As he opens the gate, he looks up onto the house ahead of him. The house, where 30 years ago two brothers battled burglars, appears to be on fire. As the story goes, the house is haunted and the thought of it makes sophomore Mason Bata’s heart pound and palms sweat.

The feeling he gets is all too familiar, but still a feeling that he loves. He pushes the door of the creepy looking building open and steps inside into a whole new thrilling adventure, not caring whether or not it is dangerous.

“I love the adrenaline rush it gives me,” Bata said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen, it makes it really fun.”

Bata has been to multiple haunted locations in Wichita Falls, but Pinky’s Cave is the one he visits most frequently.

“My experience was scary and frightening,” Bata said. “You can’t see anything. There’s a light at the opening, but then you turn a corner and it’s really dark. You find all kinds of weird stuff down there.”

Bata loves all of the feelings he gets when he is visiting the spots.

“It’s fun hearing the stories,” Bata said. “And when you hear them, you want to see if they are true.”

Bata prefers to go with groups of people, for safety reasons.

“I don’t want to get killed by people who could possibly be at the sites,” Bata said.

As someone who doesn’t really believe in ghosts, the experiences for Bata are more fun than scary.

“Witch’s Gate was just creepy,” Bata said. “But nothing really happened.”

There are places Bata won’t return to.

“Someone owns the White Sanitarium,” Bata said. “So I don’t plan on going there.”

Bata does see dangers in going to these areas, though.

“[Teenagers] should go because it’s thrilling,” Bata said. “But they also shouldn’t go because you could get arrested, or harmed.”

In Wichita Falls Police Officer Brad Love’s opinion, the biggest fear kids should have is getting caught on the private property that the buildings are on.

“You get filed for criminal trespassing, which is a class B misdemeanor,” Officer Love said. “Regardless of what you’re doing on the property, if the owner finds you, they will think that you are trying to perform criminal mischief.”

The consequences of getting caught can be severe, no matter what the intentions are.

“You could be arrested,” Officer Love said. “A report could be filed, and a detective will follow up on it later and charges could be filed. If you are inside the building and decide to pick up something to keep as a souvenir, it is considered burglary. In the state of Texas property owners are allowed to protect their property with use of deadly force.”

Officer Love also added that going to the cemetery is a very bad idea, and the city has zero tolerance for those caught there after dark.

“It’s violating the law,” Officer Love said. “It’s one thing to get permission, but another to go to the sites without it.”