary, Halloween things. They come back every year and help us, and sometimes they bring friends," she said. "It's been good outreach for us to get to meet new people."
The Haunt was previously held at the mall in El Dorado, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Camp Fire had to find a way to allow for social distancing. That's when the nonprofit decided to move the Haunt to Camp Wotapi, where it's been held for the past four years.
The annual Halloween trail is a fundraiser for Camp Fire, and all proceeds from ticket sales go back into the nonprofit, Harrell said.
Camp Fire volunteers will be on hand at the Parkers Chapel ballfield off Highway 15. The Haunt opens at 7 p.m., and Harrell said ticket-holders will be transported in small groups from the ballfield to Camp Wotapi to experience the trail.
"We encourage everybody, number one, to wear close-toed shoes, because you're walking through the woods," Harrell said. "They'll go through in small groups; they'll just walk through on their own, there are no guides this year."
Harrell said she recommends the Haunt for people 13 and up, because the actors that populate the trail don't hold back on the scares. The trail is open to all ages, though.
"We tell parents to use their best judgment," she said.
Alcohol, smoking and vaping are prohibited, and visitors are also asked to leave their cell phones behind.
Having been through a rehearsal at the Haunt herself, Harrell said she can assure thrill-seekers that there will be plenty of scares at this year's event.
"They scare me every year," she said. "They scare me even on nights when they're not trying to scare me."
The Haunt will be open on weekends, weather-permitting, and on Halloween night. The Haunt opens at 7 p.m. on open evenings.
A full schedule and additional details are available at eldohaunt.com, or facebook.com/eldohaunt and Instagram.com/eldohaunt.
"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" ends with a new twist at the El Dorado Haunt's "Deadtime Stories" themed trail. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
The Tooth Fairy doesn't take kindly to children who want to hold on to their baby teeth, at least not at the El Dorado Haunt, which opens today at Camp Wotapi in Parkers Chapel. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)
Camp Fire El Dorado's van will transport visitors to the El Dorado Haunt from the Parkers Chapel ballfields off Highway 15. (Caitlan Butler/News-Times)