By Gabrielle Terrett

The Vicksburg Post

Are you afraid of ghosts, frightening hostesses, angry housekeepers and the dark?

If so, Warren Central High School’s Big Blue Band Haunted Hotel is no place to check in.

This year the Big Blue Band’s annual haunted house fundraiser is titled “Haunted Hotel” and tours will begin Friday, and end on Halloween night at the Vicksburg Outlet Mall.

“The hotel was built back in the Depression Years by a mob boss and later, through a series of events that you will learn about when you come to the haunted house, the hotel became possessed,” said Haunted House organizer John Burns. “So we’re going to bring people in as guests and they’ll probably want to leave quickly because things will go a little sideways.”

Along with the creepy twists, turns and walls closing in, there will also be special guests and some surprise features.

“There are a couple of movies that will be featured that I won’t divulge yet,” Burns said. “But there is a big Hollywood movie that is about to be released during this Halloween season that could be a blockbuster and there might be some visitors from it.”

Admission to the haunted hotel is $10 and $5 for the children’s and chickens night — a subtler walk through of the Haunted Hotel.

“Chicken and Children’s is a tradition that we’ve done for many years,” said Burns. “It allows people who want to come out but have young children or just don’t like to be majorly scared to see the haunted house and learn about the hotel without having quite as much of a boo-factor.

“It’ll be toned down and far less actors in the house.”

Starting in the band hall of Warren Central High School and migrating to the Vicksburg Outlet mall, the Big Blue Bands Haunted House has been unique for several years.

The event is a fundraiser for the band and organized mostly by the students.

Students have worked together with band parents for months to come up with the Haunted Hotel theme for the haunted house and to assemble it.

“All of this has been built by students,” Burns said. “Minus some of the power tool work, the students have built this from the ground up. We had more than 50 volunteers the first night and I had to send some home because I simply didn’t have enough work for them.”

Each student volunteer gains hours that they can put towards different school organizations or projects.

“There are two primary volunteer things the students are going for. The first is within the band program. The students work towards merit points where they can earn a letterman jacket and they get recognized at their band banquet as well,” Burns said.

Along with organizing the haunted house, band students have also been busy competing and preparing for band competitions.

“They’ve been doing really great this year,” Burns said. “The band has made all superiors at their competitions and at Pearl, the annual state evaluation, they made superiors and came in second place behind Clinton’s band.”

Hours and dates for Big Blue’s Haunted Hotel are: Oct. 26, 7-11 p.m.; Oct. 27, 6-11 p.m.; Oct. 28 (Chicken and Children’s night), 2-4 p.m.; Oct. 29, 6-10 p.m.; Oct. 30, 6-10 p.m.; and Oct. 31, 6-10 p.m.