The Szuba house on Halloween takes scary to the next level. With live monsters and ghouls walking amongst visitors to this Garden City haunted house, trick-or-treaters are getting the fright of their lives while helping an important cause - pancreatic cancer research.

Jared and Mike Szuba, along with their mom, Dr. Geralyn Groh-Szuba, have been providing this chilling scenery as a backdrop to raise money for the MIRACLE Foundation and the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Research. The event honors Jared and Mike's dad, Dr. Martin Szuba, who lost his brief but brave battle with the disease in October of 2002. Jared and Mike, who were 8 and 11 years old at the time of his death, decided to host the first haunted house fundraiser just after their dad passed away.

The boys did it, too, to remember how much fun their dad was on Halloween. "Our house was always one of the most fun ones and the boys and their dad liked to decorate it rather scarily," Dr. Groh-Szuba said. "They would get pretty creative and sometimes dress up in monster costumes and scare some of the older trick-or-treaters, especially the high school football players who loved to come by for a hearty fright."

Dr. Groh-Szuba, who has a small specialty pediatric practice in Garden City to assess students with ADHD and other learning problems, continued, adding that her husband, at six feet, 6 inches tall, made quite a formidable monster!

The haunted house, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 27, between 5 and 9 p.m. this year, weaves through the backyard and garage of 92 Meadow Street, with ghoulish creatures, monsters and decorations galore greeting visitors at the door. The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 28.

In lieu of an admission fee, voluntary donations will be accepted in cash or by check made out to either or both foundations. Members of Garden City High School's Miracle Club have volunteered to collect donations at the entrance. Any donation will be accepted and goes toward research to help fight insidious cancers such as pancreatic cancer.