POWNAL – While a veterinary hospital doesn’t seem to be the most likely place for a haunted house, veterinarian Karen Richter-Hall, her staff and some family and friends will be looking to change that this week.

The Pownal Veterinary Hospital will host a free haunted house for all school-age kids on Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 31,from 6-8 p.m. Pownal Veterinary Hospital is located at 191 Hallowell Road, on Route 9.

Richter-Hall said she decided to host the event simply to get into the Halloween spirit, adding that if some potential new clients discover her hospital because of it, then that’s a bonus.

“We are a new veterinary hospital, we just wanted to try something fun and different,” she said.

“The kids love Halloween, it’s one of the biggest holidays, it’s right up there with Christmas,” she said.

The idea was to hold an event that kids of all ages could enjoy, from the timid to the bold. Richter-Hall said the haunted house is going to be divided into a milder version for the younger kids and a much scarier part for the older ones.

“In the front of the hospital, we’re just going to have some little things in the exam rooms,” she said. “We have some animal skulls, some lights, spider webs and ghosts. But in the back, there are several of us to have some really scary things in the surgery. We had a few friends that wanted to join in with us. We just thought it would be fun.”

Richter-Hall added that there would be plenty of warning before entering the scarier parts of the haunted house, allowing those who don’t want to be scared to opt out.

“We don’t want to frighten anybody,” she said.

And along with the ghosts, goblins and ghouls, there will also be traditional trick-or treating, with candy and stickers for the kids.

And while there are good frights promised for those who dare to venture deep into the Pownal Veterinary Hospital’s haunted house, Richter-Hall said that no one should be too scared. After all, she said, it’s all about Halloween fun.

“It will be low-key for the little kids,” she said. “We don’t want anybody to cry, we just want it to be fun.”

This skull in a fish tank is just one of the scares that awaits kids at Pownal Veterinary Hospital’s haunted house.