SCRANTON, Pa. — A formerly abandoned building that's more than 100 years old is as good a place as any for a haunted house.
"If you go out front, you can see there's actually a ghost. not just part of our haunted house, there's a ghost that lives in here, we're pretty sure," Joel Beatty said.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the people running the show here know you don't have to be moved by a supernatural force to want to support people in your community.
"All proceeds are going to scholarship money for college students around the area who have helped volunteer and helped construct this. But also to us as the Jarett Yoder Foundation, we are veterans serving veterans, front liners, community heroes," Beatty said.
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This building used to be the Scranton School for the Deaf. It's now home to the Patriot Resource Center, run by the Jarett Yoder Foundation, a nonprofit named after a Pennsylvania National Guard soldier killed in Afghanistan.
"A lot of people don't consider what they do as a hero, you know, police officers, firefighters, but they're heroes. They're serving the community, and what we're all about is serving them, helping them in any way, shape, or form."
So you're not just paying to get spooked here, although, from the stories we were told about opening weekend, that's pretty much guaranteed with the price of admission.
"Scaring middle schoolers sounds evil, but it's fun," Beatty joked.
Every scream that echoes through these walls will help vets, local police and fire departments, and college students.
And that is certainly far from scary.
The haunted house is open every weekend through Halloween.