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Fallbrook man hosting haunted house fundraiser for last time

According to Jeff Woodrey, this is the last time you'll have the opportunity to let him scare you, gross you out, and help him raise funds for a worthy cause at the same time.

"I have been the one that built it and put it on the last few years," Woodrey said. "But, this is the last year I am going to be doing it."

Woodrey said he's built a bunch of new scenes for this year, including cemetery, witch, babydoll and boogeyman settings.

"People don't realize what I do until they see it, it's pretty big," he said. "The experience takes up the entire house and property."

Woodrey said he started building in April in preparation for this year's haunted house. He said he has 16 animated props and over the years has spent about $15,000 on decor.

He can only estimate how much time he's spent putting it all together.

"I can't even tell you...a lot," Woodrey said. "At least 20 hours a week working on it right now and, in the beginning, probably 30 hours a week. Basically, every day I am off of work, I put in about 12 hours of the day."

For the last three years, Woodrey has asked for donations from visitors to the haunted house as a fundraiser for an individual in need. Last year, proceeds were donated to a little girl with leukemia.

This year, the beneficiary is a little boy who Woodrey said has been dealing with brain cancer for the past five years since his diagnosis at 2 years old. The boy is in need of a seeing eye dog.

Woodrey said each evening the haunted house is open, there are volunteers at the front that inform visitors of the opportunity to donate.

"(Three years ago) I was thinking I could raise money by doing this," he said. "It's fun for them to come through and it's also a good way to raise money and help somebody out."

The haunted house is completely free for anyone who wishes to attend, whether they want to make a donation or not.

Woodrey said there is no age minimum or limit to visit.

"But minors need to be accompanied by an adult and we have some ground rules that we inform everyone about before they enter," he said. "The first hour of the night – we call it 'no scare' – and that's for families where we don't jump out and scare people. After that it's full scare."

Visitors in recent years have told Woodrey his haunted house is quality.

"Last year I was told that my haunted house was better than the Haunted Hotel and Haunted Trail in San Diego and those are professional haunts," he said. "So, they say mine is a pretty cool thing.

"More so than that, it will be helping a little boy, that's the primary thing," continued Woodrey. "And people need to come this year if they ever want to see it or go through it."

Woodrey's haunted house is open from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 19-20, and Oct. 26-31 (Halloween). It is located at 451 South Stage Coach Lane in Fallbrook.

 

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