Father And Son Open Annual Haunted House In San Jose
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- With Halloween just around the corner, a San Jose father and son are aiming to give horror enthusiasts the scare of their life as they open the seasonal attraction they have been running for over 20 years.
The South Bay Halloween institution is not for the faint of the heart.
"Every guest who comes here -- they're walking through a journey in our imagination," said haunted house creator Abe Barrera
And like monsters both real and imagined, the haunted house that began in Barrera's backyard has taken on a life of its own.
"There's a magic in the Halloween spirit. It's a time of year when we can set our problems aside and do something magical," said Abes son and fellow haunted house builder Mike Barrera.
The Barreras having be mining the darkest recesses of their imaginations to create the Bernal Scream, as they call the attraction, for more than two decades.
This year, the duo has opened the attraction in a tend erected in the parking lot of Oakridge Mall on Blossom Hill Road, just outside of the Target.
Each year, they have built more and more elaborate and frightening horrorscapes for family, neighbors and friends to explore.
This year, they finally decided to turn all this dark work into a bona fide business.
"The kids they just love it," said Mike Barrera. "They're smiling and laughing while we're trying to pick their parents up off the ground because they couldn't handle what they just went through."
The Bernal Scream is a $100,000 investment; a figure that is adult, keep-you-up-at-night scary.
But the Barreras hope it's their assortment of ghosts and ghouls and madmen and murders that haunt their fans.