F.S. Horror returns for scares

After working throughout the summer and early fall to transform his front yard into a cemetery, and set up the foundation for his haunted house, Franklin Square Haunt Master Joseph Allocco has nearly completed his latest iteration of The Franklin Square Horror for this year’s Halloween season.

Allocco has run his famous haunted house event every Halloween for the past 22 years. This year’s theme is “The Catacombs of Terror,” which features a new addition to the haunted house in the form of Valak, the demonic sister from the 2018 hit horror movie, “The Nun.” Allocco explained that one of his neighbors, Liz George, will be playing Valak and scaring visitors in the last room of the attraction.

“People will enter in through the door, which reads ‘God Ends Here,’ just like in the movie,” Allocco said. “And she’ll be here, wearing these contacts that’ll make her eyes glow.”

Along with Valak, the haunted house will include a crematorium, hanging body bags, moving portraits and Allocco, in his signature Leather Face outfit from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” He and several family members and neighbors will entertain those waiting in line as The Franklin Square Horror tends to draw more than 2,000 visitors every year.

The haunted house has been featured in several media outlets, including FEARnet, which named it one of the 31 Scariest Home Haunts in America in 2007. The Franklin Square Horror has also won Best Haunted House for the past four years in The Bethpage Best of Long Island contests, which ranks the best businesses and services in Nassau and Suffolk County as voted by Long Islanders. Allocco said that because his haunted house is free and open to the public, it has become a tradition in Franklin Square.

“Not everyone has the time or money to go to the big places like Bayville Scream Park,” he said referring to the pricey North Shore-based amusement park, “so they always appreciate that I set this up for them.”

Although Allocco does not charge for admission to the haunted house, he does set up a collection bin for donations to local autism and cerebral palsy organizations. He does this in order to give back to the local organizations that helped his son, Joseph Tyler Jr., and Allocco said the charity aspect of the haunted house is one of the reasons he gets thousands of visitors every year.

“This all really blew up when I started collecting donations,” he added. “Everyone just likes to give back.”

The Franklin Square Horror will be open from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Halloween night only. Allocco will also host a sensory-friendly version of the haunted house for special needs students at 4 p.m.