By COLE HAYES
Fear Factory makes its return to the Beaches Recreation Centre after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the event being cancelled the two previous years.
Fear Factory is a Halloween staple in the community, providing scares and memories for Beach residents who attend.
Taking place on Oct. 28, 29 and 30, it is also a way for the Beaches Recreation Centre to collect food donations for Community Centre 55.
The last Fear Factory was in 2019 and it was the most successful one the centre had hosted.
“Every year it gets better, but the last one we had the largest number of people chickening out and we had the largest amount of volunteers. There were close to 30 people inside that gym for two and a half hours screaming and being scary,” said Jay Marks who has been running Fear Factory every year since 2009.
The event is volunteer based, and Marks said they are the ones who make Fear Factory happen.
Marks has a passion for Halloween and the horror genre which is another reason why the event is a success.
“It’s my Christmas,” he said.
Those attending need to know that Fear Factory is not your standard haunted house. In fact, if you refer to it as a haunted house in front of Marks he will make you do 10 push ups.
“Haunted houses tend to be more hokey and you walk through them but you can see this is different. It’s a ride, you sit in a two-person cart and get pushed backwards,” said Marks.
“It’s quite the experience! You have the tents and the awesome props and the acting on top of that. I also think it’s cooler to say Fear Factory rather than a haunted house.”
In the last 13 years, Fear Factory has doubled in size and it keeps getting bigger each year. When Fear Factory started it was held in a hallway whereas now it is held in the gym with lines of people daring to go in.
Fear Factory’s admission is free with a food donation. The donations go to Community Centre 55 and there are usually hundreds of pounds of food donated.
Fear Factory runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Beaches Recreation Centre, 6 Williamson Rd. on Friday Oct. 28, and Saturday Oct. 29; and on Sunday, Oct. 30, from 1 to 3 p.m.
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