Bolton “House of Horrors” aims to raise money for SickKids

By Rob Paul

Halloween is a special time of year where kids can dress as some of their favourite characters while getting to eat bottomless amounts of candy and adults can feel like kids again too by throwing on a mask and chowing down on some sweets.

It's a time when everybody has the chance to lean into the spookiness of the night by decorating their homes while also having the ability to light up children's faces as they throw chocolate into their bags at the call of “trick-or-treat.”

Some houses go bigger than others, but ultimately it's about letting kids have that one day a year to embrace the Halloween spirit and make memories that last forever. 

That's why people like Bolton's Brian Marmoreo live for Halloween and doing everything they can on October 31.

This year Marmoreo and his girlfriend Alexandria Celebre are really going to show off how much they love Hallows' Eve by being a must-stop on any every trick-or-treating route in the Bolton neighbourhood.

On Halloween from 5 p.m. to midnight, their house—located at 136 Riverwood Terrace, Bolton—will be set up as the House of Horrors. But not only will it be dripping with spooky spirit, but they'll also be running a fundraiser for SickKids Hospital.

Marmoreo has always been a big believer in going all out for Halloween and it originally started as a tradition with his sister, but he wanted to give Bolton a taste of the fun and fright his homemade decorations bestow on those who dare to come by.

“I started doing Halloween years and years ago when I couldn't trick-or-treat anymore at the age of 15,” he said. “Me and my sister have been doing it for years and I just really love it; it's my favourite holiday and I really enjoy it. My sister and I started this tradition when I was 19 [with] just a red-light and pumpkin. We decided to handout candy…and we loved it. Every year we started doing it and doing it better. She moved to Stouffville, and we did it there for years and we did it here in 2019, but back there last year.”

“His sister bought a new home, so they wanted to do it there last year,” adds Celebre. “But then we wanted to do ours too, so we decided to divide and conquer this year.”

The fundraising aspect came to Marmoreo when he started to think about the children who aren't able to dress up and hit the streets for candy with their parents.

“This is the first year we've done a fundraiser and I'd never done it before because I guess we didn't think we were good enough,” he said. “Then I took a look around and realized, you know what, we aren't half bad. The reason I contacted SickKids for it is because this is a holiday for kids—it's for everyone, but the trick-or-treating part is for the kids and that's what made me want to do it for them. This is so important to me because I want to bring the spirit back while fundraising for kids that can't trick-or-treat and experience this. It's not the same and it breaks my heart that the kids at SickKids can't trick-or-treat and come here to see this. I'm hoping maybe next year we can bring some of the kids from SickKids here to give them some of the Halloween experience.”

To help make the donation process to SickKids easier and safer given the ongoing pandemic, all those who wanted to donate will have to do is scan a barcode when at Marmoreo's House of Horrors. 

“The goal is $1,000—I was hoping to make it $10,000, but we aren't sure what the turnout will be,” he said. “If we can hit the $1,000 mark, that'll mean something. If you come you don't have to donate, but it would be fantastic if people do have the ability to donate. People will just have to scan a QR code we have, and it will allow them to donate right there through their phone.”

With last year's Halloween not being quite the same because of COVID-19, Marmoreo is hopeful that kids will have a closer to normal time this year and he's hoping next year he'll be able to do it even bigger.

“I feel like it's one of those holidays that is a little underappreciated and I'm just trying to bring the spirit back. It's seeing an idea and then mutating it to what you want to do and I just love making this type of stuff. I could make terrifying stuff, but this stuff isn't as bad or gory because it's for the kids. I don't think anyone is going to come here and be disappointed with what I've made, but the one thing I don't do is I don't make animatronics. Unfortunately, I'm not there yet with it, but I just love making this stuff and coming up with ideas for it and everything I make has a name—like how they call Jaws ‘Bruce.›

“It takes a lot of time; it's maybe taken me 10 hours to make everything. To be honest, a lot of this stuff is me buying stuff and making it or putting it together from there, I know some people make everything from scratch and that's amazing, but I didn't have that time this year. Next year will be different because I'll have more time. This year is just a little taste of what I hope to do – next year I'm going to unleash it.”

The number one thing Marmoreo wants to get out of this is to help families get into the Halloween spirit and have an unforgettable time and that's why he aimed to make his house so unique.

“As good or as bad as it looks, you aren't going to find stuff like this anywhere else. You won't see anything like this and it's not like it's the best—there are people out there who do amazing stuff—but it's all about the creativity and that aspect of Halloween. It's unique and it's different, and I'm only improving. 

«Every year I try to up the ante and get better and better. Even though I make this stuff I still think it's cool to have iconic characters being a part of it so [Alexandria] is Freddy and I'll be Michael and we'll have Sam from Trick ‘r Treat out front. We'll have two smoke machines and seven-foot reaper. We've got tiki torches that will be lit up (with lights) and pumpkins hanging from the tree with lights in them. At night when everything is lit up it looks amazing.”

“When you throw the lighting on it at night it really gives it a different type of look,” said Celebre. “Adding the lighting is such a huge part of it. We put pink lighting on one of them at night and it looks legit fleshy like it's dripping, it's gross, but it's awesome. He's always been so adamant about having enough lighting because otherwise you won't see it the way it's meant to be seen.”

With the pandemic still ongoing, Marmoreo and Celebre wanted to make sure all trick-or-treaters would be comfortable and safe this Halloween, so they've implemented precautions and it completely contactless.

“What we're doing here for COVID safety is we're going to have a sanitation station at the front, and we'll have an enter and exit sign,” he said. “We'll have people walk up the driveway and have pumpkins every six-feet with yellow tape to keep distance. Once they come get the candy, they'll exit the opposite way, and we'll have a lot of props decorating the driveway as well as the yard. We don't want to have people huddled up in front of the house just to be safe, so we'll have stuff staggered and clear signage and a pathway.”

“We'll even be sending candy down a tube, and it's designed to look like an extended arm of Freddy Krueger because I'll be dressed as Freddy,” adds Celebre. “And the candy will go into an orange bucket at the bottom of the tube for kids to pick from or right into their bag.”

As Marmoreo and Celebre prepare their home for October 31, they've noticed more people getting into the Halloween spirit and they hope everyone does their best to give kids in the neighbourhood a night to remember. 

“I've been seeing a lot of activity on the street and it's fantastic,” he said. “When I helped with my sister's house in Stouffville, all their neighbours saw what we brought to the table. They live in a court and everyone in the court got excited and they wanted to get involved too because it got them in the spirit. I'm trying to ignite that here. It's not about who's house is the best, the point is about doing something creative and original that will really hype up the spirit of Halloween for the kids.”