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Max
Burton is well known in the haunt community as "Bad Santa".
Halloween has been a big part of his life and he loves to share it with
those around him. Having been involved with several of the top haunts
around the Salt Lake Valley, Max now brings his experience of how to
scare and make a successful haunt to his neighborhood where everyone
can enjoy being scared and do it for a good cause.
In 2010 his daughter talked him into setting
up a small haunt in her yard. Little did he know the great reception
it would get. Kids loved it and parents were glad to have a haunt they
could take their little ones through with out having to pay a ton of
money for them.
The
next year Max bought a house, across the street from his daughter, so
he could do a larger haunt. With his own place to do it, he was able
to expand the haunt to 3000 sq. ft. and gave it the name "Scared
Haunt". As he started to build the walls for the haunt he encountered
some resistance from Midvale City and they shut him down. Word got out
and the community rallied around him. Neighbors started calling the
news stations and Fox 13 News picked up the story. After their broadcast,
Midvale backed down and allowed him to continue with building the haunt.
The cost of admission was free and he only asked that people donate
a can of food to the food bank and/or animal shelter. That year the
haunt was a great success and it started bringing the neigborhood closer
together.
This year the haunt is nearly doubling in size
and, with little resistance from Midvale, is going forward to be even
better than last year. If you went through the "Scared Haunt"
last year and you think you know what to expect, then guess again! There
are more rooms than last year and new themes with lots of exciting scares
around each corner. New props have been brought in and Max is using
the combined knowlege of his years of haunt experience and the experience
from his friends and neighbors to take this years haunt to the next
level.
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