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Happy Halloween: Haunted House Goes All Out For Spooky Holiday

Jasmina MeyerHighlands Today

Dr.Slaughter is one of many scary attractions that will be featured at Diana and Tim Owen's home for a Halloween haunted house that will be open for visitors at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31 on Swallow Road in Sebring.

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Brad Dickerson

Published: October 31, 2008

SEBRING - Diana Owen's front yard may look like a cemetery, but no one will find any coffins buried six feet under.

Skeletal inhabitants are seen resting beside the above-ground headstones. One is even being knocked over by an early Thursday breeze.

"I'm probably going to have to stake him," Owen said.

A self-professed Halloween fan, Owen and her sister, Connie Christensen, were busy transforming the Swallow Avenue home into a land of frights and screams.

The sisters, along with brother Richard Butler, were building their own haunted house to entertain the area youth and their parents on this All Hallows Eve. Diana's husband, Tim, helped set up the graveyard

Their theme is "Dr. Slaughter's Hospital" and the creators are getting into the act. Owen is getting rid of her usual persona and transforming into "Nurse Demented." Butler will be the twisted physician "Dr. Phil Morepain."

Christensen is not going to be so lucky.

"I think they're having me shackled to a wall," she said.

This family affair has been a tradition for the last decade. Owen said it started when her children were younger and they had a Halloween party, complete with scares, compliments of Uncle Richard.
"He scared the snot out of them," Owen remembered.

Butler said they have previously hosted the haunted house at his Avon Park location. This year, it was decided to move it to Sebring.

The siblings have entertained multitudes of ghoulish masses in the past. Owen said last year, there were between 200 and 300 trick or treaters who came through their haunted dwellings.
Butler warns the haunted house is "not for the faint of heart."

"People actually get an enjoyment out of being scared," Butler said. "We're doing a service."
The frights start tonight at 6. The home is at 225 Swallow Ave.

OTHER HALLOWEEN EVENTS
The Sun 'n Lake of Sebring District Office would like to invite all school age children to visit the district office between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m. today. Treat bags, coloring books, crayons and goodies will be handed out.

Sebring downtown merchants will have trick or treat today from 10 a.m. to noon for pre-school children and from 2 to 4 p.m. for elementary school children.

The Lake Placid Merchants Association and the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce will sponsor the fourth annual Kids Fall Festival from 5 to 8 p.m., today at DeVane Park.

Trick or treat will take place in Sebring and Lake Placid tonight. The hours in Sebring are 6 to 9 and 6 to 8 in Lake Placid.

The ninth annual 2008 Fall Festival Halloween Alternative will be held today from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Placid Lakes Baptist Church, 116 Cleveland Ave. N.E., in Lake Placid. There will be games, food, hay rides, dunk tank and a Christian costume contest.

A Halloween and costume celebration will be held tonight and Nov. 1 at Sunset Grille, 2650 U.S. 27 S., in Sebring. There will be specials on mixed drinks and two-for-one drinks. Call 471-3900 for more information.

The Humane Society of Highlands County is sponsoring the "Terror Trail" today and Nov. 1 at 7321 Haywood Taylor Blvd., near the Sebring Regional Airport. Children 13 and under can walk on the trail from 7 to 8 p.m. The cost is $4 per person. Older teens and adults can visit from 8 to 10 p.m. The cost is $6 per person.

There is a Halloween party, celebrating the 28th anniversary, at the Wild Turkey Tavern, located at 2751 U.S. 27 S., in Avon Park, at 8 p.m. today.

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