The most famous and well-loved haunted house in Lacombe is doing things a bit differently this year due to COVID.

The traditional indoor tour of Jarita and Chad Carlson's haunted house known as Carlson Manor won't be available this year. Instead, they will be giving away gift baskets made up of locally donated items from businesses and other kind-hearted Lacombians.  

Jarita says she's encouraging people to commit random acts of kindness that night, such as going to your neighbour’s house and giving them a treat instead of asking for one.

“I’m really loving the aspect of encouraging random acts of kindness throughout Halloween as well with things like reverse trick-or-treating. I know there’s a lot of people who don’t necessarily know what to do for Halloween yet and they are undecided, so put on your costume and do a porch drop to your favourite peeps.”

She says they will still have an outdoor display for people to check out, as they received permission from the owners of the empty lot beside them to expand their decorations and collect donations for the Lacombe food bank.

Jarita says random acts of kindness are especially important this year, with the pandemic having an impact on most people’s mental health.

“Everybody should consider taking the time to complete a random act of kindness for somebody in their community because that’s truly what it’s all about. I know a lot of people are struggling right now, it’s stressful, there’s mental health issues, there’s so many things that are involved, and a little bit can go a long way even if it’s just free coffee for the day or a little note just to say hi to a friend, whatever it might be.”

The Carlson’s have three gift baskets they will give away at the end of the month, full of gift cards from local businesses like Head Hunters Salon & Spa, Elite Bridal Boutique and Cilantro and Chive.

Entering the contest is as simple as taking a current picture of yourself outside at Carlson Manor or the Lacombe Food Bank and post it in the comment section on their Facebook post.

Carlson Manor is located at 54 Erica Drive in Lacombe, and for more details on how you can enter to win one of their gift baskets you can click here to go to their Facebook page.

Part of the current outdoor display at Carlson Manor, located at 54 Erica Drive in Lacombe.