Haunted car wash welcomes Calgarians for spooky and sudsy experience

Instead of taking your kids to a haunted house this Halloween, you can take them to a haunted car wash.

Mint Smartwash on Macleod Trail is hosting a Monster Wash this week.

"You get a car wash and we have a whole haunted tunnel," explained Chris Friesen, the company president and CEO. "It's dark inside, we've got characters, candy for the kids at the station, so really fun for the whole family."

The Monster Wash started on Saturday and wraps up on Wednesday.

Friesen says the concept of a spooky car wash, which is popular south of the border, seems to be thrilling customers.

The car wash at Mint is typically a bright environment with lots of windows, but for Monster Wash, it's pitch black with a few select lights to set the mood.

"It is definitely an experience when you get in that black tunnel," Friesen said. "It's definitely dark in there."

Staff wear masks and hand out candy to the families in the vehicles.

"We've got eight local actors that are helping us out, fully costumed up and interacting with the customers," said Friesen. "It's definitely an immersive experience, very nice personalities, so it's been a lot of fun to have them around."

Noah Sharon is a professional actor who has been working the Monster Wash dressed as Beetlejuice.

"When I first heard about this opportunity, I was like, 'A haunted car wash? What does that really entail?'" he said. "But then when I heard about it more in the interview, I was like, 'Wait, that sounds really cool. I've never heard of this ever happening before.'"

 

 

 

 

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Sharon says the number of cars each evening varies. He says some occupants are adults while others are families with the kids sitting in the back.

He tailors his performance to his audience.

"I love seeing kids come through," he said. "It's really fun, I get to dance around, be a little crazy."

Leslie Anderson brought her two daughters Mika, 11, and Amber, 7, to the Monster Wash after driving by all the decorations.

"Oh my heavens," she said. "They've been asking about it nonstop for the last few days, so we were driving by, and it seemed like a fun thing to stop off and do."

The girls enjoyed every minute of it, from meeting Beetlejuice at the start to the inside of the wash.

"It was actually really scary because this random guy with a black face, he just jumped out of there," said Mika. "I actually screamed on the top of my lungs!"

For more information on the Monster Wash and to buy tickets you can visit Eventbrite.com.