SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Now in its fortieth year, the Spook-a-rama dance will have bones shaking to pop hits once again this Halloween Saturday at the RCMP/DND hanger.

The event started off as a creative way to stave off Halloween mischief, said Don Finnamore of the Yellowknife Lions Club, the organizers of the event.

"It started about forty years ago with an RCMP member who was in the Lions Club," said Finnamore.

The RCMP member had come from another jurisdiction that had used an annual Halloween dance to try and curb the mischief that typically comes with the occasion.

"Incidents of vandalism dropped dramatically," said Finnamore.

He said the Lions Club decided to hold a similar event in Yellowknife, and it's been a very successful event.

"We went out to the businesses and said, look, we're going to put this on and it saves you money, too, because it cuts down vandalism – will you guys give us donations to help? That's how it started out."

The Yellowknife RCMP don't have hard numbers to illustrate how the dance has curbed vandalism, but officers think it's working, according to Const. Todd Scaplen.

"In (the RCMP's) experience, if we give youth the opportunity to have other avenues of entertaining themselves, other than mischief, it will curb the mischievous actions," said Scaplen.

This year there will be free buses, which start running at 6 p.m. on Saturday, to transport youth to and from the event. The dance is monitored by the RCMP to make sure that things such as weapons or drugs don't enter the facility.

It is open to youth from the ages of 12 to 18, and the dance itself runs from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m.

"We have pop and pizza, and Danceaway Djs will be there doing the music side of it," said Finnamore.

Even though the Lions Club currently has only three members, they were able to throw together the event with the help of community sponsors.

"The way the economy's going, we didn't necessarily get a lot of funding, but that's understandable," he said.

"It costs about seven grand to put everything on, by the time you buy the pizzas and pay for the pop, and pay some money for the buses and the prizes."

The door prizes range from headsets and MP3 players, to a TV and a grand prize of a trip for two to Edmonton, courtesy of Canadian North.