Dave Barnhill is starting to get discouraged. The self-described "master of optimism" will have to cancel his theatrical haunted house, called "The Dungeons of Darkness and Doom," for the third straight year unless he can find it a temporary home in the west metro within the next month.
"It's a brutal, uphill battle. I feel like Sisyphus every year, just pushing that rock up the hill," said Barnhill, who came up with the concept in 2000. He estimates he's looked at 20 potential locations — which require 5,000 square feet of commercially-zoned space with parking, minimal stairs, bathrooms, power and heat — this year in Golden Valley, Eden Prairie, Plymouth, and St. Louis Park, and will probably try another 20 more before he calls it quits.
In the past Barnhill has harnessed his cartoonish, over-the-top enthusiasm to direct 40-60 volunteer actors, mostly students from Hopkins Main Street School of Performing Arts (MSSPA), every night during his show's 10-15 day run. Tour guides escort groups from room to room, slowly unfolding the story of the evil Hill family, which Barnhill has honed over the years.
"He's extremely enthusiastic, he obviously loves doing it ... and the kids seem to always think it's a good idea," said Barbara Wornson, executive director of MSSPA.
Barnhill has sporadically run haunted houses since he was 18 years old and still prefers the "old-school," theatrical, storytelling approach.
"The big houses have you go through without a tour guide and people jump out and scare you, and that's great, it's just not what we do," said Barnhill, who does not own a computer. "We tell a story, put on a show, and although it's archaic and antiquated, that's the way we're still running it."
The last year Barnhill operated the "Dungeons of Darkness and Doom" he collected 1,057 pounds of food for the Hopkins Jaycees by offering $3 off admission for a nonperishable food donation. He hopes to eclipse that mark this year if he finds a willing landlord.
"It could be the final haunt for the Dungeons of Darkness and Doom," said Barnhill. "What kills me is that I know there's space out there. There's tons of it! I just gotta find it."
