Living a nightmare - and loving it

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

RATHDRUM — Ed and Ruth Maryott were going to let their Tunnel of Terror go dark — completely dark forever — when the pleas began to haunt them.

"A woman came straight at me in a parking lot and said, 'I come to it every year. I love it so much. Don't stop doing it,'" Ruth said, adding there have been similar moments with other people.

"I thought to myself, 'OK, here we go again.'"

Ed, 78, and Ruth, 70, are in their 16th year of having the pleasure of spooking adults and kids alike at their farm at 7980 W. Diagonal Road just north of Rathdrum. The tunnel will be open every Friday and Saturday in October and on Halloween from 7 to 10 p.m. Cost is $5 for those 12 and older; $3 for ages 6 to 11.

It's hearing the screams and quenching thrill-seekers' thirst that keep the seniors steadfast in their efforts despite a hearseload of challenges.

Last winter's heavy snowfall caused severe damage to the hay bale maze. As a result, the couple began preparing for their October showcase in mid-June, between milking cows, and have poured about $10,000 into it.

"We had to rebuild it with new poles and pipes," Ruth said, during a tour of the tunnel on Wednesday. "When it was hot, we'd work about three hours in the morning and a couple hours at night. Now that it's cooled down we're working about six hours a day."

And there was Ed, broken toe and all, bouncing from bale to bale working on the overhead wiring for the camera system.

"Every year they say it's going to be their last," said Colleen Petersen, a family friend and volunteer. "Then their orneriness kicks in."

The couple love the widespread emotions their creepy digs stir up.

"One lady peed her pants, went home to change, then brought back nine friends that she paid for to go through," Ed said with a smile.

A few times, Ruth said, the spooks, which include the Lakeland High drama club, have done their job a little too well to the point that visitors retaliate in a knee-jerk reaction.

"My son got popped in the chops once," she said.

Each year the Maryotts use the proceeds to make the following year's production bigger and better.

New occupants of the 650-foot tunnel this year include a Tyrannosaurus rex that dominates a Jurassic Park scene and a horse skeleton that's pulling a hearse in a cemetery. When you feel like you're on shaky ground in the swamp, it really isn't your imagination.

"Some may think that we're just a mom-and-pop backyard operation, but we are full-fledged on the scare factor," Ruth said.

Visitors will also be tested on their horror movie knowledge at one of the stops. The maze is under cover so it will be open even in inclement weather.

Ruth said Halloween is something she didn't experience growing up, so she's making up for the lost moments.

"My dad thought trick or treating was foolishness, so we didn't go," she said. "When I had my own children, I took them because it was so much fun. Ed's family always had parties and, when he told me stories, that made me really want to do it."

Last year 1,985 people endured the tunnel despite rainy weather on some of the nights. A record 2,190 turned out in 2015.

When the tunnel opens, Ruth takes tickets and Ed organizes visitors and whips up the kettle corn. They turn the front lines of scariness over to the spooks, a lunging devil, clowns, spiders and other characters to enjoy the screams.

"It's a lot of work, but boy is it a lot of fun," Ruth said with a wide smile. "We're kids at heart going through our second childhood."