Railroaders Museum offers scares with flair
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An upcoming haunted tour of the Railroaders Memorial Museum will "send shivers down your spine," according to Candy Holliday, the museum's marketing and events director.
"Lafferty's Revenge: A Haunted Tour in Railroad City" is the combination of a play and a haunted house attraction, said script writer Morey Lawruk of Lawruk Builders, who sponsored the event.
On Oct. 25 and 26, Lawruk and Penn State Altoona student Hunter Hatch will guide groups of 30 people through the darkness of the museum's first, second and third floors carrying nothing but minimal candlelight on the tour.
In total, the tour will take approximately 40 minutes. Each group will have different start times, with tours starting at 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m. both nights.
Throughout the tour, Lawruk and Hatch will share fictionalized stories based on last year's character, John Lafferty, who was a real-life undertaker in the city 130 years ago, Lawruk said.
While guests are in for some surprises, including humorous moments, the event will be more than actors "jump scaring" guests in the dark, Lawruk said.
"You won't be disappointed when you come through this if you're looking for a Halloween event that isn't going to be filled with gore and blood," Lawruk said, adding there will be some surprises "people are not going to see coming."
It's recommended people age 12 and younger do not attend the tour, Holliday noted.
Lawruk said the museum is the perfect place to host a haunted event because it's naturally dark and eerie. It also allows people to enjoy Halloween-themed events in Altoona rather than traveling to other areas for haunted house attractions, he said.
"It's completely dark in the museum," he said, adding people may notice things "creeping around in the background" but they're not going to be able to identify what's there.
Lawruk said he wrote the script for the event in under two hours after he received approval from the museum's staff to plan for the event, which is now in its fourth year.
Holliday said the museum's staff looks forward to the event every year. This year, many of them will be directly involved with the event she said, noting the museum hired actors for previous years.
"My role is to be outside and that's fine by me," Holliday said. "I'll let these guys handle the creepy, and I'll handle the admission."
Lawruk said he's excited to see how this year's event turns out as he wants "to unleash even more stuff for next year" if it's received well by the community.
"If they like it, I have plenty more ideas that are a little more grand than they are now. This is the prototype," he said.
The tour will be handicapped accessible, and guests are permitted to wear costumes throughout the event. Lawruk said it's not wise to wear a T-Rex costume or any outfit with obstructed vision.
Tickets for the events are $10 and can be purchased in advance at www.railroadcity.org/events. Holliday said anyone who needs reassurance about attending the event before purchasing tickets can contact the museum at 814-946-0834.
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.