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Letters: Haunted horrors

Five year old child was frightened at haunted house on Halloween

What happened to skeletons and witches jumping out of closets?

I took my kids to the haunted house at the Sooke Community Hall on Halloween; thank you for the efforts of everyone that put that together. In the future, please put an age restriction or warning – this is a psychologically disturbing haunted house. My five year old went away with questions like, “Why was that girl stabbing the other girl? Why was that woman tied up and shaking the tea cup saying ‘help me’?”

I am not a virgin to haunted houses, every town has them. The ones we usually go to are the classic kind – grim reapers, witches, people jumping out of hiding places. After an almost sleepless night due to my kids being scared stiff, I mentioned the effects of the haunted house to a friend. She said “Your kids must be sheltered.” Uh, ya, my five year old has been sheltered from murder scenes! Since when is it OK to show graphic, violent, disturbing horror scenes to small children? What images will come to their head when they are angry or scared? What are we numbing our children down to?

Julie Bugden

Sooke