SALEM – A man who created a haunted walkthrough in Salem isn’t in it for money or notoriety but simply for the love of scaring and entertaining people.
That’s why Darryl Magierowski isn’t charging anything to those willing to walk through the Salem Frights haunted house at his home on Wellington Road 7.
“Let’s just let the people of the area have fun,” Magierowski said in an interview at Salem Frights.
It’s not his first haunted house he’s run, previously he ran one for six years when he lived in London but his roots of loving horror go back to his days as a child.
“We have to go back to about 1980, I think I can blame my sister for locking me in the basement when Halloween first came on. I just remember that pumpkin at the start of the screen that was it,” Magierowski said, adding it was both traumatizing and gravitational.
He recalled when he was either nine or 10, his house had a recently renovated room with a drop ceiling that was sitting empty. He said he took sheets and blankets to create walls and made a little haunted house.
“I call my buddies I’m like ‘come over I built a haunted house,’ and I call them over just to scare them,” Magierowski said with a laugh.
It’s a bit more elaborate now in 2021 with Salem Frights which features an outdoor portion that looks like a graveyard along with an indoor part.
The haunted house will feature live actors but also static and moving prop figures. Some are bought but a lot of Salem Frights was built by Magierowski with the help of his dad.
“I like the shock and awe and also just the creating, spending hours, you know, just daydreaming and thinking about how I’m going to create something,” Magierowski said.
“Then watching it come to life is pretty unique, at the end you go ‘that’s exactly how I envisioned it.’”
He said he’s unsure about the right age limit for this, he’s recommended eight and up but even still that might depend on what a child can tolerate.
However, he stressed this walkthrough is meant to scare.
“I want to make it a little more realistic than exciting and fun. It’s Halloween you gotta be a little scared,” Magierowski said. “I want to scare you.”
The haunted house walkthroughs run this and next Friday and Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. It is a free event but there will be some vendors set-up in the driveway.
Salem Frights is located at 470 Wellington Rd. 7 in Salem with parking recommended at the Esso or Soulwork Studio.
More information can be found here.
