DeKALB | After 37 years, visitors to Hopkins Park will no longer be haunted. All the ghosts and ghouls will be evicted from the park’s shelter as the Kishwaukee Kiwanis’ annual haunted house is held there for the last time.

“[I’m] kind of torn, we’ve been doing it there for a long, long time,” said Paul Stoddard, associate professor of geology and environmental geosciences, who also helps with the running of the house every year. “I think being forced to find new places isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does get you out of your comfort zone.”

Jim Barker, chair of the attraction, has been the mastermind behind the haunted house and maze for many years.

“I would design a maze on a computer using software and then would chalk the lines of the walls on the floor to make sure they were in position,” Barker said.

2,000 to 3,000 people a year come to the attraction. The haunted house is a big fundraiser for Kiwanis.

“What we do with the profit is help numerous agencies. Most notable are the bike paths,” Barker said.

With the help of several groups, such as Circle-K from NIU and DeKalb High School’s Key Club, Stoddard said the Kiwanis are able to put on an attraction that provides fun for guests and employees alike.

“It’s a lot of fun. You get to interact with people in a way that you don’t usually get,” Stoddard said. “You get some groups that really get into it so much, and they go there wanting to be terrified, and we’re happy to oblige.”

The program, which involves two weeks of construction and months of planning, will have to find a new home for Barker’s innovations. Through brainstorming and visits to a Halloween and Party Show held every spring, Barker has constructed many contraptions. These include spring-action skulls and bodies, bridges, crawl-overs and, back by popular demand, what is known as the earthquake room.

The house is open Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday from 7 to 10 p.m. and costs $6. For those not wishing to be terrified, there is a free “not-so-scary” attraction Saturday at 2 p.m. The DeKalb Police Department also has issued a statement recommending that trick-or-treating take place between 5 and 8 p.m. Halloween night.