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Tucked in a quiet East Long Beach neighbor, there’s an extravagantly ghoulish haunted house that springs up each year thanks to countless hours of work from one man, his family and a crew of drama students.
Setup for the homemade maze officially begins in early September. That is, if you don’t count the March visits to estate sales or the year-round tinkering with ghastly decor.
After Labor Day each year, Robert Duck breaks out the drill and glue gun to transform his front yard and driveway into Fairbrook Manor — a haunted outdoor labyrinth featuring volunteer actors from local schools.
What started as a pandemic project has blossomed into an attraction visited by hundreds every year. A sign outside the maze features a story Duck wrote himself, about a Long Beach widow in the early 1900s who kidnaps local children in an attempt to cover the grief of losing her husband and two sons.
In 2020, Duck sent fliers to local drama teachers hoping to recruit students interested in playing those kidnapped children at his homemade horror attraction.
This year, the fifth iteration of Fairbrook Manor, located on Fairbrook Street just west of North Bellflower Boulevard, features 21 actors ranging from elementary to high school.
One of the middle school girls brings a mason jar with homemade, edible fake blood for her character.
Another student, a junior in high school, has been returning to scare at Fairbrook Manor for four straight years. He recently moved to Moreno Valley but makes the trip to Long Beach during Halloween season to act in the haunted house.
This year’s maze features a parlor scene, a dining room, a playroom complete with old dolls Robert bought from estate sales, a garden and the new addition of Fairbrook Farm — populated by mutated animals.
It is far from Robert’s first maze. His haunted construction projects began in seventh grade — made with black construction tarp and hanging spiders in his grandparents’ driveway.
“It was super janky, but it kicked off my passion,” Duck said.
Duck’s 11-year-old son, Xander, is participating in the haunted maze for the second consecutive year as a scarecrow slayer, walking around with the head of a scarecrow on a spear to frighten maze goers.
While his dad said he loves Xander’s participation in the yearly haunt, he’s looking forward to when his son can help with the handiwork of constructing and deconstructing the maze every year.
Xander said his favorite part each year is “people sharing community together.”
The actors arrive about an hour before the maze opens to do their own makeup and hang out in the Duck family’s backyard, complete with snacks and a ping-pong table.
Finley, a fifth grader at Patrick Henry Elementary School, said her favorite part of acting in the maze is “that I get to scare the crap out of teenagers.”
The emphasis for the actors this year is to carry out silent scares in order to keep noise at a minimum for the neighbors.
A permit issue caused the haunted house to shut down briefly last year, but city officials banded together to come up with a solution for it to quickly reopen under the city’s provisions as a house party.
Entry to the haunted house is free, but there is a suggested donation of $5 per person. All proceeds go to the Long Beach Rescue Mission, which has provided food, clothing, shelter and other services to unhoused people since 1972.
Visitors also have the option of bringing canned goods, hygiene items or non-perishable items for donation bins that also go to the Long Beach Rescue Mission.
Last year, visitors to Fairbrook Manor contributed just over $6,000 and filled seven donation bins, Robert said.
Visitors this year are encouraged to park along Bellflower Boulevard or in the parking lot of the nearby shopping center.
Fairbrook Manor is open from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. this Friday Oct. 25 through Sunday Oct. 27. There is also a scare-free daytime tour available on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.
On Halloween, the maze will remain open but will not feature actors. The donation bins will remain outside the house until Nov. 5.
Duck said his goal this year is to fill eight donation bins.
After Halloween, Duck said he will shift his focus to decorating for Christmas.
Duck’s wife Kathy said Robert would choose Christmas as his favorite holiday, but Halloween is “his actual favorite.”