Croydon Haunted Hollows To Offer 'Scares' For Everyone (ICYMI)

CROYDON, PA — Everybody deserves to traipse through a haunted house on Halloween. That's the idea behind Croydon Haunted Hollows where, for the first time this year, there will be a special haunted-house experience designed to be not-so-scary while keeping in mind kids with special needs.

The special haunt, at 507 Girard Ave., is set for 5-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.

Dubbed a "sensory friendly" Halloween attraction, that performance won't use any strobe lights or fog machines and sound effects will be limited. All character interactions with kids going through the haunt are friendly and there will be special-needs professionals on hand.

Putting on a show for kids who might normally have to opt out of Halloween scares is keeping with the mission of Croydon Haunted Hollows, a nonprofit that grew out of Colleen Prendergast and her husband, Steve, first getting friends together in 1996 to scare trick-or-treaters.

"We refuse to limit what any person can achieve based on race, age, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical ability, nationality, or religion," she said. "We challenge ourselves to remain radically receptive to new avenues of inclusion and expression."

This year, about 50 performers, ranging in age from 6 to 60, will help bring Haunted Hollows to life, Prendergast said, including her two children. Now that the group is an official nonprofit, students in the area can earn community-service credits by taking part in the haunt.

A performance inspired by Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is set for 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 27, between the closing of the sensory-friendly haunt's run and the opening of the somewhat spookier regular haunt at 7 p.m. Bucks County Dance Center is taking part in the "Thriller" performance.

The haunt will be open again on Halloween, Oct. 31, from 7-9:30 p.m. For more information, check out their Facebook page.

Photo courtesy Croydon Hollows LLC. Used with permission.