Scare Away Hunger, a family-owned haunted house in Cedar Bay, attracted more than 1,600 visitors this year, bringing in more than 3,000 food items as well as $600 in cash donations for Samaritan House through its 2025 campaign.
What started as a spooky community tradition has turned into an act of generosity that will help feed dozens of families, organizer Carla Mitchell told the Sun on Sunday.
“This year’s event was our most successful, attracting more than 1,600 visitors and doubling the amount of food donated to Samaritan House,” said Carla Mitchell.
Scare Away Hunger organizers Mike, left, and Carla Mitchell kneel in their living room Sunday afternoon next to more than 3,000 food items received for Samaritan House. Now in its third year, Scare Away Hunger is the brainchild of the couple and their daughters Emma, Claire and Hannah. Every September, a family transforms their quiet Cedar Bay home into a haunted house filled with spine-chilling scenes, complete with fog machines, eerie lighting and the skeleton of a grim reaper guarding the entrance. (Abiola Odutola/Brandon Sun)
“We set a goal of collecting 1,500 items, the same as last year, and this year we collected just over 3,000 items and $600 in cash for Samaritan House. We had a ton of visitors, which was great.”
The Mitchell Haunted House has become a Halloween staple in Brandon – a place where families can enjoy scares while doing their part for a good cause. Carla said the response this year has exceeded all expectations, with both brave visitors and trick-or-treaters stopping by to show their support.
“This is great,” she said. “We love Halloween and we would have made our house haunted anyway. But knowing that we can combine what we love to do with helping others makes it even more special. It's really touching.”
Mike echoed her sentiments, calling the result a reflection of the city's spirit of generosity. “We’re really proud of everyone in Brandon who came out and donated,” he said. “This is a community effort and these are community results. It reflects what Brandon is all about.”
The family's children were equally enthusiastic about the campaign, checking the donation bin every day after school.
“Every day we would come home and there would be new things in the trash can,” Mike recalled. “People were bringing food before we even opened or in between our scary days. It was amazing to see.”
While the creepy exhibit and hundreds of visitors made for some exciting days, hosting an outdoor haunted house comes with its own challenges.
Carla said the wind has tested their decorations and setup this year.
“We had a couple of days where we had to replace the tarps and get everything fixed,” she said. “But luckily we had beautiful weather on the days we were open.”
Samaritan House is expected to accept donations today which will go towards purchasing food baskets as the need for them continues to grow, especially ahead of the holiday season.
“There is a lot of need and the need is growing,” Carla said. “We hope this will extend the life of Samaritan House for some time.”
Looking ahead, the Mitchells say they're already thinking about how to make next year's haunted house even bigger and scarier.
“Every year it gets a little bigger,” Carla said with a laugh. “It's a good excuse to buy more Halloween decorations.”
She also expressed her gratitude to everyone who donated, volunteered or helped improve the exhibit.
“Not only did we get food, but we also got costumes, a portable garage and other things that really completed the haunted house,” she said. “We just appreciate the support of our community and look forward to doing it all again next year.”
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