{"id":15604,"date":"2016-10-26T17:09:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T21:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=15604"},"modified":"2016-11-02T16:30:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T20:30:06","slug":"saturdays-haunted-forest-serves-up-halloween-spooktacular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/saturdays-haunted-forest-serves-up-halloween-spooktacular\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday\u2019s Haunted Forest serves up Hallowe\u2019en \u201cSpooktacular\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

BACK TO THE WOODS \u2013 October is a spooky time for Sheppard\u2019s Bush. Recently, Erika, Alex, Crystal, and Seema helped transform it into a place fit for The Walking Dead at the Fourth Annual Zombie Run, organized by Girls Inc. to benefit the United Way. This Saturday, Sheppard\u2019s Bush will be transformed once again for the 10th Annual Haunted Forest organized by the Town of Aurora. PHOTO BY GLENN RODGER<\/em><\/p>\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for all little ghouls and goblins to rest up; you have a busy week ahead!
\nThe Town of Aurora is gearing up to transform Sheppard\u2019s Bush once again into Aurora\u2019s Haunted Forest, a fun \u2013 and spooky \u2013 family tradition marking its tenth anniversary this year.
\nThe fun runs from 6 \u2013 9 p.m. at the Bush\u2019s Mary Street entrance with a trail of little thrills for the little boos and a trail of big thrills for the big kids and tweens, and, of course, the kids-at-heart.
\nWristbands are on sale now at the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex and the Aurora Family Leisure Complex (AFLC) for $5 per person. Parking is limited, and revellers are advised to park at the AFLC at 135 Industrial Parkway North to take advantage of a shuttle bus to Sheppard\u2019s Bush and indoor Hallowe\u2019en activities.
\nIn conjunction with its milestone anniversary, Aurora\u2019s Haunted Forest was earlier this year named one of the Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario.
\n\u201cThe events that make the list are considered to be exceptional in the industry,\u201d said Shelley Ware, Special Events Coordinator for the Town of Aurora. \u201cCanadian Halloween celebrations have continued to get bigger and bigger every year. Halloween is now our country\u2019s biggest holiday besides Christmas in terms of consumer spending and public participation.
\n\u201cCreating an event with this theme is unique considering the few alike events one can attend. Aurora\u2019s Haunted Forest is a community and volunteer-driven special event that provides \u2018spooktacular\u2019 excitement for all ages. Aurora\u2019s most anticipated Halloween event takes candy and costumes into a higher realm with an evening full of captivating thrills, chills, and festive fun.\u201d
\nThis year\u2019s event takes place rain or shine and over the past 10 years there has been more of the former than the latter. But despite \u201cevery single year [experiencing] at least one element of terrible weather\u201d the haunted forest goes from strength to strength.
\n\u201cThe event has seen everything from hail, rain and fog to snow and high winds,\u201d said Ms. Ware. \u201cDespite this, event attendance still grows. The experience begins at the AFLC where event attendees can enjoy some crafts and games while they wait for their shuttle bus to Sheppard\u2019s Bush. At the bush, there is a festive trail designed for little goblins and another trail for those looking for a good Halloween scare.
\n\u201cBoth trails lead up to three decorated cabins, a bonfire, outdoor games, and Casper\u2019s Scare School where hair-raising ghost stories were brought to life. At this event, you might have some laughs, some screams, but most of all, a thrill that makes you feel alive. For every visitor that may shy away, hundreds more are intrigued by this must attend special event.\u201d
\nThis year, Aurora\u2019s Haunted Forest has been brought together with over 1,500 volunteer hours \u2013 and counting \u2013 racking up over 12,500 volunteer hours over the past decade, and they keep coming back for more. Volunteers, said Ms. Ware, particularly youth, come back year after year, and add take on more leadership roles.
\n\u201cThis event works with many community organizations to set up, make displays, tear down,\u201d she said. \u201cYou name it, they\u2019re up for it. Huge thanks is greatly given to the Aurora Scouts, Aurora Seniors Association, the Canadian Children\u2019s Theatre Company, Marquee Theatrical Productions, the Optimist Club of Aurora, and Aurora\u2019s Youth Engagement Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on this year\u2019s Haunted Forest, visit www.aurora.ca\/hauntedforest. <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time for all little ghouls and goblins to rest up; you have a busy week ahead!
\nThe Town of Aurora is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/2016-10-27-11.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-43G","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-01 13:49:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}