'The screams are great': Freddy Fright Fest is back and bigger than ever

Nightmare on Elm city: Freddy Fright Night Freddy Fright Night scares-up support for local community groups and causes in Fredericton.

Freddy Fright Fest is back in New Brunswick’s capital city and this year the Paramedic's Association and APEG NB have built their biggest house of horrors yet.

"There's about 20 stations and about 30 rooms this year, some stations are multiple rooms,” said Justin Wright, organizer of the Freddy Fright Fest.

“It's quite a bit longer this year, so people are enjoying the extra five or 10 minutes to walk through.”

The event, which is pulled off entirely by volunteers, is a fundraiser for Charlotte Street Arts Centre and Fredericton Hospice.

"Every night we look for about 60 volunteers to come help scare, run lines, do entertainment,” said Rick McCaskill, who came on board to help out last year.

For this scare savvy crew, it's all about the shrieks coming from the 300 to 800 visitors a night.

"The screams are great, especially when we don't expect them to happen,” said McCaskill.

“Even more interesting is when there's not a scream and then Justin and I put our thinking caps on like, ‘OK, what didn't happen? Do we need a spot there? Do we need somebody else to jump out?’”

Wright adds improvisation plays a big part in the fun.

"Really helps to keep the creative juices flowing,” said Wright.

“It lets us try new things every year.”

This year, Freddy Fright Fest has worked to widen their audience.

"We've built the space to be accessible for people with all different levels of ability,” said McCaskill.

“Which is really great. This year we really focused on that.”

In the future, the goal is to grow the event to more than just the haunted tour.

"This year we've added food trucks, come support them, we're having a rave tomorrow night on the 27th from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. , should be a good time,” said Wright.

“Every year we're trying to expand and have more of a festival feel.”

Freddy Fright Fest takes place at the Exhibition Grounds every night up to and including Halloween.

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