Scotts Valley students create drive-thru haunted house for a good cause

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. (KION) Every year Scotts Valley High School students put together a haunted house, with all of the proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

This year it looked like the haunted house would have to be canceled, but a group of about 100 students worked all summer to create a COVID-19 safe haunt. The students created a drive-thru haunted house.

“Drive-thru to us just seemed like the easiest way to keep people separate," student organizer Greta Feague said. "We didn’t want groups running into each other.”

Greta is a junior at Scotts Valley High and in charge of this years haunt.

Every step of the way the students had to get approval from the school to make sure they were following all the COVID-19 regulations, but there really no clear guidelines for outdoor haunted houses.

“We ended up having to follow the sports cohort rule, because that was the closest thing,” Feague said.

That meant only a max of 14 students could work together on campus, and everyone else would work on projects from home.

"All of the items they had to scrounge or build," Greta said.

"Students do everything from marketing, finance, construction, and acting. I think it's one of the most comprehensive programs I've ever been involved in," Scotts Valley High Artistic Director Jamie Lafollette said.

In total, more than 100 students were involved in the haunted house. Over the course of the summer in fall, the students had to make several changes to how they would design the drive-thru to meet the appropriate regulations.

Every year the students raise about $10,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and this year could see similar numbers.

“I knew if it was possible, they were going to find a way,” Lafollette said.

The Scotts Valley Haunted House opens Thursday, October 22. You can purchase tickets here.