Spring Break
EXPLORE : Haunted House
Phillip Morgan
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Down the Hill
Decapitated bodies, strips of leathery flesh, and blood-soaked clothing hang from the low ceilings and between make-shift plywood walls, leading down a narrow black corridor. The air is stale and silent, evoking an uneasy feeling.
I crouch and cautiously shuffle forward. As my stomach churns, I pull back a dusty, tattered sheet, concealing another room of horrors at the Homer Mill Extreme Haunted House in Homer, Mich.
My buddy Alex Wignall and I tip-toe through the black veil into quiet nothingness; heavy breathing is the only sound echoing in the abyss so dark we can't even tell if our eyes are open.
Suddenly the roar of a revving chainsaw rips through the silence. I scamper around a corner into a bare, dimly lit room and slow down to catch my breath. Suddenly, all 6'4 230-pounds of Wignall charges at me, shrieking, "Run!"
I catch a glimpse of a bloody chainsaw rounding the corner, and screaming like little girls, Wignall and I take off, tripping over each other as we run for the nearest door.
We are only about halfway through the 120 year-old Homer Mill and already our nerves are worn to exhaustion.
If you haven't felt your palms sweat, your heart pound out of your chest, or the warm run of urine down your leg recently, the local mill may be just what you need. A haunted themed restaurant lurks below the upper three levels, which house the main attraction, providing patrons with a stiff drink, a bite to eat and some live entertainment most Saturday nights.
The mill is a local favorite and even has the acclaim of rock sensation Alice Cooper's approval.
Lance Cuffle, owner of the Homer Mill, started scaring people out of a trailer in Jackson, Mich. Four years ago, however, he began operating out of the mill in Homer, Mich., and he's been scaring people there every October since.
"It's addicting," said manager Buzz Marovich who helped start the Homer Mill and worked as an actor in its initial years.
He said that being a haunter in the house is a good adrenaline rush.
"I use to play the 'crazy guy,'" Marovich said. "I never played chainsaw guy. The chainsaw guy we got now is a nut."
The Mill is open Thursday through Sunday evenings until October 31st, but if venturing 20 minutes off the hill is a little too wild and crazy for you, there is always the Delta Sigma Phi haunted house for your Halloween freak-out fix.
Each Halloween, 30 of the biggest dudes on campus do their best to try and make you squirm for $3. All proceeds going to charity.
"It's going to be on the first floor, the basement and outside," said Delta Sigma Phi Philanthropy chair T.J. Chapel. "Some of the guys even watched Paranormal Activity."
The house will be haunted this evening, and there is a teaser video on the "4th Annual DSP Haunted House" Facebook page.
I crouch and cautiously shuffle forward. As my stomach churns, I pull back a dusty, tattered sheet, concealing another room of horrors at the Homer Mill Extreme Haunted House in Homer, Mich.
My buddy Alex Wignall and I tip-toe through the black veil into quiet nothingness; heavy breathing is the only sound echoing in the abyss so dark we can't even tell if our eyes are open.
Suddenly the roar of a revving chainsaw rips through the silence. I scamper around a corner into a bare, dimly lit room and slow down to catch my breath. Suddenly, all 6'4 230-pounds of Wignall charges at me, shrieking, "Run!"
I catch a glimpse of a bloody chainsaw rounding the corner, and screaming like little girls, Wignall and I take off, tripping over each other as we run for the nearest door.
We are only about halfway through the 120 year-old Homer Mill and already our nerves are worn to exhaustion.
If you haven't felt your palms sweat, your heart pound out of your chest, or the warm run of urine down your leg recently, the local mill may be just what you need. A haunted themed restaurant lurks below the upper three levels, which house the main attraction, providing patrons with a stiff drink, a bite to eat and some live entertainment most Saturday nights.
The mill is a local favorite and even has the acclaim of rock sensation Alice Cooper's approval.
Lance Cuffle, owner of the Homer Mill, started scaring people out of a trailer in Jackson, Mich. Four years ago, however, he began operating out of the mill in Homer, Mich., and he's been scaring people there every October since.
"It's addicting," said manager Buzz Marovich who helped start the Homer Mill and worked as an actor in its initial years.
He said that being a haunter in the house is a good adrenaline rush.
"I use to play the 'crazy guy,'" Marovich said. "I never played chainsaw guy. The chainsaw guy we got now is a nut."
The Mill is open Thursday through Sunday evenings until October 31st, but if venturing 20 minutes off the hill is a little too wild and crazy for you, there is always the Delta Sigma Phi haunted house for your Halloween freak-out fix.
Each Halloween, 30 of the biggest dudes on campus do their best to try and make you squirm for $3. All proceeds going to charity.
"It's going to be on the first floor, the basement and outside," said Delta Sigma Phi Philanthropy chair T.J. Chapel. "Some of the guys even watched Paranormal Activity."
The house will be haunted this evening, and there is a teaser video on the "4th Annual DSP Haunted House" Facebook page.
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