Hannah Foley, Contributing Photographer

Dressed in wrestling gear and minion goggles, trick-or-treaters from across New Haven County gathered in Hamden to attend the region’s most popular homemade haunted house on Halloween night. 

Eric Andrewsen has hosted the haunted house for seven years at his home in the Spring Glen neighborhood of Hamden. He organizes the event with the help of his husband, Alfred Lee MED ’04, a professor of hematology at the Yale School of Medicine, and his friend, Tyler Shamaly. Volunteers from the greater New Haven community also work on the project.

Anne Harris, a resident of North Haven by day and a haunted house horror-actress by night, emphasized Andrewsen’s commitment to creating healthy work conditions.

“Eric has a lot of experience in this,” Harris said. “He treats his volunteers with top-notch respect. Everyone has a fun time; it’s a great, safe environment.”

Andrewson plans each haunted house for over a year, each boasting a different theme. This year, he transformed his home into a cursed carnival, complete with bloody clowns, a ringmaster on stilts and a fog machine that cloaked the street in an ominous mist.

The house typically welcomes between 600 and 800 trick-or-treaters. Last night’s line extended two blocks down Whitney Avenue. Still, the guests maintained a lively energy throughout the queue.

“People come from all over New Haven County, and they’re obviously willing to stand here for a long time to see all the wonderful effort that has gone into this,” Harris said.

The haunted house has always been free of charge; This year, visitors were invited to make donations at the entrance. All proceeds went toward the nonprofit organization Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut, a one-on-one youth mentorship program.

Hallow’s Eve

In the week preceding Halloween, families and residents of the greater New Haven community attended a variety of events hosted by local organizations.

One celebration was hosted by New Haven-based youth enrichment program LEAP. Their Oct. 28 Halloween festival was held at the Dixwell Community House —the “Q-House” — which provides resources and a gathering place for residents of New Haven’s Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods.

At the three-hour-long event, children were invited to make crafts, watch movies, donate books and watch performances from community groups.The pinnacle of the night was the festival’s “Spooky Trail Trick-or-Treating.” Volunteers elaborately decorated tables in the gymnasium with thousands of candies for children and families to choose from. Upon entering the building, one child shouted that it was the “best day ever.”

“We’ve had a great turnout,” said Charles Collier, a LEAP volunteer who works with students in a weekly literacy program. “It’s a real, safe opportunity for kids to enjoy the holiday.”

Collier sat at a pumpkin-themed table with Linda Jackson, director of the Yale School of Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Community Engagement and Equity. Donning fun masks and jewelry, they insisted that every child say “trick-or-treat” before getting candy.

As a first-time LEAP volunteer, Jackson noted that events like these are a great way to get involved in the New Haven community.

Although a tradition, the LEAP Halloween festival had not occurred for the past two years in the midst of COVID-19. 

Henry Fernandez, the executive director of LEAP, underscored the importance of community events in the aftermath of the pandemic.

“There’s a lot of things that kids have lost during COVID,” Fernandez said. “This is an opportunity for them to come together, wear costumes, be kids and have fun.”

Other New Haven Halloween events included the Shubert Theater’s annual trick-or-treat theater tour, which kicked off the theater’s holiday food and toy drive, Best Video’s “Not-So-Spooky” Halloween party, Connecticut Violence Intervention Program’s trunk or treat and the second annual Wooster Square Park “Halloween Howl” dog parade.

Trick-or-treating has existed since medieval times, originating as Irish “guising” where children donned costumes and went door-to-door performing songs and poems in exchange for food or money.