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Take a stroll down Shady Lane, where ghouls and ghosts run amok in a haunted museum.

Haunted Palouse returns for four nights of fright. Run by volunteers and community organizations from Palouse, the event features two haunted houses, a spooky hayride, fortune tellers and other venues.

“We are providing a really awesome adventure for people who come to Haunted Palouse,” said Haunted Palouse volunteer and co-chairman Janet Barstow.

Haunted Palouse originally began following a flood in 1996 that damaged the Boomerang Newspaper and Printing Museum in Palouse. Haunted Palouse continued fourteen years later, reaching out to other needs in the community.

This year, the proceeds will benefit the Palouse Community Center and the Palouse Skatepark and Tony Kettel Skate Gardens among other local organizations, according to a news release.

Along with various venues, Haunted Palouse includes the printing museum and the police station set up as haunted houses. The haunted hayride has participants sitting on a trailer and hay bales, pulled by a tractor down Shady Lane, Paula Echanove, one of the founders of Haunted Palouse who has volunteered there for all fifteen years, said.

“Shady Lane has a shady history,” volunteer Annie Pillers said. “Historically, we have been told it was the red-light district.”

Inspiration for themes varies for each volunteer, Echanove said. Some watch scary movies while others avoid them, and much research is done online. Everyone feeds off each other’s ideas to keep the attractions original, so returners can expect something different every year.

“We try to ramp up the scariness every year,” Pillers said.                    

Pillers said they’ve had people screaming, running, crying, laughing and everything in between. Some people have even peed their pants, Pillers said.

Mike Milano, a Chamber of Commerce member and Haunted Palouse volunteer, said the scariness depends on the individual. The scares in the houses and on the trails pick up on fears that someone might have, but there have been people screaming and people laughing.

“Some people find it a hoot, like a funhouse,” Milano said, “including my wife who laughs all the way through.”

With all its frightening aspects, most of them not child-friendly, Haunted Palouse is not without safety. EMTs are always on-site and police patrol the area. The fire department also walks through the haunted houses, ensuring that there are quick escapes in case there is an emergency, Echanove said.

The area is well-staffed to make sure it’s a scary yet safe event, even helping people out of the haunted houses if they are overwhelmed.

As a general rule, the “monsters” of Haunted Palouse will not intentionally grab anyone, so participants are expected to not grab the actors, Milano said.

Haunted Palouse runs entirely on volunteers putting forth countless hours for organization and construction, Barstow said.

Milano said Haunted Palouse is built, designed and run by volunteers, benefitting the local community. It is not uncommon to see at least 10 percent of the Palouse community coming out to help.

“My favorite part of it is the spirit of cooperation amongst everyone who is working,” Barstow said. “We’re all giving up on … (other) work to do this.”

Haunted Palouse will run Oct. 21, 22, 28 and 29 in downtown Palouse. Tickets are $20 and sales begin at 7 p.m. and end at 10 p.m. Participants must be 12 years old or older, no exceptions.