Two haunted houses to go see in Timmins this Halloween

Spooky season is in full swing across our region and many households have gotten into the Halloween spirit with plenty of 'spook-tacular' haunted houses.

Haunted house set up by Timmins family on Toke Street in support of local food banks. Oct. 29/23 (Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)

Several families in Timmins have set up some elaborate displays and are collecting donations for local food banks. Here is where to find them:

BRIMSTONE MANSION ON CHESTNUT LANE

Ghosts, goblins and all manner of creepy creatures are coming alive on Chestnut Lane in Timmins where people will find one of the city’s most elaborate Halloween displays at the popular 'Brimstone Mansion.'

Seven years running, its mastermind, Ron Lepine, said he’s spent more than $20,000 creating a haunted mansion that grows larger and more creative every Halloween.

"My neighbours say 'We’re crazy, we spend too much money on getting new displays,'" Lepine, Brimstone's groundskeeper, told CTV News in an interview Sunday.

"The house, you know, one year, got invaded by a whole bunch of zombies. We had a year where the witches took over. This year, we were just attacked by a whole bunch of ghouls. So, you’ll see quite a few of them around. They’re all over and when you go through, you've got to make sure (to look) left, right, up down. There’s something to see all over."

He said it took more than 400 hours to set up his 'spooky walk' and calls it a family operation, doing it for his wife and granddaughters.

Ron Lepine creator of Brimstone Mansion haunted house on Chestnut Lane in Timmins. Oct. 29/23 (Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)

"My wife has cancer and I found out that she loves Halloween," Lepine said.

"The deal was, 'You stay alive, I do the Halloween.' So, we do the Halloween every."

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He also said seeing the joy on kids' faces when they go through makes all the effort worthwhile.

Haunted mansion set up by Timmins family on Chestnut Lane in support of local food banks. Oct. 29/23 (Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)

Last year, the attraction saw around 4,000 people come out for a family-friendly fright.

TOKE STREET

The Brimstone Mansion shares the spooky spotlight with other haunted houses in the city, like one on Toke Street created by Marc Lacois, now in its fifth year.

Lacroix told CTV News in an interview Sunday they had 818 people come through his haunted house Saturday night.

"Our next event’s going to be on the Tuesday, Halloween night, (we're) expecting another 800-plus," he said.

"So, we’re going to beat our record of the amount of people coming through."

• Check out some of the spooky features of the two haunted houses in this photo gallery

FOR A GOOD CAUSE

The price of admission for an 'eerie-sistable' experience also helps people in need and translates to hundreds of pounds of food and plenty of cash donations for the city’s two food banks.

Haunted house set up by Timmins family on Toke Street in support of local food banks. Oct. 29/23 (Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)

"Being able to bring a bus load of non-perishables to them is absolutely rewarding. Teaches values to my kids as well," Lacroix said.

"We do it for the community," Lepine said.

"We try to give back and this is how we give back."

The two masters of 'scare-emonies' said they owe thanks to local business sponsors and hope to hear plenty of satisfied screams from people sharing in the Halloween and giving spirit Oct. 31.