Young superheroes, witches, unicorns, and even a ninja or two had a spooky good time on Oct. 11 during the first-ever Boo Day at the Moody Family YMCA.

The scary — but not too scary — fun featured a haunted house from the Highland Park Library and University Park Public Library, along with crafts, games, photos, temporary tattoos, and treats galore from the YMCA.

Youth services librarians Zoe Williams and Victoria Otterbine based each room in their spooky home on a book or other type of media. 

One section of the house took visitors through Harry Potter’s Forbidden Forest. Other rooms drew inspiration from sources including A Series of Unfortunate Events, Frankenstein, The Graveyard Book, and The Masque of the Red Death, which Highland Park youth services librarian Otterbine explained wasn’t as scary as it sounds.

“When I was growing up, I was very spooked by a lot of stuff … I found myself really enjoying haunted houses regardless of that,” she said. “I wanted kids to be able to experience something like that. It’s a little spooky for the first time, but not too intense.”

With help from Highland Park Library associate for youth services Tre Robling, the librarians crafted the house from three tents that they subdivided and filled with props. They used materials such as cardboard, spray foam, and pool noodles to create most items, then added some thrift store finds.

Their final product hit the sweet spot of a haunted house that gave some frights without leaving anyone too spooked.

The good witch Glinda and music icon Taylor Swift, aka 7-year-old friends Serena Sadarangani and Lilly Johnson, braved the spooks inside the tents together.

“It was actually not scary. It was medium,” said Sadarangani. She added that, while she hadn’t been frightened to enter the haunted house, “Lilly was scared, though, that’s for sure.”

“I saw that little thing, and I was like, ‘I feel like that’s going to jump out and steal my soul!’” Johnson said as the pair hurried to go through the house again.

Even this reporter’s 13-year-old daughter wasn’t too old to enjoy the fun. After her first walk through, she declared the house “kind of creepy,” before making a return visit.

“I didn’t want it to be bone-chilling,” University Park youth services librarian Williams explained. “Hopefully, it’s been the right mix of a little creepy without giving people nightmares.”

Outside the haunted house in the brightly lit YMCA gym, families decorated Halloween masks and foam pumpkins, made fingerprint art, and played games such as ring toss on an inflatable spider’s eight legs.

The size of the crowd in the gym surpassed organizers’ expectations, said Mona Callaghan, community and outreach director at the Moody Family YMCA.

She added that the event seemed to be more appealing to sugar-saturated families than Trunk or Treats the YMCA has hosted in the past. Those were in its “kind of gloomy and doomy” garage, which, while Halloweeny, may not have been as welcoming to youngsters.

Callaghan said that the YMCA hopes to partner with the libraries for future events, and families who attended the first Boo Day said they’d be back for a second year.

“It’s so fun,” said Carissa Antone, who brought her 4-year-old and 2-year-old to Boo Day. “We love Halloween, and we’re thankful for the YMCA. And we say thank you so much.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” added her 4-year-old Lillian, who came dressed as Frozen’s princess Anna. “Thank you!”