Visitors to the Lakes District Museum in 亚洲天堂 Lake can expect an out-of-this-world experience later this month.

Society members and volunteers are turning the building at 520 Highway 16 West into something out of a horror movie for this year鈥檚 Halloween festivities. When preparations are complete, adults and children over the age of 12 will be invited to tour 亚洲天堂 Lake鈥檚 鈥淗aunted Museum鈥� from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28.

According to organizers, visitors can expect an evening of thrills and chills.

鈥淲hile this is a departure from our normal programming, it鈥檚 something we have wanted to do for a while,鈥� organizer and museum board member Sashka Macievich said this week. 鈥淥ur researchers have determined that paranormal activity in the museum will peak sometime after dark on Oct. 28. We don鈥檛 know exactly what the old building has in store for us, but we plan to find out. Residents are welcome to join the investigation.鈥�

Macievich said the museum鈥檚 upcoming initiative will be an epic event but not one for the faint of heart. 鈥淪ome truly twisted minds are involved in this initiative, and they have been given free rein to create the most terrifying museum experience possible. Those who dare to take the tour will get the fright of their lives, which is why we鈥檙e limiting admission to adults and children over 12 who don鈥檛 have heart conditions.鈥�

The building currently occupied by the Lakes District Museum is one of the oldest surviving structures in the municipality. Constructed in 1937 by a carpenter named Carl Ostberg, it served as the residence of the local forest ranger until the 1980s, when it was purchased by the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake and declared a heritage building. The museum moved there in 1988.

Although there are no verifiable incidents of anything supernatural occurring in the building, some people have had strange experiences there.

鈥淓arlier this summer, two of our employees needed a piece of electronic equipment for our oral history project,鈥� says curator Michael Riis-Christianson. 鈥淭he device was always kept in a specific spot in the room that now serves as the gallery. They tore the place apart looking for it, then gave up and went for lunch. When they returned, the equipment was sitting right where it was it was supposed to be 鈥� and none of the other summer students knew how it got there.鈥�

Another museum employee had this to say: 鈥淚 was working alone at the museum on a Saturday. It was a windy day, and the old building was creaking, no other sound. All of a sudden, I hear a metal sound like someone somewhere is riding a swing or rocking in an old rocking chair. I went outside to check. I remember thinking that we didn鈥檛 have a swing, and all the metal machinery outside was too heavy and rusted to be moved by the wind. I came back inside and I still heard it.

鈥淥f course, I didn鈥檛 want to go upstairs by myself to check and see, not with Martha the Creepy Museum Mannequin up there. No way, Jose. So I announced in a loud voice, 鈥業 am only here to work for an hour. I will be gone soon. Let me do my job. The sooner it gets done, the sooner I am out of here and the place will be yours again.鈥� And guess what? The metal scraping sound stopped just like that. I was out of there in 10 minutes.鈥�

Riis-Christianson doesn鈥檛 believe the museum is haunted, but he admits the building can be a bit creepy at times. The Bucket of Blood, a log cabin that served as a gambling den and speakeasy, is now a museum exhibit, and the village鈥檚 first jail once stood nearby. One display contains a gravedigger鈥檚 shovel, and Barney Mulvany鈥檚 headstone 鈥� but not his grave 鈥� is also on the property.

鈥淚 have been in the building at all hours of the night and day, and I have never felt uncomfortable,鈥� he noted. 鈥淗owever, others have. One former employee who worked on our digitization project refused to stay there alone after dark. She heard strange noises upstairs and in the basement, and is convinced the place is inhabited by something not of this world.鈥�

Is the museum society tempting fate by holding a Halloween event there? Riis-Christianson notes that it鈥檚 never been done before, so no one knows what will happen.

鈥淚 guess we鈥檒l find out later this month,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f there is something otherworldly in the building, we hope it鈥檚 Mulvany, a man who enjoyed a good yarn and had a great sense of humour. We doubt he would be offended by us turning the place into a Halloween attraction for one night. In fact, he鈥檇 probably think it was great fun and play along.鈥�

Anyone brave enough to enter the 鈥榟aunted鈥� museum on Oct. 28 can do so by making a donation at the museum鈥檚 front door before starting the tour. The funds raised through this event will support museum programming in 2024 鈥� and maybe even another ghostly event next fall.

Anyone wanting more information about this event can contact the Lakes District Museum at (250) 692-7450 or ldmuseumsociety@gmail.com.