Robyn Flans

Special to The Star

It's time for ghosts, spiders, zombies, bats, blood and guts — for one night only, and it isn't Halloween.

The award-winning Reign of Terror haunted house in Thousand Oaks will be open Saturday night, with proceeds going to two local animal rescue organizations.

Bruce Stanton, who opened the haunted house in 2000, began offering special one-night events three years ago when one of the Reign of Terror actors, a local 34-year old father of four, was diagnosed with lung cancer.

“He had a GoFundMe page, and my wife, Mary, and I wanted to do something for him but we didn’t want to just give him $100,” Stanton said.





He had never planned on opening the haunted house outside of the Halloween season, but the one-night-only event was such a success — raising nearly $11,000 — that he turned it into a late-winter tradition.

“It’s just a great win-win for everybody," Stanton said. "We don’t make money on this.”

Last year, proceeds from the special event went to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, raising enough money to grant one child a wish.

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This year's fundraiser will benefit L.I.F.E. Animal Rescue in Agoura Hills and California Coastal Horse Rescue near Ojai. The Stantons recently rescued two dogs from the Agoura Hills nonprofit, which also pulls dogs out of Thailand before they can be transported to neighboring countries for slaughter. California Coastal Horse Rescue helps neglected, abused and slaughter-bound horses.

Stanton said there's much to enjoy in the 21,000-square-foot haunted house at the Janss Marketplace that's been divided into 95 rooms full of scary sights and sounds.

In October, 3,000 square feet of space was added, creating 15 more rooms for new animatronics and a feature called "Infected," which became one of Stanton's favorites.

“It’s kind of an auto shop infected by zombies,” Stanton said. “It has one of the best technology of scares. The combination of actors and animatronics makes it one of my favorites.”

Rob Nitzsche, who has helped Stanton with the construction, marketing and development of Reign of Terror for the past four years, said he loves watching the reactions of guests as they go through the haunted house.

“Seeing people come through the Reign of Terror, hold on to their friends and loved ones, scream and laugh at the same time because they're having so much fun, is my favorite thing,” Nitzsche said. “It's really so much fun for us to see people enjoy themselves and just have a great time.”

If you go

What: Reign of Terror

When: 7-11 p.m. Saturday

Where: Janss Marketplace, above Gold’s Gym, 275 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks

Price: $15 general admission, $25 express line

Information: http://www.rothauntedhouse.com