Henderson family turns home into house of horrors just in time for Halloween

People are welcome to step inside Scott and Kathy Rice's house and grab a piece of candy on Halloween night. But there is one catch -- guests must first walk through their haunted house.

Scott Rice has always been enchanted by Halloween.

"It is so much bigger in the M idwest," he said. "Something about the season. The crisp cold air, the leaves changing. And Halloween sits in the middle of that."

Halloween itself has always been a lifelong passion, Rice said.

"It's a night you can put on a mask and be someone else," Rice said. "I think people who are passionate about Halloween understand that."

In 1999, Rice decided to bring the spirit of Halloween to his house and neighborhood by hosting his own haunted house at 949 High Plains Drive.

"At first, it was just my garage with a few rooms," Rice said. "There was a hanging man, a head on a table and an electric chair."

Keeping the budget tight, the family members tried to become more elaborate the following year.

Rice said they would scrounge for materials to create better mazes and rooms for his haunted garage.

The family decided to take a hiatus for a few years to put on private Halloween parties for friends.

"In 2006, we started it up again full-blown," Rice said.

That was the first year Rice built a structure next to the garage to make the haunted house bigger.

"It was about 40 feet long," Rice said.

As the house grew, so did the ideas for how to scare trick-or-treaters, whether it was a haunted Western town or a pirate ship.

Last year's theme was a haunted bayou, complete with a swamp, bridge and a fake alligator.

"It was the whole works," Rice said.

The haunted house is working for two nights: the night of Rice's private party, in which guests must go through the haunted house to get to the party, and Halloween night, in which guests must go through the house to get a piece of candy.

"We try to get good candy," Rice said. "It would be a shame to have all this set up and at the end you get penny candy."

The house is open from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday to honor the city's suggested hours.

Rice said the house usually sees hundreds upon hundreds of children.

"We tried to count by how much candy we hand out," Rice said. "But some people come through more than once."

Rice said it's not just children but also adults who come through looking for a scare.

This year's theme is toys gone bad.

"You're definitely in for a treat," Rice said.

The house has expanded, leading trick-or-treaters inside part of Rice's actual house, through the garage and into five rooms full of spooks.

The haunted house costs Rice about $2,000, which also includes the cost of his private party. Participants can experience the haunted house free on Halloween.

Even though Rice is still constructing this year's project, he and his wife have already discussed ideas for 2012 and 2013.

"My wife said we should spend as much time on Christmas as we do on Halloween," Rice said. "I told her I do. I spend six months planning for Halloween and leave the Christmas lights up for about six months, too."

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.