Bowie Haunted House 2016: Final Weekend to Benefit Food Pantry

UPDATED Oct. 28 BOWIE, MD — Head to a Bowie house this weekend and get the fright of your life: for a great cause. The homegrown haunted house is open to everyone who brings canned food and cash donations for the Bowie Food Pantry.

Tim Jumbelick has again built a haunted house in his yard at 5016 Patuxent Riding Lane with the help of Mark Torsani and Gary Fisher, who operated the haunted house at the Bowie Baysox for years. Last year was their first haunted attraction in the yard of Tim and his wife, Jenny, but response was so strong that they're back for another year.

To compare, the Tulip Gulch haunt at the stadium included about 60 props, and at last count the Jumbelick's yard haunt had 22. Construction started Oct. 1 and they've put in well over 300 man hours toward its completion.

"Last year the pantry was thrilled to accept over 1,000 food items from the Patuxent Terror haunt. I was pleasantly suprised by the generosity of not just the Bowie community, but from people who read about the haunt on The Patch and showed up from all over the county," Tim said.

Jumbelick’s spooky spot will be open from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28, and 29, as well as Sunday, Oct. 30, and Monday, Oct. 31.

“Halloween has always been my favorite holiday to decorate,” Tim told Patch last year, “and Jenny tolerates as long as I put the same effort into Christmas.”

All the Jumbelicks ask is that Bowie residents come armed with canned food, which will be given to the local food pantry. Everyone is welcome, and the attraction is wheelchair accessible.

Building an actual haunted house just started last year with the help of Mark and Gary, who owned the haunt at the Baysox Stadium. They retired their show but still have haunting in their blood, Tim says, “so my much-smaller scale satisfies all our needs.”

The canned food drive is the icing on the cake for the Jumbelicks.

“It’s a great feeling having people give me food for the privilege of scaring the crap out of them and then passing it on to families that need a boost,” Tim says. “So far we have been all thumbs up from our neighbors with nothing but positive feedback.”
»Photos courtesy of Tim and Jenny Jumbelick