I've dabbled in photography over the years. During haunt season this year I took some I'm really pleased with. This is one of them. But it's more than that. It's a sign of the progress I've made.
2019 was the last season I worked with the most amazing, accepting, supportive haunt crew I've ever been a part of. Not of my choosing - the property was sold in 2020 and we lost our home. I spent 2020 and 2021 at a haunt that did significant mental, emotional and physical damage. After an extremely traumatic 2021 season I had decided to step back from haunting. It wasn't because I wanted to. It was because I had nowhere else to go.
Sure, there are s number of places that would have welcomed me, but none felt like the right fit. I was sad, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Then the family that saved me in 2014 saved me once again when they announced they would be running the haunt at none other than Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Problem was I'd been afraid of the place for as long as I could remember.
With some work, and fully embracing my vow to myself to stop letting fear rule my life, I got past it. The first time I drove up she took my breath away. Pics and videos don't do her justice. I set foot through her doors - and I felt welcome. Embraced by the very spirit of the building herself. While the last two seasons prior did untold damage, this one provided healing. Not just for me, but for so many of our spooky little family.
When Waverly was built, she was a beacon of hope and a place of healing for so many. Now, 96 years after this gothic beauty opened her doors, she was once more a light in the dark, a place of great healing. It is my dearest hope that we will be returning for the 2023 season.
