The following article was published in the October 25, 2007 issue of the Penfield Post (a Messenger Post Newspaper) in Penfield, NY.
A Penfield resident will host a free haunted house on Halloween night.
RENEE TAYLOR; Messenger Post Staff
Published: October 25, 2007
Spider webs and skulls line the bushes of Mark Mraz's front yard. Just a few feet away in his garage, a tall wizard and a talking witch stand in the back as spooky music plays all around.
This is just a glimpse of Mraz's annual haunted garage that will open on Halloween night. He has hosted the event for about 10 years, with his largest crowd totaling about 160 children, he said.
Mraz moved to Penfield with his family last year and set up his haunted garage. He said not many people knew about the event and he hopes to have a better turnout this year.
"I'm lucky if 30 people walked through last year," he said. "It was a bit disappointing."
He and his family moved from Henrietta, where Mraz said his haunted garage became popular through word-of-mouth. In its first year it attracted about 45 people.
A computer programmer for 16 years at Paychex, Mraz began hosting the free event because of his interest in the creative aspect of programming.
"I wanted to make use of the computer by making it do cool things on Halloween," he said. "It has just grown since then."
Through computer operations, Mraz is able to control certain decorations that may scare a younger crowd, making the event fun for all ages, he said. Mraz, who has never charged for the event, said he spends between $500 and $600 a year for the props.
"It just accumulates each year," he said. "Even if I wanted to charge, it would be more of a hassle. So it's just easier to make it free."
His wife, Susan, who helps set up the haunted garage, said Mraz continues to add and change things each year.
"He's always adding things, rotating things, and just switching things up," she said. "It started out with a prop or two and has continued to add up each year."
The garage takes about two weeks to set up, but Mraz said he spends much of the year building new props. This year he will also help haunt the boys locker room at the Spooktacular from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, at the Harris Hill Elementary School, 2126 Penfield Road.
Mraz hopes his involvement with the Spooktacular, which he said attracts more than 600 people, will help bring in a greater number of people to his haunted garage.
"Anybody can come in and check it out," he said. "It takes just a minute to walk through the maze."
Renee Taylor can be reached at (585) 394- 0770, Ext. 238, or at rtaylor@mpnewspapers.com
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