KHQ Right Now - News and Weather for Spokane and North Idaho | North Idaho Halloween tunnel grows larger every year

North Idaho Halloween tunnel grows larger every year

RATHDRUM, Idaho. - What would you do with $15,000? Buy a car? Make a down payment on a house? College tuition? A Rathdrum family decided to build one of the largest haunted houses in the Inland Northwest.

"What's money when you can see the faces of the little kids when they're eating their popcorn at the end?" asked Ruth Maryott, who has spent seven years turning her back yard into a 300 foot haunted house she calls, "The Tunnel of Terror."

Ruth estimates her family has invested $15,000 over the years, spending most of the money on props, costumes and a giant hay shed which shields people from the elements.

Ruth and her husband Ed start construction in September, stacking hay bales eight feet tall which creates a winding hallway. They spend the next few weeks filling the hallway with rubber snakes, Halloween themed costumes and cobwebs.

"I did it for my fun, but also to give something back to the community," she said. "I think now and days we have to be so careful with the trick-or-treating because in the past there have been some pretty bad things done to the kids."

Ruth grew-up in Libby, Montana and said she never got a chance to celebrate Halloween when she was younger.

She and her husband moved to the area in 1972, and started celebrating Halloween with their kids. That love for the holiday has turned into a family affair and now the tunnel.

"We have our children and grandchildren running this," she said.

Ruth said approximately 1,200 people paid to walk through her tunnel last year near the

 intersection of Highway 41 and Diagonal Road in Rathdrum.

Lines formed for two blocks, according to Ruth.

The family plans to open their Tunnel next Friday, October 23rd, and charge $3 for adults and $2 for kids. The Tunnel will be open from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.