Patrick Albert and his family have one of the spookiest Halloween traditions in Orléans.
It involves a hand-made family haunted house with a giant castle front that “jump-scares” an average of 3,000 kids each year.
After hosting one of the city’s largest private haunted house exhibitions, the family does two things: they donate the money they’ve collected to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and then they gather around the TV to watch a compilation of the funniest jump-scare clips of the year.
“Some of the kids would come by and tell me, ‘By the way, wait until later on, you’re going to laugh your a– off,’” haunted house owner and organizer Patrick Albert said as he reached for his phone for a show-and-tell.
Over the last 26 years, the Albert family’s haunted house has been a staple in the Orléans community. Now, they’re facing a bylaw threat that could prevent them from hosting another event.
In May this year, a resident in the area made a bylaw complaint regarding the front-facing castle structure of the house, which is situated on the driveway. The castle is a crucial part of the haunted house experience, according to Patrick.
The structure had been up year-round for 10 years before the first complaint came in, according to Patrick. The family used to dismantle the castle every year in May. Patrick’s parents, himself and neighbours would help bring it down. And every year in September, it would rise again in preparation for Halloween .
“My parents are both 75 years old now and we left it up because that castle is giant,” Patrick said, adding that the front door alone takes about four to five people just to bring it down.
Now that his parents are aging, Patrick says it’s not feasible.
“After 26 years, I would have wished to finish this on my own terms and call it quits instead of somebody else doing it for me,” Patrick said.
But there’s still hope.
On July 22, the city confirmed that the Albert family will be meeting with bylaw officers to discuss a potential solution.
Ward 1 Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matthew Luloff successfully had a motion passed on July 15 that requested bylaw staff work with the family and building code and regulatory services to find a solution.
“We really don’t want to lose this asset,” Luloff said in an interview.
“They’ve been a fixture in our neighbourhoods, and when different community groups post about some of the displays that are going up every year the Albert house is usually front and centre.”
‘Everybody has a personal connection to CHEO’
The Albert family has donated more than $100,000 to CHEO over the last 26 years. In the last four to five years alone, Patrick said the family has given the hospital more than $60,000.
“I used to spend a lot of time at CHEO and so did my son, so it made sense,” he said. “A lot of people are really close to CHEO around here, too.”
It all started when a man wanted to give the family $20 for the effort the Albert family put into putting together the haunted house.
“We don’t take any money for ourselves, never did, so we kept the $20 to decide on a charity because this is an event for kids, so we decided for CHEO,” Albert said.
Luloff shared that his first daughter spent her first 36 hours at CHEO because she had struggled to breathe when she was born.
“Everybody has a personal connection to CHEO,” Luloff said. “Either having been as a kid or as a parent with a sick child.”
Event participants would typically send in their donations using a QR code or by cash directly to the family.
‘A path forward’
Luloff says he is hopeful there will be a solution to keep the “beautiful tradition going.”
The chief bylaw officer and the chief building officer will meet with the Albert family this Wednesday, July 22, to see what solutions they can find.
Patrick said he and his family know that the building where the castle is currently located is technically not legal. But since no one had previously raised an issue with it, the family had kept the tradition going by donating to the children’s hospital.
The first complaint rolled in around October last year, Patrick said. Bylaw did not show up until November.
This May, a different bylaw officer showed up after another complaint was made.
Patrick says he is grateful for the community, which has kept the haunted house going for so long. The fake hallways. Two-sided coffins. Fireplaces. Hidden clown rooms.
The prep work takes up to three months, which Albert says should begin in three weeks, if the bylaw mishap is resolved.
“That’s what helps us go, is the community, because it’s not cheap,” he said. “The community involvement around here is insane, including the high school kids who volunteer to get their 40 hours to graduate.”
The haunted house is about 90 by 90 feet and the full tour takes about half-an-hour.
The Albert haunted house is usually open between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31.
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