Discover Duluth Redux: Haunted Shack 2007

Originally published Oct. 19, 2007, on DuluthBudgeteer.com.

Scaring is serious business for Pat Stojevich. Not only has he been rigging haunted displays for nearly three decades, but he took his “hobby” to the next level on a recent family trip: During a slower day at MGM Studios in Orlando, Stojevich convinced the park’s effects artists to share some of their secrets.

Lucky for us, because he turned around and applied those newfound tricks to the Haunted Shack, the annual scarefest he holds at the Morgan Park Community Center.

“I take it seriously,” Stojevich says matter-of-factly, perhaps unaware that it might just be the understatement of the century. (Want proof? Just ask for a tour of the haunt’s high-tech command center.)

Surprisingly, though, the Haunted Shack creator isn’t even a fan of horror movies. Instead, he said he prefers movies that make him think — in stark contrast to the outright nightmare he designs in Morgan Park each year.

So just remember that next time you run out of one of the Shack’s I-can’t-handle-this exits screaming.

“Discover Duluth” is an ongoing photo essay series by Matthew R. Perrine that highlights points of interest in and around the region.

Tags: morgan park, haunted shack, discover duluth, pat stojevich, duluth, budgeteer