After COVID put a bit of a damper on the Halloween spirit, it looks like Creston has bounced back with seemingly one of the most successful trick-or-treatings the valley has seen in almost four years.
That’s thanks in part to David Tourout and his haunted house.
A number of homes in town were decked out in their Halloween best, and Tourout’s was no different.
A line of trick-or-treaters were being guided through a haunted tour of the carport and backyard, with ghosts and ghouls around every corner.
“It’s something that we’ve been doing for a number of years,” said Tourout.
“We’re new to Creston, we’ve been living here for just over a year now. It’s something we take a lot of pride in and we have a lot of fun doing it.”
Tourout and his family were hosting the haunted house in Ontario before moving to the valley.
“It was something that we got a lot of positive feedback from the community for so we wanted to continue doing that out here and bring the community together and enjoy celebrating Halloween together.”
Despite some parts of town not seeing too many costumed creatures, Tourout says they had about 410 children and adults go through the haunted house.
“We were expecting something around 200, but we had these clickers to count our admissions this year and we could draw on the exact numbers. So when we saw 410 people, it was pretty incredible. We were pretty excited.”
Not only was the turnout impressive, but the house itself was equally imposing.
Towering decorations, hanging limbs, smoke machines, and costumed volunteers brought delighted despair to terrified trick-or-treaters.
“We’ve always enjoyed spooky movies and that kind of thing,” said Tourout.
“We’ve always kind of worked together creating these haunted houses for the enjoyment of basically spooking people for a good cause.”
Tourout says they’re looking to be bigger and better next year.
“We try to upgrade every year and do something new and have something fun and exciting, so every year it’s different.”
Tourout was able to host the haunted house thanks in part to his business, Creston Party Rentals, which specializes in events like these.