"Abel Barrera was homeless growing up in Redding. Gaspar, who was a classmate of Mike Barrera, was homeless and living in a car with his mother before being taken in by the Barrera family. Given this history, the Barreras in 2013 conceived of the Bernal Scream, a free show in the backyard of the family home on Bernal Road in San Jose for low-income families who couldn't afford other haunted attractions."
"By 2016, the attraction had outgrown the confines of the backyard, so the Bernal Scream set up in the parking lot of Westfield Oakridge Mall, where thousands of dollars' worth of haunted house equipment was stolen just days before Halloween. The Barreras knew it would take years to be able to open again, but they were up to the task."
"This year's show, "Forbidden Symphony," kicked off on Sept. 19 at its new permanent home at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds with volunteers from the fairgrounds, HomeFirst and the Bernal Scream coming together to assemble housewarming kits for homeless individuals from San Jose's Columbus Park encampment who recently found safe and supportive housing through the City of San Jose and HomeFirst."
Mike Barrera and Christian Gaspar created the Bernal Scream in 2013 as a free backyard haunted show on Bernal Road in San Jose for low-income families who could not afford other attractions. The attraction moved to the Westfield Oakridge Mall parking lot in 2016, where thousands of dollars' worth of equipment was stolen days before Halloween and forced a long pause. Abel Barrera died of pancreatic cancer in 2021. Barrera and Gaspar returned with "Lucifer's Wrath" in 2023 and "Soul Shredder" in 2024. In 2024 they launched Scream Proud with HomeFirst. The "Forbidden Symphony" opened Sept. 19 at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds and volunteers assembled housewarming kits for newly housed Columbus Park residents.
Read at The Mercury News
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