Linn’s Haunted House – Des Moines Haunted Houses

Everyone Loves Merlyn

Linn’s Haunted House opened last Friday night, as originally planned before the unfortunate passing of its founder, Merlyn Linn. The family vowed to operate the haunted house this year as Merlyn would have wanted.

This year, they are doing a new series of T-shirts. Here are what the old ones looked like, back in 2013:

The new shirts can be ordered at the following link — though in 2026, they cost a bit more, as expected:

But hurry! According to their website, the cutoff to place an order is October 6th.

And speaking of Linn’s shirts, I wore my 2013 edition out to breakfast at Drake Diner today.

Through this experience, we really started to understand how many people know Merlyn Linn. The worker who sat us at the table noticed the shirt, and talked about Merlyn a bit — saying he would often come in and order TO GO.

Another server saw the shirt, and asked if we’d heard the news about Merlyn’s passing.

I expect to hear from many more folks this season as I wear this shirt while out and about.

Anyway, order a new shirt. Go to Linn’s Haunted House. Have a great October.

One weekend down, three more to go…

Rest in peace, Merlyn Linn

The man behind Linn’s Supermarket Haunted House, Merlyn Linn, has passed away at age 88. Currently, the family plans to continue his wish to operate Linn’s Haunted House this season. For details on Merlyn’s passing, as well as the haunted house plans for this year, visit their website or Facebook page.

https://www.linnshauntedhouse.com

I chatted with Merlyn so many times over the years and was always amazed he was still going full speed ahead each season. He’d be crawling through the tunnels with a vacuum, or popping up and down the basement stairs with a flashlight, non stop. Just watching him made me exhausted.

I will miss him very much. I still have not come to terms with this news.

Linn’s closed Wednesday night.

Per a comment on Facebook, Linn’s Haunted House will be closing Wednesday night as well. As always, check official sources (websites, social media) for any haunt you plan to visit before you head out. Schedules change.

KCCI coverage of Linn’s Haunted House

This news segment discusses where the fire started, and shows the location. Of note, Merlyn Linn expects to lose money this year due to all the expense to repair the water damage. Let’s try to get out and show our support of this Des Moines institution.

Linn’s Haunted House 2024 video

We caught up with the crew at Linn’s Haunted House on opening night, just before they started letting guests in. Opening season was delayed by two weeks after a September fire set of sprinklers and caused much water damager. Opening night was delayed about an hour while they finished up some work in the “clown room.”

October 18, 2024 – Video interview with Debbie of Linn’s Haunted House. This was their opening night. A small fire caused water damage from the sprinkler system and delayed their opening by two weeks.

Linn’s Haunted House opening for 2024!

Per a post on the Linn’s Haunted House Facebook page, Des Moines’ older haunted house will be opening this year. They open tonight (Friday, October 18th, 2024). Here is the schedule they posted:

A fire last month caused a delay in opening, so there are only twelve nights you can crawl through this supermarket basement.

Folks, with all the issues that have been going on the past few years, and the fire this year, we are lucky to get another year to visit Linn’s. Even well-established haunts can close at any time. This year we lost Ames Haunted Forest and Tormented Souls Haunt and many still miss Ankeny Haunted Barn.

I hate to be a broken record, but, if you have fond memories of Linn’s, get out and visit them this year. This could be the very last chance you get. But let’s hope they are able to return in 2025.

Linn’s targeting Oct 18th weekend opening, possibly sooner.

I just heard from one of the Linn’s crew that they have been hard at work getting the haunt ready to open after the fire. (Which was reported as mostly water damage from the sprinkler system, and some walls that were torn down for access.)

They are expecting to be open NEXT weekend (Oct 18-19) — and there is hope they might even be able to open sometime THIS weekend. Here is their official website — be sure to check it out for the latest news:

Temporarily Closed

Cityview haunt article

As I get news alerts on articles covering local haunts, I add them to the haunt page. Here is one about Linn’s Haunted House (click there to see other articles). It also mentions Slaughterhouse.

10/2/2024: https://www.dmcityview.com/des-moines-forgotten/2024/10/02/linns-haunted-house-marks-40-years-of-scares/

Fire damages Linn’s Haunted House.

There was a fire in the basement at Linn’s Supermaket on September 10th, 2024. Merlyn Linn no longer owns the grocery store, but my understanding is they have a contract/agreement with the store’s current owners that allows them to keep running the haunted house in the basement. Now they have cleanup/repair to do in order to meet the opening weekend.

There is a Go Fund Me page for folks who would like to help this haunt continue to operate. This will be its 40th year (established in 1984).

Here is the Des Moines Register article discussing it:

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/2024/09/19/linns-haunted-house-fire-2024-opening-date-delay/75274601007/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFZaYBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZzd99i_fqBxX4QluzyUBn4nsgLdOhCXSzuoT2O7-OfP_vI_bd5O8Z-eSg_aem__0MoW_ZNCLMXcGvlPO3y4Q

Linn’s Haunted House back for 2024

Des Moines’ oldest haunted house, Linn’s Supermarket Haunted House, has announced it will be open this year. Since the sale of the supermarket, there has been serious concerns about whether or not the haunt would continue.

Per their Facebook page, this year’s haunt will open on October 4, 2024. I will update this site with more details when I have them.