AUGUSTA — Jackson Hemphill’s mind is made up.

Having just emerged Saturday night from the United Volunteers of Maine Haunted House that has materialized in a vacant retail space at the Marketplace at Augusta, the 7-year-old decided he will not be going to any more haunted houses. Not this year, not next year, not any year.

Hemphill and his extended family were among the scores of people who had the bejeebers scared out of them over the weekend. Midway through Saturday evening, he stood  just outside the haunted house’s exit, under the protective hand of his aunt, Cassie Hemphill, and uttered not a single word, just shaking his head emphatically no.

His resolve might be tested.

“We live up in Aroostook County, and we’re down visiting,” Carrie Hemphill said. “We have a couple more we’re going to be doing as well.”

Carrie Hemphill’s mother and relatives and friends were still making their way through the 2023 UVM Haunted House, just a few of the hundreds of people expected to visit the annual tradition this month. By Saturday night, the event was in its third weekend. Beginning Friday, the event is scheduled to be held nightly — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. — through Halloween.

The United Volunteers of Maine is the engine that delivers the scares year after year to the Marketplace at Augusta at 197 Civic Center Drive. The community service organization spends a year planning each haunted house, the biggest among the projects it does every year.  While each edition of the haunted house is different, some things are the same.

Many longtime volunteers, including Steve Humphrey and Weldon Black, return year after year. While this was Humphrey’s first year running the event, he has been involved for years, leaving his mark figuratively and literally — his name is enshrined on one of the walls that was painted more than a decade ago — throughout the event.

They have to secure a space, design the event and line up volunteers, before the pace picks up in September and October as the components are moved into their home for the year. Building the UVM Haunted House takes about a week and a half over the course of a month.

The money raised by the haunted house’s $20 admission fee is also distributed in predictable ways. After covering expenses and paying for liability insurance — a hedge against nightmares of an entirely different kind — the money is distributed to organizations the youth volunteers support, based on the hours volunteers work in putting up the event, acting in it and tearing it down.

It also earns them volunteer hours for community service that many high schools require for graduation.

The differences come in how the UVM Haunted House is set up, which changes from year to year. The space can dictate whether the house occupies a long, narrow space or a wide, shallow one. That opens up opportunties to add new ideas for hallways and rooms, and the actors bring their own energy to the event.

In the final hour before the doors opened at 7 p.m. Saturday in the space next to Barnes & Noble, the scramble was on to tick off the final tasks. Some frighteners were ready and waiting for showtime, having grazed their way through pizzas supplied by Brickyard Hollow Brewing Co.

Others were gearing up for the night. Annie Miragliuolo of China was getting her ghoul on with the help of Parker Russell. Russell, who is from Readfield, wielded a sponge and green face paint, with an occasional swipe of black, to blend colors and complete the transformation.

“I don’t have a lot of time,” Russell said as she dabbed. “I just try to go as fast as I can.”

The goal is to make each character as scary as possible, she said, without spending too much time on each face.

The tradition has been going on for decades, although neither Black nor Humphrey can say exactly how long. Originally put on by the Jaycees, the United Volunteers of Maine bought the haunted house’s assets when the local Jaycees chapter was disbanding.

“It’s right up there in the state,” Black said. “We had one year we didn’t have it, so we can’t say continuous any more.”

Along with the assets, the United Volunteers of Maine absorbed some former Jaycees as volunteers. Others have been drafted by their children, who were taking part and decided to return year after year. The group is always on the lookout for more help, which requires only time. Volunteers do not have to pay annual dues.

There are no firm restrictions, according to organizers. They recommend 13 as a guideline, but they note some adults do not make it far before they bolt, while some children finish with aplomb.

Perhaps only the spirits can see Jackson Hemphill’s future with venturing into haunted houses. At 7, he has plenty of time to change his mind.

 

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