ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. — A free Elkhart haunted house went from neighborhood scares to a large-scale attraction, drawing the attention of Elkhart officials and ultimately resulting in the closure of the community scare spot.

For the last four years, the ‘Best Ave Horror House’ has been transformed from a residential house into a walk-through haunted house. Doriana Stephens, a family member of the attraction’s creators, says she started a way to provide the community with a fun-filled night of terror without the cost of other local Halloween events.

The haunted house is complete with a 30-minute walk, a 40-plus volunteer scare crew, and DIY decorations. They also implemented various safety measures, such as posting various rules and warning signs for guests before entry, obtaining permission from neighboring properties for public parking, and having neighbors around the haunted house sign petitions expressing their approval.

But this year the haunted house attracted more attention than they expected, hosting nearly 1,000 attendees in a single night last week. This resulted in a neighbor calling the police, and the sheriff’s office notified the homeowners that they needed a permit to continue operating with that many people, resulting in the haunted house being shut down.

“So it was really heartbreaking for them (Elkhart residents) to not be able to enjoy something free for their own community, for their own community, to see all of our work not being shown off,” Stephens said.

So the haunted house owners went to Monday’s Elkhart County Commissioners meeting; here Elkhart County Sheriff Jeff Siegel explained why county officials have some concerns.

“Not only do I have concerns from a law enforcement standpoint, but I also have concerns from a fire perspective, and if I lived in this neighborhood maybe I would be a good neighbor for a night, but I also have concerns.” It would be too much every weekend or two nights for a few weeks… I also have concerns about volunteers blocking the roads and the liability that would bring not only to his family but to the county,” Siegel said.

At the meeting, the haunted house operators were asking the city for two permits to reopen, a special waiver of the county’s noise ordinance and a permit to close a road, but Brad Rogers, chairman of the Elkhart County Commissioners and district two representative, announced that the council voted unanimously to deny those requests.

“We’re here to help and protect the rights of people who may be in the minority of not wanting this thing to happen, so this is a unanimous decision, we’re not against the haunted house, we’re not against it.” they’re doing activities, but they have to stay within the bounds of the law, and things are getting out of control, so they may need to find another location, maybe a commercial space or somewhere they can do this for the community, and the commissioners are very supportive of that,” Rogers said.

Stephens says this wasn’t the outcome they were hoping for and they wanted to find a way to keep the haunted house in the same spot.

“Emotions are still too high right now to think about next year and what we can do differently to keep our haunted house running,” Stephens said.

He says they’re hopeful they can find a way to reopen their spooky doors next year.

“As much as it hurts them to not be open right now and show off with their work, my family always comes back and we definitely come back to their house of horrors,” Stephens expressed.