Michael Moore’s love for Halloween gave him a thought when he was 15. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat to do a haunted walk-through in the garage?’” he said. “First thing I thought was no way,” said Moore’s father, Charles. “In no way am I letting you tear up my garage.” “No way” turned into a tradition that lasted for eight years. “We went all the way to where we had working walls and doors,” Michael said. “It blossomed quite a bit.”“I’m still pulling staples out of my garage ceiling and walls,” Charles said. “It expanded from my garage, down the driveway, across the street onto property we owned, and into a haunted hollow. I got involved in the acting part of it. My wife, Bernadine, was an evil butcher inside the house.”The homemade attraction was named after one of Michael’s favorite characters.“Frankenstein and Igor, and I thought Igor was pretty cool,” he said. Igor’s gained a big following over that time. “A lot of people, once they jumped in to participate, they wanted to help year after year,” Michael said. “We developed this fan following through the years that people would want to come back and see the next chapter of the story.” Michael and his family collected thousands in donations. They gave it all to charity. “We do this for the community, we do this for our family and we do it for the people in need,” Michael said. “We wanted to give back. We’re blessed and fortunate to have what we have.”“I have a bad heart,” Charles said. “So, the second year went to the heart association.”By 2003, life became too busy to keep Igor’s open. “I stopped doing it when I was in college,” Michael said. “I was getting close to graduating and starting my career. I never knew if we were going to do this again or not.”“It was a big part of me and my wife,” Charles said. “You would still get people coming up and asking, ‘Why don’t you do it again?’”One of those people was Michael’s 17-year-old daughter, Anna. “It’s always been something that I loved hearing about and was something I wanted to do,” she said. “We’ve been jokingly begging him for years. Then, we said, ‘We’re serious. It’s not a joke anymore. I want to do it.’”Through sketches and months of preparation, Anna became Igor in her own way. She helped resurrect not Frankenstein’s monster, but her dad’s fright shack in 2024. “I started doing a lot of the house layout,” Anna said. “We started this year at the end of June.”“I can’t begin to tell you the amount of pride I have,” Charles said. “She’s an artist. She’s a set maker. She’s an actress.”The shack’s revival came back the same way it began. The Moores once again helped those in need with their creation. Last year, the house raised $1,000 to help the victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton. This year, all the money will go to Camp Boggy Creek. It’s a camp in Florida for kids with serious medical conditions. The Moores have family in Florida who work with the camp. “Their American Legion supports Camp Boggy Creek,” Michael said. “We thought because of our local connections with scouting, it’s a perfect fit.” “It’s very unexpected,” Anna added. “It’s not your typical by-the-book kind of service, but it’s really fun.” The finishing touches are still being made. Anna and her family are looking forward to helping those in need the only way they know how. “I am so excited,” Anna said. “Every time I think about it, there’s a smile on my face. I’m so ready to see people terrified out of their mind.”Igor’s Fright Shack is open for five nights over the next three weekends.Oct. 24-25Nov. 1Nov. 7-8Tickets are free, but donations are encouraged. For more information on reservations, click here.
EXPORT, Pa. —
Michael Moore’s love for Halloween gave him a thought when he was 15.
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat to do a haunted walk-through in the garage?’” he said.
“First thing I thought was no way,” said Moore’s father, Charles. “In no way am I letting you tear up my garage.”
“No way” turned into a tradition that lasted for eight years.
“We went all the way to where we had working walls and doors,” Michael said. “It blossomed quite a bit.”
“I’m still pulling staples out of my garage ceiling and walls,” Charles said. “It expanded from my garage, down the driveway, across the street onto property we owned, and into a haunted hollow. I got involved in the acting part of it. My wife, Bernadine, was an evil butcher inside the house.”
The homemade attraction was named after one of Michael’s favorite characters.
“Frankenstein and Igor, and I thought Igor was pretty cool,” he said.
Igor’s gained a big following over that time.
“A lot of people, once they jumped in to participate, they wanted to help year after year,” Michael said. “We developed this fan following through the years that people would want to come back and see the next chapter of the story.”
Michael and his family collected thousands in donations. They gave it all to charity.
“We do this for the community, we do this for our family and we do it for the people in need,” Michael said. “We wanted to give back. We’re blessed and fortunate to have what we have.”
“I have a bad heart,” Charles said. “So, the second year went to the heart association.”
By 2003, life became too busy to keep Igor’s open.
“I stopped doing it when I was in college,” Michael said. “I was getting close to graduating and starting my career. I never knew if we were going to do this again or not.”
“It was a big part of me and my wife,” Charles said. “You would still get people coming up and asking, ‘Why don’t you do it again?’”
One of those people was Michael’s 17-year-old daughter, Anna.
“It’s always been something that I loved hearing about and was something I wanted to do,” she said. “We’ve been jokingly begging him for years. Then, we said, ‘We’re serious. It’s not a joke anymore. I want to do it.’”
Through sketches and months of preparation, Anna became Igor in her own way. She helped resurrect not Frankenstein’s monster, but her dad’s fright shack in 2024.
“I started doing a lot of the house layout,” Anna said. “We started this year at the end of June.”
“I can’t begin to tell you the amount of pride I have,” Charles said. “She’s an artist. She’s a set maker. She’s an actress.”
The shack’s revival came back the same way it began. The Moores once again helped those in need with their creation. Last year, the house raised $1,000 to help the victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton.
This year, all the money will go to Camp Boggy Creek. It’s a camp in Florida for kids with serious medical conditions.
The Moores have family in Florida who work with the camp.
“Their American Legion supports Camp Boggy Creek,” Michael said. “We thought because of our local connections with scouting, it’s a perfect fit.”
“It’s very unexpected,” Anna added. “It’s not your typical by-the-book kind of service, but it’s really fun.”
The finishing touches are still being made. Anna and her family are looking forward to helping those in need the only way they know how.
“I am so excited,” Anna said. “Every time I think about it, there’s a smile on my face. I’m so ready to see people terrified out of their mind.”
Igor’s Fright Shack is open for five nights over the next three weekends.
Tickets are free, but donations are encouraged. For more information on reservations, click here.