Halloween brings plenty to do this weekend in Durango.

The Nightmare on Elks Street Haunted House returns after a hiatus imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic; a Durango couple is hosting a 500-foot-long haunted trail Saturday and Sunday; and downtown businesses are offering free candy to children 10 and younger.

Fire pits full of tortured souls, dark voodoo, burning witches and “Torture Alley” are just some of the spectacles guests visiting the Durango Elks Lodge can expect to witness at this year’s Nightmare on Elks Street.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Elks Lodge to cancel its haunted house last Hallows’ Eve, but the event is back in full force this year.

Elks’ cyber-assistant and haunted house co-chairwoman Laura McKinney said the lodge hopes this year’s event will be the biggest yet. The fifth annual Nightmare on Elks Street Haunted House is being hosted Friday to Sunday at the Durango Elks Lodge, 901 East Second Ave.

McKinney said the Elks Lodge changes its haunted house theme every year. This year, the theme is “Lucifer’s Playground.”

“Each year it just gets bigger and better,” McKinney said. “... If you just think about devilish pranks and voodoo and witch hangings, stuff like that (is what Lucifer’s Playground is themed around).”

Jump scares will abound inside the haunted house in the basement level of the Elks Lodge.

“This place gets live and large,” said haunted house co-chairman Jay Daniel. “People screaming. We bring in port-a-potties for a reason.”

McKinney and Daniel have put about 125 volunteer hours into building the haunted house since the first set piece was moved into place on Oct. 16. With 30 volunteers, the Elks Lodge has already racked up 625 volunteer hours – and that’s not counting the live actors who will be ready to scare the pants off guests during the main evening events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“The Elks were based as a theatrical group, thespians,” Daniel said. “That’s how it started. As of right now, there’s only a few active programs where we’re still acting, and this is one of them.”

McKinney said she expects the turnout to be high for this year’s haunted house. The Elks Lodge’s previous highest turnout was around 2,500 people, and McKinney said she’s hoping it attracts at least that many people this year. The lodge is expecting up to 3,000 guests over the weekend.

The Nightmare on Elks Street Haunted House is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Friday to Sunday, with a special, kid-friendly event from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission to the kids’ show is $3, while admission to the evening events is $10.

All proceeds will go toward kids programs and veterans programs, including a new veterans fund combined by the Elks Lodge, Veterans of Foreign Wars and The American Legion, McKinney said.

Last year, the Elks Lodge gave out $40,000 in scholarships and assistance, despite slower activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trick-or-treaters will have the chance to test their courage this Halloween at the Haunted Trail hosted by Durango residents Will and Shelli Shaw. The trail is 500 feet long and is free to access starting at dusk Saturday and Sunday.

For seven years, the Shaw family has celebrated Halloween by hosting a haunted jaunt at their home. They started the tradition in Houston with a short, spooky path just 20 feet long. The tradition continued every year, with the project growing a little larger each Halloween. This weekend, the largest Shaw family Haunted Trail yet will come alive in Durango.

Multiple tented areas are spread along the 500-foot trail and are equipped with fog machines, black lights and strobes to create a terrifying atmosphere. An actor lies in wait in each tent, too, to deal out more scares to visitors who dare to enter.

Clowns, chainsaws and robed figures in masks are just some of the scares visitors will encounter as they travel the trail, which is about a 10-minute walk, Will Shaw said.

“I try to do it a little bit differently each year,” he said. “There’s usually the chainsaw section that’s pretty typical with a lot of (haunted house) areas, but we try not to do a lot of blood and guts. We know that there are little kids coming out, but we also want to make it scary for everybody.”

Gross-out gore won’t be a feature of the Haunted Trail, but the trail still has intense areas, Shaw said.

“Then there’s usually a clown section,” he said. “I’ll have a clown that comes flying at people, because everybody’s scared of clowns.”

Shelli Shaw said the whole family participates in the yearly Haunted Trail. This year, Will Shaw’s brother and his wife will be visiting, and they will help along the trail or pass out candy to visitors.

Shelli and Will Shaw’s three children are 21, 22 and 24. Most years they help set up the trail as well as work as actors along it when it’s open, Shelli Shaw said.

“Over the years, our kids, whether their boyfriends or girlfriends are with them, they’ll come work the tent or the trail a little bit,” Will Shaw said. “The kids love it, they have fun with it. It gives them something to talk about with their friends. It’s always cool when they get excited to have a friend or two, or a boyfriend or girlfriend, to come hang out with them when they’re doing it.”

Shelli Shaw said that although she can’t stand horror movies – they freak her out – her husband loves to analyze them. Will Shaw agreed, saying he loves to pick apart the lighting in horror movies. He is always looking for tricks of the light to integrate into his haunted projects.

Will Shaw said he likes the way horror movies use lighting to create a certain feel and to ratchet up the tension. He said there are parts of the Haunted Trail that, if inspected during the day, wouldn’t appear scary at all.

“But at night, using the different lighting, you’re using their imaginations to make it scary,” Will Shaw said. “That’s what freaks people out the most, usually, is the areas that their imagination is making it worse than what it is. And you use the lighting to do that.”

The Haunted Trail is only part of the annual Shaw family tradition. Before night settles over the trail every year, Will Shaw said, the family gathers to enjoy a candlelight-by-pumpkin spaghetti dinner.

“We just have so much fun,” Sherri Shaw said. “We always do it (the Haunted Trail) for free. It’s just a service that we love to provide.”

Sherri Shaw urged anyone who visits to be cautious of their speed when driving through the neighborhood. The speed limit is 15 mph and the Shaw residence is on a mountainside with dirt roads. She said children live in the neighborhood and it is likely there will be kids trick-or-treating around the area.

The Haunted Trail is at 959 Sierra Drive in Durango. It is free to the public, and opens at dusk Saturday and Sunday. The trail will remain open until 10 p.m. Saturday and 9:15 p.m. Sunday.

Another option for youngsters eager to trick-or-treat is being offered for children ages 10 and younger by the Durango Business Improvement District. The district’s annual Children’s Downtown Halloween is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Children can trick-or-treat at participating businesses downtown as long as they’re in costume and accompanied by an adult.

A full list of businesses participating in the 2021 Children’s Downtown Halloween can be found at www.downtowndurango.org/childrens-halloween.

Other haunted happenings in Durango include history tours with Ghost Walk Durango and Horse Fly History Walking Tours.

cburney@durangoherald.com