Haunted Kahnawake woods scaring for a cause for almost two decades

Enter James Day’s Haunted Woods at your own risk.

“It started back in 2005, right in his driveway,” said Day. “We were looking in the back there like that, and me and my cousin were like, ‘Whoa, It'd be cool to do a haunted house.’ We said, ‘Yeah, let's do a haunted house on steroids, though. Let's give them something to remember, for years to come.’”

For Day, Halloween is more than one day a year.

“I live and breathe it every day. I am Halloween,” he said.

He runs the haunted woods annually to support the local Kahnawake food bank.

“It's free, and we just ask for a non-perishable food item for a donation,” he said.

For the past nineteen years, the community has been coming back for more terrifying thrills.

“A lot of kids that come in who have kids now that come that help us and everything over the years,” said Day. “So it's a big community event and it's just fun for everybody.”

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Day’s goal is to keep it fun for everybody.

“If you can't handle the haunt, we got you,” said Day. “We're going to take you out of the haunt like that and everything. I don't want to ruin Halloween for nobody.”

Day also offers an adapted experience for those who are neuro-divergent.

“They come through and it's like animatronics, nobody in there,” he said. “So they could get a visual of what's going on, everything like that, and they could feel what we feel without getting jump scared and stuff.”

For Day, “scaring is caring” and it’s a legacy he hopes will inspire future generations.

“I want you to create memories,” he said. “That's what it's all about… I did my part and I'm going to continue to do my part and others are going to follow my footsteps after that.”