BENWOOD -- She's called the "Halloween Queen" and she is the owner and creator of Castle Halloween in Benwood.

The Queen took 7News inside her castle for a closer look.

Castle Halloween is a museum and shop that offers a unique look at the history of Halloween, and it's filled with more than 15,000 artifacts, pieces of artwork, and memorabilla.

Her real name is Pamela Apkarian-Russell, and she's an accomplished author, antiques expert, history buff and collector. So, what started her fascination with everything Halloween?

"Well, I came through it with the Salem Witch trials, collecting those items and paranormal and occult books and spiritualism and Casey and Susan Smith when I was a teenager. And I played Abigail in an amateur production of "The Crucible" and I was addicted." Apkarian-Russell said.

Addicted so much so that she travels the country and the world to find items for her Museum. From the old, like head dresses and wreaths made of human hair created in the Victorian Era to honor the dead...to movie memorabilla from Harry Potter and The Nightmare before Christmas...to folk art. All nestled inside the former Boggs Run Elementary School on Boggs Run Road, where she and her husband now live. So why there?

"We thought oh, it's really quiet. It's very verdant. There's owls here. I got an eagle here. Oh, this is perfect for me."

But she says she's already growing out of it, with many pieces still in storage on the third floor of the building. But funding is low. Pamela and her husband pay for everything, and it's not been easy.

"We will never make any money at this. We will always be broke because of this. As my husband says, we eat a lot of pasta (laughs) But this is a total passion for me." she said.

She added that it is a family-oriented place, filled with a social history of the holiday and that you won't find blood and gore.

The museum is open to the public but by appointment only. For more information, go to www.castlehalloween.com, or call (304)233-1031.