Haunted house benefits charity

When the Hans clan calls a family meeting each October, one question they debate is, "How much [fake] blood do we need?"

This year, the answer is, "More than ever!"

The family, which had a nine-year tradition of creating Halloween haunted houses in Jane Hans Wasserbach's garage, is expanding their pastime to create a haunted schoolhouse at the Pruyn House in Newtonville.

The Oct. 28 event is a benefit for Community Maternity Services, a Catholic Charities agency that assists pregnant teens and young parents. The evening will also include a costume contest with prizes.

Halloween happy

Halloween is a favorite holiday for matriarch Janet Hans, community affairs director at Teresian House Nursing Home in Albany. She urged her daughter to start having the haunted houses at her home.

"I have four brothers and sisters who live in the area; we all love Halloween," Mrs. Wasserbach noted. "The last time we had a haunted house, in 2004, there were 30 people behind the scenes. We recruited friends, family, anyone who likes Halloween."

Over the years, the tradition grew to enormous proportions, with the group trying to top its own "fear factor" each year. Images from the movie "Psycho," frightening clowns and a dissection room were among the 40 scenes they created and added to -- and never charged admission.

For charity

After 2004, when a record 350 people visited the haunted house in just two hours, Mrs. Wasserbach decided she couldn't open her home for the event any longer.

This year, CMS asked Mrs. Hans if the family would consider creating a similar haunted house at Pruyn House. The local historic site is home to the Verdoy Schoolhouse, an early-20th-century, one-room schoolhouse with much more space than the family had ever had for a haunted house.

"It took us about a second to say, 'Yes,'" Mrs. Wasserbach chuckled.

She noted that her family was especially eager to participate because "we're all Catholic, and if we could do it for a charity, it's an opportunity for us to do something we like and give something back."

Scary time

Months of planning have gone into the fright night, with CMS and donors chipping in to make the haunted house even more impressive.

"What do we get the best reaction out of?" the "haunters" asked one another. "What were people so afraid of, they couldn't walk by it?"

The final result is a collection of the "best-of-the-best" scenes from prior houses, but the family is as silent as the grave about the details.

"It's going to be scary," Mrs. Wasserbach promised. "I don't think it's appropriate for young children. There will be lots of goblins and creatures. Expect the unexpected."

(The haunted house is Oct. 28, 4-7 p.m., at the Verdoy Schoolhouse at Pruyn House, Newtonville. The CMS benefit costs only $5. For information, call Ann Marie, 483-8836, or go to www.ccrcda.org and click on "upcoming events.")

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