www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 30, 2014 | 24 Haunted house goes extra mile on Halloween by Bob Mitchell Special to the Beaver Soirée portes ouvertes Open House As a youngster, Mike Wilson always got a kick out of trick-or-treating at homes where they went that extra mile to scare him. "It was always more fun when you went to a house where the door would open by itself and people were dressed up and put on a show," Wilson said. For more than a decade, Wilson, now 48, has been doing just that for trick-or-treaters in his Oakville neighbourhood and raising some money for cancer research along the way. Instead of having a haunted house, Wilson runs a haunted backyard at his home at 119 Walby Dr., in the area of Third Line and Oakville resident Mike Wilson puts on a show for trick-or-treaters in his haunted backyard. It's all in fun and raises funds for the Canadian Hixon Street. "We try to change things up every Cancer Society, too. | photo by Justin Greaves Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) year, but basically, we have all kinds of covered areas in the backyard with lots of scary stuff," said Wilson, who began constructing his backyard of horrors last month. "We have sort of a maze where everybody walks through and gets scared." Once again, the ever-popular troll will be roaming the backyard, jumping out at people, Wilson said. "He puts on a really good show," he said -- the gorilla in a cage will also be returning. ÉCOLE SECONDAIRE CATHOLIQUE In the past, those willing to brave the horror have faced a hangman's noose, a guillotine and an underground tomb. For the past five years, the Jeudi 6 novembre 2014 haunted backyard has been raising Inscrivez-vous maintenant! Register now! Sainte-Trinité de 18 h 30 à 20 h 30 funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. "A lot of people know somebody who has been affected by cancer... I lost my father to cancer," Wilson said. "Our goal this year is to break the $1,000 mark. We came close last year." Like most homeowners, Wilson used to simply hand out candy at the front door. "I used to scare kids out at the front door, but then one year a friend decided to join me and we sort of incorporated the side shed," Wilson said. "The next thing I knew, other people wanted to help. "It got to the point where we moved it to the backyard and it became a bit of an attraction in the neighbourhood. So, we decided to run it for charity." Local businesses such as Walmart and Rona have helped provide candy and supplies in the past and Wilson will be enlisting corporate assistance again this year. "We're also in need of volunteers to help dress up and act on Halloween night, make-up artists, and anybody who can help with the construction," Wilson said. As usual, candy will be handed out at the front door with a donation box set up for admission to the haunted backyard. "It usually takes about a month to build the backyard and then another month to tear it all down," Wilson said. The haunted backyard will run from 6-9 p.m. Friday (Oct. 31). 2600, Grand Oak Trail Oakville (Ontario) L6M 0R4 MonEcoleSecondaire.ca YourFrenchHighSchool.ca Immersion students are welcome