Bloodview Haunted House serves up more spooky fun this Halloween

by Dan Holland

A once-condemned house on Broadview Road known for serving up thousands of shrieks and screams every Halloween is promising guests even more ghoulish frights this fall as it gears up for its 44^th season of scaring.

The Bloodview Haunted House, which officially opened in 1980, is the brainchild of the Broadview Heights Lion’s Club and serves as the club’s primary fundraiser to benefit both local community service projects and local and national charities. The club purchased the house and its 6-acre property and later constructed new facilities on the site, where it has been operating ever since.

The attraction, which has roughly $5 million over the decades, draws between 10,000-15,000 visitors annually.

A tour of the three areas of the attraction, which includes Gore House, a wooded walk-through area and the main house, takes about 35 minutes, according to director Steve Gwiazda. Food concessions and restrooms are available onsite.

“The Broadview Heights Lions Club owns the property, and we run the haunted house,” said Gwiazda, who is in his fifth season as director. “We contract the Legion of Terror every year as the acting troupe and work hand-in-hand with them to put on a great show for everybody.”

The attraction features a specific theme each weekend this year, including: Psychotic Slashers
Fairytale Frights, Sinister Sideshow, Howling Hunters, Crucible Crusades and Undead Infestation.

Between Legion of Terror actors and the operational volunteer staff, there may be between 60-100 workers onsite each weekend, said Gwiazda. The attractions and rooms are changed around a bit each year, he noted.

“Ideally, we try to change up the themes of our rooms every year,” said Gwiazda. “This year, there might be a surgery center or something like that or a slaughter room; there are all kinds of different things we can do each year to keep it new and fresh.”

“A lot of visitors are entrenched with what goes on in certain rooms,” he continued. “We have our dark maze, containments, a porch and different rooms. We have one room that looks like the basement of a serial killer. I walked in there one day with a media group and saw a picture of myself on the wall that said ‘missing.’”

The Legion of Terror horror improv troupe began providing actors in full makeup to Bloodview in 1985, according to the group’s communications director, Ed McDonald, who has performed at Bloodview as an actor himself for the last 20 years.

“It’s the satisfaction of not only providing a show for our customers unlike any other in the Cleveland area, but knowing that we’re doing it for charity and not for a paycheck,” said McDonald. “The people in our organization thrive on doing this for the love of being scary or a love of Halloween and the spooky season. We try to provide a fun, spooky atmosphere and a training ground for many in the movie and theater industry.”

Halloween is the final night the attraction is open each year. Halloween night 2023 included the surprise marriage engagement of a young, local couple – an event that made local and national news.

Arrangements were worked out beforehand to insert the prospective groom into one of the sets as his girlfriend walked through.

Former Bloodview director Gary Cerasi has been volunteering with the attraction for 30 years.

“There’s around 1,000 hours of work that goes into this each year between fire alarms going off in the middle of the night and meeting with the fire department to make sure all the fences and weeds are cleaned up, the posts are right and all of our electronics work properly,” he said. “There’s a lot of work that goes into it; it’s been a very dedicated club over the last 43 years.”

Cerasi said he enjoys the camaraderie most. “I’ve made a lot of lifelong friends through the Lions Club, and seeing the joy that kids have coming through here makes me happy,” he said. “You get to have fun, and at the same time, do some good; doing well by doing good.

Volunteer Larry Cooper first joined the Lions Club after three of his stepdaughters received college scholarship awards through the club during the 1990s.

“It’s part of the fun that we get together every year – a labor of love,” said Cooper. “We appreciate that the community comes out and supports this. It’s great to be able to serve the community and see people enjoying the haunted house.”

Above all, Gwiazda said he enjoys seeing all of the good causes the attraction raises money for each year. More than 100 charities have benefited from the program over the decades.

“Every dollar raised here, beyond operational costs and taxes, goes to charity,” he said. “We’re not here for profit; not one gets a paycheck. Everyone is here because we all want to do some good in the community by raising money for charities. Just seeing all the money we’ve raised, and all the good causes it goes to, is heartfelt and important. We scare because we care.”

For information, visit www.bloodview.org. ∞

On our cover (photos): For more than four decades, proceeds from the Bloodview Haunted House have been used to support local and national charities, to the tune of $5 million. The haunted house opened for its 44th year Sept. 13 and runs through Oct. 31. Photos provided by Bloodview Haunted House/Cerrito Photography.

All the actors who participate in the Bloodview Haunted House are volunteers who
do not earn a paycheck. All proceeds from the event are donated to local and national
charities. Photo provided by Bloodview Haunted House/Cerrito Photograpy.

Spooky frights are handed out to guests
by actors of all ages. Photo provided
by Bloodview Haunted House/Cerrito
Photograpy.