Category: Linn’s Haunted House

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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:

• 10/26/2023: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/2023/10/26/a-look-inside-linns-haunted-house-a-des-moines-favorite-for-39-years/71275190007/
• 10/26/2023: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/2023/10/26/linns-haunted-house-in-des-moines-has-scared-kids-for-almost-40-years-halloween-attraction/71088737007/

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.