Author: Allen

Krampus: Jingle Hell!

I know we are not even done with Halloween yet, but this was just sent to me about an event happening at The Slaughterhouse in a little over a month:

https://app.hauntpay.com/events/krampus

Krampus: Jingle Hell is describe as:

Prepare for a Night of Terror and Delight on December 2nd in Des Moines!

Get ready for an unforgettable evening as Krampus and his mischievous H’elves unleash their mayhem at The Slaughterhouse! For one night only, this spine-chilling event is open to all ages from 6-9pm. (Ages 6 and up strongly recommended)

Embrace the darkness at our BLACKOUT show where the Christmas Beast has devoured the power lines! Feel the adrenaline surge through your veins as you navigate our subterranean lair, with only the red Rudolph Glow Necklaces provided to light your way.

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Krampus and our haunting Holiday ghouls! Bring your mischievous loved ones along and capture the terrifyingly memorable moments with a photo alongside these mysterious creatures.

Experience the thrill and excitement of Krampus: Jingle Hell by securing your tickets now!

https://app.hauntpay.com/events/krampus

Consider this your advance notice to do some early Christmas (ticket) shopping. With only three hours on one night, I do not expect these tickets to last long.

Peak haunt has been achieved

Today is the day. The Friday before Halloween begins the weekend with the most haunted attractions operating. Lines at the popular haunts are expected to be the highest all month. With places like Sleepy Hollow Sports Park selling out many nights earlier in the month, it should be no shock if they sell out during this weekend too.

Slaughterhouse, established in 2010, is the haunt that put Des Moines on the national haunted house scene.

DMHH Tips

  1. If this is your weekend to go, spend the extra money and buy tickets online — especially if the haunt offers a timed ticketing system. For more traditional haunts, such as Linn’s Haunted House and the relatively new Haunted Woods in Carlisle, buying tickets at the entrance may be your only option, so show up right at opening to avoid expected long lines.
  2. Some haunts offer VIP passes that let you skip straight to the front of the line. If you only have one evening, consider spending the extra money to do this. It will cost more, but will enable you to do more than just stand in long lines all evening.
  3. Between a chance of rain and freezing temperatures, some outdoor haunts may reduce hours or not operate. Check their official website or Facebook page before heading out to make sure they are up and running.
  4. Remember that even some indoor haunts have outdoor lines (such as Linn’s). If you would rather not deal with the temperatures, consider visiting Merle Hay Mall to check out Future Nightmares (20 minute shows start the top of the hour) or try out a Virtual Reality Horror Escape Room at White Rabbit VR Arcade.
  5. And most of all … try to take a moment to appreciate the artistry and effort that goes in to these attractions. It is a high-risk business where they only get a few weekends to make it profitable. Bring your friends 🙂
Outdoor haunts like Haunted Woods in Carlisle may be impacted by weather. Check before heading out.

I expect to continue sharing news and haunt updates through Halloween. After that, I hope to bring news of other haunt happenings throughout the year, such as events at Slaughterhouse, Future Nightmares and any speciality events like this year’s “Haunted Tavern” that came through Des Moines.

Stay warm. Stay safe. And have fun!

Halloween silent disco

For those that remember Club Blood‘s silent disco at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park…

Club Blood at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park.

…there is a new silent disco in town just in time for Halloween weekend.

Iowa Silent Disco will be taking place this Saturday, October 28th, in Merle Hay Mall from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. They will be using the big space of White Rabbit VR Arcade to host this $10 event.

Their Facebook page is promoting “2 for 1 admission” if you show up before 10 p.m.

This is an all ages event, but there is a plan to have a full bar with alcohol for those 21 and older. The drinks will be served by FLIX Brewhouse.

Future Nightmare adds more days

Just in time for “Halloween Week,” Future Nightmares in Merle Hay Mall has added extra nights:

I will try to get the information on this website updated (as well as the calendar) as soon as I can. But, as always, check official sources before heading out. This year, at least three of the haunts have added or removed nights in the past week. Do not rely on what you see in a newspaper article or some Halloween nerd’s website. 😉

Linn’s in Des Moines Register

Linn’s Haunted House, which started in 1984, is the longest running haunted house around. The Des Moines Register‘s Paris Barraza posted an article about it today:

I have added these to the Linn’s page on this site (the one that shows up in the pull down menu at the top of the pages). There wasn’t a place for it on the index software so I have to keep a separate “launch page” for each haunt for things like this.

Zombie Hollow date changes

Always check with the haunt’s official website or social media before heading out. Dates sometimes get added or removed. Or both, in the case of Winterset’s Zombie Hollow. From their Facebook page:

We’ve switched up our calendar a bit. We took out Thursday the 26th but added Sunday the 29th. Friday night is looking dry and just right! Come on out, grab a hot chocolate at Nick’s Kettle Korn located right at our front entrance and carry it with you as you enjoy the show! By Tuesday, we may be adding Christmas lights if the snow keeps up! ????????????❄️

Zombie Hollow on Facebook

Barnum Circus of Freaks also posted about adding an extra night this week.

For outdoor events, weather may also be a concern, with rain expected today and a potential to see some snow this weekend. Carlisle’s Haunted Woods has posted about potentially changing hours due to weather. Outdoor events such as these (and Sleepy Hollow, and Adventureland, and Trail of Terror, and…) can be impacted by wet or color weather.

Wrap up warm this weekend!

Voting comments wanted

I guess I should have seen this coming.

Shortly after launching this year’s haunted house awards voting, I started getting feedback questioning including Adventureland Phantom Fall Fest in with the small single haunted houses. I honestly thought of them no differently than Sleepy Hollow, which I believe has more haunted houses than Adventureland.

I genuinely expected the voting to be similar to previous years, with the huge multi-generational fanbase of Linn’s Haunted House and the nationally-known Slaughterhouse dominating most categories. But, shortly after the voting went live, it became clear that Adventureland – with its 151K+ Facebook followers – was going to wipe out all the other haunts.

I think we can all agree that if their haunts are better than all the others, they should win.

As a lifelong theme park nerd (see my Photos – Park Hopping site over 150,000 theme park photos going back to 1996), this reminds me of the Disney fans trying to compare Disneyland in California (back when it was just one theme park with one hotel) to Walt Disney World (which was four theme parks, tons of resorts, golf courses, waterparks, etc.). You could easily compare which version of Haunted Mansion you thought was better, but comparing “Disneyland to Walt Disney World” just never made any sense to me.

I have heard from several other haunt operators, folks who have worked for various haunts, and some haunt fans, and they all have valid points and good suggestions. Since we have already started the voting, nothing will change in the voting for this year, but we may have to rethink the categories.

Since Sleepy Hollow and Adventureland are both events with multiple haunted houses, perhaps there should be a category for “SCARIEST Multi-Haunt EVENT”. In the past, I used to break out all the individual haunted houses at Sleepy Hollow and let folks vote on them individually, rather than the event as whole, specifically for this reason (just on a much smaller scale).

I may regret not doing that this year. Perhaps that could be a solution, but even if that was done, it may still not be appropriate to compare an amusement park that has generations of fans going back to 1974 with a single haunted house.

Please keep the comments, Facebook messages and e-mails coming in. I hope we get at least 1000 votes this year (we are already at about 10% of that, so maybe it will be much more). The voting will remain open in to November, but once Thanksgiving/Christmas season kicks in, folks tend to check out. Maybe Thanksgiving will be the cutoff, or the end of November.

Onward!