Don’t be scared. Unless you want to be. Fortunately, when it comes to Holder’s Haunted Maze of Terror, presented by the Chippewa Outreach Center in Lakeview, the level of terror you’re able to take is entirely up to you.

That’s because Drew Shick, who runs the center and makes the annual event happen, offers two options: a non-scary experience on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 4 to 6 p.m., or a shake-in-your-shoes haunt on Friday, Oct. 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. Both options are free and can be found at 13976 Ironwood Avenue, Lakeview.

“I used to offer just one but some kids thought it was too scary and some said it wasn’t scary enough,” Drew said. “So now we have one without the jump scares. For that night, kids can take a flashlight and wear costumes, if they want.”

Each year, Drew comes up with a new theme. This time, in searching for something he hadn’t done yet, he came upon the idea of mazes. Attendees will have to find their way through three options each night: pitch-black, corn and a chain-link fence maze.

Previous themes include 3D, psycho circus and a night mixing all the classic horror movies like Halloween, The Chainsaw Massacre and The Exorcist.

Over the years, though, Drew heard kids mention they’re most scared when it’s pitch-black, which led him to make sure that was part of the haunted maze.

The outreach center has been open to neighborhood kids for 26 years now and, for the last 20, Drew has been offering Halloween activities.

Eventually that became the annual haunted house and, as it’s grown, they’ve become more elaborate. Each year Drew spends over a week on the event, always trying to top the previous one and give kids something they haven’t seen before.

During that time of creating and building haunted houses, Drew had a right-hand man: Brian Holder. Sadly, Brian passed away on July 31. With that loss in mind, this year’s event is a special tribute to him.

In his announcement, Drew wrote: “This year’s haunted house honors Brian Holder, who has been involved in building and designing the recent haunted houses at Chippewa.”

For about a week and a half before the event, Drew will shutdown the center so he can get to work. Though he usually does most of the building, he doesn’t do it all on his own. Previous college interns who’ve helped at the center during the summer as well as

members of the community volunteer to help scare people witless on the second night of haunting.

And Drew has seen attendance grow. Last year, about 30 kids came for a non-scary adventure while another 170 or more showed up for fright night.

“There aren’t many haunted houses in the county,” Drew concluded. “So we want to keep it free and make memories for the kids coming through.”

Overview:

Holder’s Haunted Maze of Terror, presented by Chippewa Outreach Center

13976 Ironwood Ave., Lakeview

Non-scary: Thursday, Oct. 29, 4 to 6 p.m.

Scary: Friday, Oct. 30, 7 to 9 p.m.

FREE