Connecticut Haunted House Expands

By Chris Kullstroem

Graveside Manor, a local haunt in Coventry, Connecticut, is expanding for the 2006 Halloween season to bring a bigger and better haunted attraction to its small town community.

The haunt started in the year 2000 when Jim Wieloch decided he wanted to bring a Halloween display to the neighborhood kids on Halloween night. In his front yard he put up tombstones and small props, and a display was put together in his living room picture window. It generated such a positive reaction that Jim took his passion for Halloween and built bigger and more elaborate props for the following year.

Over the next few years his life-size tombstones, monsters and other creations turned the display into a fully-functioning Halloween haunt. A walk-through graveyard was built in the backyard and the garage was turned into a haunted house with animatronics controlling flying ghosts, moving corpses and monsters of every kind. The haunt was given the name Graveside Manor, and a website was constructed: www.gravesidemanor.com.

“I wanted to give the kids something memorable,” Jim says. As the haunt grew, it went from one night of operation in its first year to staying open 2-3 nights in the last few weekends of October. It remains free of charge, but a $2 donation per person is requested to help cover operating expenses.

The number of visitors also increased throughout the years. When the gates opened for three nights for its fifth year in 2005, an estimated 1,000 people came for the show.

This year, Graveside Manor continues to expand with more life-sized props in the front yard and elaborate displays in the garage, including a funeral parlor and a mad scientist’s laboratory for visitors to view while they wait in line for the haunted house. On Sunday, October 22, Graveside Manor will be holding a charity drive for their local dog kennel, asking visitors for donations of money, canned dog food, treats, toys and blankets.

Graveside Manor’s story throughout the years is a great example of what people can do on their own to create a haunted attraction, no matter how big or small their goals may be. “It’s a learning process,” says Jim. “Do something and do it well. No matter what the size, people are going to want to see it.”