Step inside the parlor and find the storyteller waiting.
"My husband, he's out back waiting for you in the warehouse. I don't go out there much because it frightens me," her soft voice warns.
Listen closely, and you’ll hear the sounds screaming for blocks away.
"Very scary. Very scary," confirms first time visitor Karley Feuston of Polk County.
In Lakeland each autumn, you'll find a different kind of haunted house waiting just beyond the wreath on the door with skeleton fingers.
"Whenever you walk through, it becomes a little more evil and evil,” admits Fright Foreman Morgan Roth. The junior at Lakeland High School has spent more than four months planning “Buckingham Terror” located on Buckingham Avenue.
The haunted house this year follows the theme of “Past Possessions.” Morgan and other teens planned a haunted house based around a warehouse where not everything is what it seems. Hoarding is apparent, while the creatures living in the waste are anything but grateful to see you. This year’s version of Buckingham Terror is a follow-up to 2013’s version, based on an abandoned Polk County mine.
After more than a decade of scaring, the formula is working. Folks line up nightly through Halloween to get scared, like the Feuston sisters from Lakeland.
"I scared so much, my voice is going to be out,” proclaims Kiersten Feuston.
Buckingham Terror has a reputation.
"What are you afraid of?” I ask 18-year-old Salvador Campasi.
“Zombies, skeletons, chainsaws, things that crawl, things that slither, jump out," he honestly responds.
The high school senior knows what he is talking about. Past Possessions is crawling with actors, most of which are Polk County students.
Yet, behind the screams, you'll find education at work.
"Ninety percent of the work is done by sixth through 12th grade youth,” says Camp Fire Administrative Assistant Austin Brown.
Camp Fire Sunshine Central Florida each fall stages Buckingham Terror at their headquarters each year. The Polk County group provides children with afterschool services and builds self-esteem and confidence in teens.
"Once they complete it [the annual haunted house], it acts like a fundraiser for the teen program to grow and prosper,” Austin explains. Before graduating from High School, Austin spent many summers planning and the autumn season building the haunted attraction.
Meantime, after devoting half a dozen seasons envisioning the next wave of fear, Morgan Roth says the cost of admission fuels the future of Florida.
"It [ticket costs] goes back to provide for scholarships for kids, pay for supplies, it's an amazing opportunity for us to make money and have fun."
Having fun can also earn you a badge of courage, like Sal.
"Why is everyone staring at me?" Sal asks as applause breaks out.
"I am so proud of you!" his sister exclaims as Buckingham Terror was no match for Sal’s bravery.
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