Tucked away in the backyard of a quiet neighborhood is a maze of fright.

Mike Caron and his partner of 13 years, Stacia Turner, started off small nine years ago, with Caron lying in wait on his back porch to scare unsuspecting trick-or-treaters.

From there, it grew into a haunted house repleate with pneaumatic motors causing manequins and spiders to leap out at parents holding the hands of their frightened children.

The best part for most parents is the price; it’s free.

“If you start charging, then people won’t come,” said Caron in a darkened temporary structure with cobwebs and spiders covering the plywood walls. “It’s too much fun not to do.”

This year, though, they have decided to give back to the community by doing what they love. They are asking for trick-or-treaters to give a donation to the local animal shelter. 

They have posted a list of items the shelter needs on their Facebook page, Never Rest Graveyard, and hope to fill a homemade coffin with items and money for needy and homeless animals.

Caron and Turner start at the end of September pulling all of the decorations and makeshift walls out of any nook and cranny they have for storage. Slowly, the backyard of their East Avenue house is transformed into a a frightening array of witches, zombie babies, skeletons, clowns and anything else Caron could build to frighten his guests.

Each year it gets bigger, and every year they change up the rooms of their haunted house to make it fresh for the some 200 regulars on Halloween night.

Using his imagination and ideas shared with online home haunter groups, Caron has built a storytelling witch whom stirs her cauldron as families pass.

He also has a real casket he bought on Craigslist. A mannequin will sit up when a hidden pad is stepped on in the funeral room.

“Somebody had it as part of their Halloween decorations and it was creeping out their kids, so they sold it,” Caron said as he looked over the light blue vessel. “It creeped me out just enough, so I bought it.”

Along with the funeral room, they have the spider room, the toxic room, the butcher room, and maybe scariest off all, the clown room.

They also have family members, some as young as 5 years old, who forgo their night of trick-or-treating to help usher families and for the joy of scaring people.

“I like hearing everybody screaming,” Caron said with a laugh. “There are some kids that don’t make it all the way through. You will see a parent start off with three or four kids and only come out with one that they are dragging a long.”

But not only do they spend the month setting up their haunted house, they will go through bags of candy for the children as well.

“It’s a lot of work for one night, but it’s fun,” Caron said. “It comes apart a whole lot easier than it goes up.”

What took them a month to set up, will be gone within a week after Halloween.

So far, the couple plans to keep doing their one-night show for maybe nine more years.

“Once we hit 50, I think it will be time to give this up,” Caron said. He, along with Turner, heads to work for a cleaning company after shutting down the haunted house around 9 p.m. on Halloween.

After that, the couple is thinking about doing one last big Halloween with a wedding.

“People think that’s crazy, but we love the holiday so much that getting married on that day only makes sense to us,” Turner said.

What: Never Rest Graveyard

Where: 362 East Ave., Lewiston

When: Oct. 31 from 5 to 9 p.m. or “whenever people stop showing up.”

Cost: Free, but a donation for the local animal shelter will be appreciated

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