A new casket is added to the queue line decor outside the Yuba City Haunted House at 441 Pelican Place as creator Corey Ringseth prepares this year’s Sandman attraction.

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The Yuba City Haunted House is back for its third year, and things are looking bigger and scarier than ever.

Creator Corey Ringseth is sticking to his fondness for interconnected lore, introducing Sandman as this year’s theme and taking visitors several decades back in the haunted house’s fictional history.

“Each house that I do is technically the same house, but in a different time period,” Ringseth explained. “Farmhouse was more, I want to say, like 2000s-ish, late ’90s, maybe middle 2000s, and then last year Blood Harvest was more present day, and then Sandman is bringing it all back to the 1950s.”

This year’s story centers on a serial killer who has taken on the name Sandman.

“Basically this is Sandman’s house, and you’re entering Sandman’s house and you have to escape,” Ringseth said.

Vintage dolls donated by the mother of one of Corey Ringseth’s coworkers fill one of the rooms inside the Yuba City Haunted House. Ringseth frequently incorporates donated, thrifted and discarded items into his builds.

To create that world, Ringseth has essentially built a second house in and around his garage, primarily using scrap, discarded and repurposed materials. Much of the wood comes from work pallets, while props and building materials are often sourced through thrift stores, giveaways and Facebook Marketplace.

“I try to keep the cost to a minimum,” Ringseth said. “A lot of it is free stuff from work. I’d say 80% to 90% is free stuff, and then the real cost is props and miscellaneous things like paint, boxes of screws here and there, little hardware things, just small stuff.”

One of this year’s more unusual finds was a real casket, which Ringseth picked up for free from a Marysville family giving away pieces from its own Halloween display. A collection of old porcelain dolls donated by the mother of one of his coworkers also found its way into the attraction.

Ringseth estimates he has spent only a few thousand dollars on the project over the course of the year. Many materials can now be stored in a shipping container he recently purchased for his backyard, eliminating the need to rent a storage unit.

Thrifted dishes, furniture and other repurposed decor are mixed with realistic horror props inside the Sandman haunted house, helping transform a Yuba City garage into a 1950s-era home.

The physical build, which Ringseth begins as early as July, is only one piece of the project. He also engineers the attraction’s audio setup, creating many of the sound effects and tracks himself.

“All of the audio that you hear, whether it’s ambient noise, a scream, glass breaking or whatever the audio is, I actually create all that here on my computer,” Ringseth said.

The setup includes nine amplifiers running five ambient audio tracks. Eight additional scare-actor locations have their own triggered audio effects, not including the sound system used outside for guests waiting in line. Not surprisingly, Ringseth once considered audio engineering as a career.

“In high school, me and my brother were in a band, and he actually went to school and got his bachelor’s degree in recording arts,” Ringseth said. “I took a couple courses too and a lot of that stuff just stuck with me.”

Crowds are anticipated to wrap around the block again this year, as they have in years past. To help accommodate them, Ringseth has applied for a street closure near the attraction at 441 Pelican Place, with the goal of reducing the risk of pedestrians mixing with vehicle traffic.

Signs outside the Yuba City Haunted House advertise this year’s Sandman theme and remind visitors of attraction rules ahead of its October opening at 441 Pelican Place in Yuba City.

The additional safety measures may be particularly useful this year, as Sandman marks Ringseth’s largest build yet. The attraction has expanded another 4 feet into the front driveway, adding a new entrance area before guests make their way inside. Despite the expansion, admission will once again remain free, with donations accepted.

“I’m gonna try to make it free for as long as I possibly can because I do it because I enjoy it,” Ringseth said. “It makes me happy, and the community really does show up every year.”

He said donations from last year’s attraction covered nearly all of the expenses for the build. While Ringseth enjoys making people scream for free, his ultimate goal is to find a way to put his creative and technical skills to work full time. He has also considered whether the attraction could eventually move to a larger location as it continues to grow.

“Every year I want to do something bigger and better, you know?” Ringseth said.

The Yuba City Haunted House presents Sandman at 441 Pelican Place in Yuba City. The attraction will be open Oct. 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 and 30 from 7 to 10 p.m. It will be closed Halloween night, Oct. 31. Admission is free, with donations appreciated. Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult. The attraction features strobe lights, loud noises, live actors, air and fog effects, blood and gore, and is not recommended for children under 13.