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Spooks on Spurr

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The old house on Spurr Road outside of the New London has been presumed haunted for decades by locals. Its owner Pat Williams, and co-operators Robin and Tom Wilson helped make that official when they opened Spooks on Spurr in 2018. There are just two weekends left in the venue's season. John Faucher Photo

Local haunted house enters third season

By John Faucher


You don’t have to be deeply immersed in local history to know a haunted house when you see one.
You can just feel it.

Spurr Mansion located has been projecting eerie and sometimes ghostly feelings onto passersby for decades.

Set on a remote bayou off the Embarrass River, the old brick home is located at W10121 Spurr Road.

Robin Wilson has lived just down the road from the Spurr mansion since 1982.

“There are some people – they don’t even want to drive down that road,” said Wilson.

“I’ve always said it’s a spooky house with its peaked windows and shutters. It’s just eerie driving past it,” she said.

The setting itself leaves a lot for the imagination, whether you’re a local, or a first-time visitor.

“There’s a winding road in the middle of nowhere on a bayou, and then there’s this 1840s-built house,” Wilson said. “There’s definitely an aura about the place.”

In 2012, Pat Williams, a longtime friend and neighbor of the Wilsons, purchased the Spurr house.

House already seems spooky

When Pat began showing pictures of the house to friends everyone told him it looked haunted.

After contemplating what to do with the old house Williams contacted the county to explore the possibility of turning it into a seasonal haunted house.

Williams said the first thing they asked him was, “Isn’t that place already haunted?”

By April 2018, he and the Wilsons had launched the business model for Spooks on Spurr.

They hired professional makeup artists, special effects technicians and over 30 employees and actors to work a 12-night season that began in late September and ran every weekend through Halloween.

The unique business model features live music, warm bonfires, concessions, sheltered outdoor waiting areas, torch lit pathways and free parking in the mansion’s fields.

They made extra efforts to ensure short wait times and comfortable open air amenities for visitors.

“We have some patrons who come out just to enjoy the outdoor entertainment and refreshments around the bonfire,” said Jennifer Longsine.

Longsine works in all aspects of the operation to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Good reviews traveled fast in the first year, and nearly 3,000 people attended the first 10 days.

The venue grew even more the second year.

Added attractions

In 2019 Spooks on Spurr added a second feature: the “Mansion of Misery.”

They opened a haunted trail on the property called “Forest of Freaks”.

Williams said they’ve built in some interesting additions to the trail for the 2020 season.

Tractors hitched to wagons pull visitors to the trail head where they unload in front of an old church, moved to Pat’s property from Darboy, Wisconsin.

There is also a bonfire warming location outside the church for people to wait before beginning their journey through the Forest of Freaks.

“The trail takes a bit longer to get through than the mansion,” said Wilson.

“It is a forest and there can be some uneven ground and tight spaces to navigate,” she added.

Both the haunted house and trail require some physical ability.

The trail and mansion are considered R-rated only because they include unsettling imagery with highly realistic special effects.

Longsine said last year many visitors went through both the mansion and the trail on the same night, while others chose one then returned a different night for the other.

There is no cover charge to enjoy bands, concessions and outdoor time around the bonfire, if someone decides not to go through the haunted mansion or trail.

Admission for the Mansion of Misery is $20 and the Forest of Freaks is $15.

Watch for real ghosts

Both Longsine and Wilson said it has been interesting to meet people in the past three years who either had a family history connection with the property, or once lived in the house.

There are numerous stories from people over the years that have seen real ghosts.

“There’s a woman in white that people have seen,” said Longsine.

One visitor last year told Longsine that was “Aunt Helen”.

“Even the actors have seen her,” she said.

Last year a young man who used to live in the house told Longsine his family’s dog once died in the kitchen, and an uncle passed away in one of the house’s bedrooms.

Longsine told him, “Every so often a staff member says they feel something brush up against their legs.”

The guy said. “Oh, that’s the dog,” as if it’s common.

Wilson also recalls the first year when they had converted one of the mansion’s bedrooms into a makeup room for actors.

“Workers painted the room one day. When they returned the next day the paint was all streaked,” Wilson said.

She has enjoyed learning about the home’s history and meeting people who have offered clues into its 170 plus years of occupancy.

“It does have a very interesting background,” said Wilson.

“Any house built in the 1840s is bound to have some storied history.”

For more information visit Spooks on Spurr’s Facebook page.

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