Taylor Fukunaga
Staff Writer
The Fun House in Montclair is celebrating its fifth year with Halloween spirit. Admission to walk through the house is $5 a person and the attraction opened at the beginning of the month, and runs from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, at 4896 El Morado Street in Montclair.
Visitors to the Fun House are welcomed with a large front yard filled with vibrant orange and purple lights and sinister music. Towering skeleton figures oversee the multitude of spider, killer clown and graveyard decorations. The brief walk-through experience takes place in the backyard and has five themed rooms filled with clowns, chainsaws, knives and swamp-like creatures.
“I’ve always been obsessed with Halloween and loved going to the houses that were the most decorated,” co-creator of the Fun House Ruby Salonga said.
Salonga said that her husband and she were inspired to create the Fun House after years of inviting people in their community to see their annual Halloween-themed house setup. The two share a love for Halloween and the thrill of being scared.
“I wanted to bring something to the people of Montclair to enjoy,” Salonga said.
The Fun House is operated by a team of working staff and volunteers. Julian Lopez is one of 17 volunteers and works as a killer clown scare actor.
“You will definitely leave with a scream or running out of these doors,” Lopez said.
Some workers have been with the Fun House since its start in 2019. Amber Orozco works at the front ticket booth and she said that it is nice to see the development of the Fun House from its beginning.
“We came a long way and people are seeing that,” Orozco said. “We’ve gotten lots of compliments about how we’re just as scary or even scarier than Knott’s Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights. We come here to work and to give people a show.”
The entry lines quickly filled before the opening of the Fun House, but that did not stop the scaring from starting. Visitors waiting in line are often scared by one of the actors.
Most of the themed rooms are dark when entering, emulating an eerie feel amongst those who walk through.
“The actors scare you, but you don’t know where they are. You’re always guessing your next move,” University of La Verne students, sophomore biology major Isabella Lara and sophomore business administration major Logan Chun said. “They were really creative with the costumes, setup, everything.”
As visitors exited the final room of the Fun House, they were chased by a masked man holding a chainsaw.
“They really know how to get you when you least expect it,” visitor Jaslene Gonzalez said. She said that this was her first haunted house experience and that it was one she would never forget.
“People should come to this fun house because it’s such a cool experience. I love Halloween and would recommend it to those who also like scary things,” Gonzalez said.
Visitor Estrella Rodriguez said that if she had to describe her fun house experience in one word, it would be “fun.”
“I definitely left the house feeling relieved though now that it’s done,” she said as she burst into laughter.
Salonga said she enjoys seeing the visitors’ reaction to her and her husband’s Fun House.
“I love the feedback we’ve received from visitors,” Salonga said. “It reassures us that our scare house was a good idea.”
More information can be found on their Instagram page @the_fun_house_montcalair.
Taylor Fukunaga can be reached at taylor.fukunaga@laverne.edu.
Taylor Fukunaga is a senior broadcast journalism major and a former staff writer for the Campus Times.
