The Spirits of the Tower haunted tour
Burlington Parks and Recreation organize haunted walk for locals

Carolyn Smith | staff writer
csmith5@smcvt.edu

The Spirits of the Tower Haunted Tour celebrated its third year on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Ethan Allen Park in Burlington. The Burlington Parks and Recreation put on the event.

Spooky fun

The first haunted tour attracted 1,500 people looking to enjoy a spooky night of fun at $3 each. This year’s tour sold out with over 1,000 tickets.

The tour begins with a masked skeleton greeting the crowd. Larry Frisoli, photo

“The cost is affordable so that families can enjoy a fun night out with the kids without spending a lot of money,” says Maggie Leugers, superintendent of recreation for the Burlington Parks and Recreation department.

The line for the tour wrapped around the entire park. Vendors are stretched across the park with snacks and activities. The event supplied apple cider and glow sticks at affordable prices.

The tour began on a path in the woods where two ghosts greeted the crowd. Further along the walk, piercing screams were heard as witches, zombies, and dead prisoners jumped out from their hiding spots.

The tour

Scenes were performed along the trail, such as witches hoping to make a brew with the crowd as the main ingredient, and a person buried alive asking for help. There are cages with people trapped inside, as well as wolves and ghouls grabbing people as they walk by.

The final part of the tour was the haunted tower, where zombies locked the participants in a dark tower for five minutes. Lights flashed on and off as a man dressed in black threw people behind a curtain. Banging and screaming roared throughout the tower, giving the impression that someone had been killed.

“I liked walking and all the things jumping out at us,” says Anne Follett, 45, a Burlington resident. 

Leugers says this year there were at least 75 to 90 volunteers. Volunteers from high schools, colleges and the community offered their services for the haunted tour, she says.

People wait in line for the haunted tour. Larry Frisoli, photo

A theater group called Spooktacular Dramatics, composed of 9 to 13-year-olds, developed characters and performs two of the 12 dramatic scenes at the event, says Dan Cahill , recreation coordinator for the Burlington Parks and Recreation.

Cameron George, 9, is not a member of the theater group, but volunteered his time to scare people. He dressed up as a dead Boston Red Sox player, and worked in many scenes throughout the tour.

All the young volunteers spent most of their time in the graveyard scene, George says.

Help from the community

This year the budget was $3,000 and sponsors help to underwrite the cost of the event, Leuger says.

Burlington Parks and Recreation needed to find resources and donations to make this event possible, Cahill says.

In 2005, with entrance fee and sponsor donations, the money it cost to put on the event broke even, he says.

“[This event] encourages participation at all different levels,” Cahill says.