The weekend before Halloween has come and gone, which can only mean the annual Haunted Hickory experience has too.
Approximately 1,300 people went through the haunted house this year, according to Ensign Clark Nelson. Each year, the crew of the vessel turns the ship into a haunted house experience open to the community.
Groups and families are guided through the twists and turns of the vessel, navigating its tight hallways and steep staircases while crew members dressed in the most macabre garb attempt to scare them silly.
The Hickory crew hosts a less scary version of the haunted house for an hour earlier in the night for young children, and then pulls out all the stops for the older crowd.
Admission into the event is nonperishable food items, all of which are given to the Homer Food Pantry. This year, the event raised 2,980 pounds of food for the pantry, Nelson said.
Crew members and volunteers prepare to scare the next group of guests on a tour of the Haunted Hickory on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 at the harbor in Homer, Alaska. The US Coast Guard Cutter Hickory crew transform the vessel into a haunted house every year. They ask for nonperishable food items for entry, all of which are given to the Homer Food Pantry. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
A member of the Haunted Hickory waits around the corner to scare a group of guests at the haunted house set up on the US Coast Guard Hickory on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 on the vessel at the harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
A member of the Haunted Hickory prepares to scare guests on the deck of the US Coast Guard Cutter Hickory on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 at the harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
A group of community members gets briefs before they embark on a trip through the Haunted Hickory, a haunted house set up on the US Coast Guard Cutter Hickory vessel, on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 at the harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
Props sit ready to be used to scare guests at this year’s Haunted Hickory, a haunted house set up on the US Coast Guard Cutter Hickory vessel, on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 at the harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
