Every October, thrill-seekers head over to the Lake Hills Haunted House to get scared out of their minds. The house has been voted the eighth best haunted house out of 92 houses in Northwest Indiana and Northeast Illinois.

“[Getting positive reviews] makes me and everyone else feel like we’re doing something right, and it’s a uniting feeling knowing that [you] can trust the other actors in the room to make an amazing scene with you,” Madison Magdziarz (11) said.

However, the house would not be as popular as it is without the help from its dedicated volunteers. The workers change the layout and add new attractions every year to keep fans on their toes. After all, the guests are the biggest motivation.

“There is a little pressure to come up with something original and scary that makes you and the house itself memorable, [but] there’s a new prop this year that I expect will get a lot of people’s adrenaline going,” Katherine Veronesi (11) said.

Not only is the house memorable to the guests, but also to the volunteers. After spending so much time with each other over the course of the month, the scareactors form close bonds that never fade.

“What I love the most about it is probably the people in general. The other scareactors are such amazing people, [and] by the end of the season we’re just a big family,” Veronesi said.

The house is open to guests on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. The admission is $15 per person.