SAN DIEGO — Mira Mesa Theatre Guild proudly presents its 8th annual haunted house. Monster

Manor, sponsored by Pardee Homes, will run Oct. 17, 18, 24-26, 28-31 in the Target Shopping Center in Mira Mesa.

Each year the ghoulish, cursed home of the Ghastleys rises up in Mira Mesa. Inside the brooding old Victorian mansion, the former tenant returns to try and scare away all who enter their abode.

“I am pretty excited for this year and to see some really good scares and ideas being implemented,” said Trey Barkley, Monster Manor's cast director.

Each year, Monster Manor is completely rebuilt and redesigned so that the attraction’s experience is different from year to year. With a team of over 200 volunteers, the Haunt's scares and effects are different from all the other Haunted Houses.

This year’s theme “… WHAT LIES BENEATH,” hints at what guests will be in for. For the first time in the Manor history, the spectators are allowed into the subterranean cavern of the Ghastley’s Victorian Mansion. What lies beneath? Nobody knows. No one has survived to tell the tale.

Monster Manor is also the ONLY haunted house in San Diego County that caters to young children and families. During select days, the Manor transforms into a Caribbean villa, with pirates running about searching for lost treasures.

The Lite Frite’s Pirates’ Landing, as the daytime attraction is called, is designed for toddlers to preteens. It is a non-scary alternative to the nighttime attraction. In Lite Frite’s Pirates’ Landing, the children are guided by friendly pirates to search for lost treasures. Along the way, they encounter helpful scalawags, manor guests and ghostly apparitions to help locate the treasures before the bad pirates can get to them.

Mira Mesa Theatre Guild’s goal, for Monster Manor, is two-fold; to provide a safe and family-friendly environment for the community to celebrate Halloween and to serve as a fundraiser for local charities and communities.

All the proceeds for the daytime and nighttime haunts go to support the community. During the past seven years, Monster Manor has raised more than $75,000 in support of groups such as Boy

Scout Troop 648, Friends of Ericson Elementary School, Mira Mesa Scripps Youth Football, Mira Mesa Youth Baseball, Poway High Ag Partners, Sandburg Elementary School, just to name a few.

The success of Pardee Homes’ Monster Manor can be directly attributed to the involvement of the entire community. Designed, built and operated completely by a small army of 200-plus volunteers, the 4,000-plus-square-foot haunted house is an intergenerational experience, with teens working alongside seasoned professionals, gaining valuable work experience. The Manor's core group has more than 75 years combined experience in motion picture effects, theatre, and haunted-house work.

A true community project, all costs associated with putting up Monster Manor are paid for with the help of more than a dozen local businesses. Corporate sponsors for this year's haunted house, so far, include, Pardee Homes, SkyRiver Communications, AT&T and the Target Shopping Center.