As Halloween came and went, one group of Naval Base Kitsap Seabees were hard at work building, decorating and scaring the life out of all comers for its seventh consecutive year. 

As in past years, Construction Battalion Unit 418 (CBU 418) personnel excitedly looked forward to hosting this regional favorite, believed to be one of the largest on the Kitsap peninsula. 

Once again, these Seabees delivered lots of fright to those from the NBK community that dared enter the house of horrors.

The Wizard of Oz’s, Dorothy, never looked so, well, dead, and those chainsaw wielding maniacs from Texas certainly kept everyone on their toes. If the frantic reaction of more than over 1,200 patrons was any indication, mission “fright for all” was accomplished.

This year’s event included a new route and encompassed a larger footprint than in year’s past.  Great attention was paid to every detail, and safety weighed heavily on the minds of the Seabees. “We take safety very seriously,” said CBU 418 Officer in Charge, Lt. Jeff Bartlett. “Every room, prop, and routes are laid out with safety in mind. The entire house is approved by base fire safety officials to ensure our patrons are treated to a well organized and safe event.”

“I think the rooms in this year’s haunted house stood out from last year’s design,” added Construction Electrician First Class Sean Cloyd. “I think it was reflected in the outstanding motivation and effort on behalf of our second class community. I believe that led to a big boost in the unit morale.”

More than 1,200 local area Sailors and their family members attended the house. Perhaps BU2(SCW) Troy M. Hunt, project leader for the event put it best when he said, “By making an extra fifth on the profit over last year’s haunted house shows that the Seabees haunted houses only get better with every passing year.” The Seabee haunted house is the sole West Sound Seabee Ball fundraiser for CBU 418.

“We take the profits from this event and place them directly towards buying Seabee ball tickets for our personnel as well as donating funds towards the general Seabee Ball account to help make each year’s ball a memorable one,” added Bartlett.

The CBU 418 haunted house is a private event and is not indorsed by the Department of Defense or the NBK naval establishment.