The scariest middle schoolers in Bozeman

“What is scary?” Jen Wold asked of her eighth grade class at Anderson Middle School. “I think they come in thinking that scary is blood and guts and then they discover that scary is the unexpected,” Wold said.

Though your typical eighth grade classroom might not be discussing theories of scariness during the fall months, Anderson School has put on a haunted house for the Bozeman community for the past 28 years.

Although the kids receive support from teachers and parents, they’re in charge of all of the scaring. This year, the eighth graders decided that the theme should be “Nursery Rhymes Gone Wrong.” This means there will be rooms themed around nursery rhymes such as “pop goes the weasel” and "it's raining, it's pouring” where students can incorporate the things they’re learning in school into their rooms.

“Our room is ring around the rosie, so we’re incorporating Black Death,” eighth grade student Sidney Ho said, referencing the outbreak of Bubonic Plague in 1665.

Although the fact that it’s being put on by a bunch of middle schoolers might make you think it won’t be scary, this haunted house is not to be taken lightly. The house has two different parts, an upstairs and a basement. “Every year we keep a tally of who leaves at the halfway point before going to the basement. I think last year it was more than forty,” Wold said. “The house isn’t even advertised to the lower grades, it’s too scary.”

Don’t worry though, it isn’t all spooky. Aerial dancers suspended from up to 20 feet will be performing outside to keep guests company while they wait. Anderson School is prepared to treat their guests well during this weekend’s sudden temperature drop. There will be a full concession stand, a warming tent and a fire to keep people occupied and defrosted while in line.

One thing to keep in mind during the fun is that the scarers are kids. “People do some pretty dumb things when they’re scared,” student scarer actor Millie Fritsch said. “Someone even had a metal bowl thrown at them last year,” she said. So even though the kids are good at their job, try to keep a rational head while moving through the house.

The haunted house is also a fundraiser for the current eighth grade class. All the profits that the Anderson students make from the haunted house goes directly towards their history trip to Washington D.C. These kids will be hard at work, scaring for six hours straight Friday Oct. 27 and Saturday Oct. 28, which will account for a big portion of their trip cost.

Tickets start at $10 and are available for purchase at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/anderson-school-haunted-house-2023-tickets-719429702607.