Although the cold temperatures kept attendance low (a hundred or so), tonight’s Saylorville Event Center Halloween Spooktacular was quite fun. There was a food truck with hot food, and a window service hot cocoa and apple cider. There were some kid’s activities, a story teller, a (for pay) fortune teller, and a cool haunted forest walk through. Let’s hope for less wind on Saturday and higher attendance.
Category: Haunt News
Thursday (10/22) Tormented Souls cancelled.
Per an announcement on their Facebook page, Tormented Souls Haunt will not be open this Thursday (10/22).
Road to Fear in Boone
There is at least one drive through haunt experience in Iowa. The Road to Fear in Boone is now operating. It costs $20 per car and they allow up to six folks in a car, so it’s quite a value. We heard about it from one of the folks organizing this weekend’s Family Spooktacular event.
Snow advisory
Happy Iowa October, everyone. After a light dusting of snow on Sunday morning, we are now under several inches of snow. Modern cell phones have even popped up snowfall alerts (I think that’s the first time I’ve seen that, especially using the word “squall”).
While the snow should be long gone by the time haunts open up this Thursday night (Tormented Souls adds Thursday to its operation schedule this week), the chilly temperatures are going to be with us. Though current predictions show near-80s on Thursday, the overnight low will be near-freezing. It looks like we’ll stay that way for the next week at least.
Wrap up.
Madrid and Ankeny tonight, others sold out.
Tonight, Saturday October 17, only the Ankney Haunted Barn and Tormented Souls will be selling tickets. All other haunts are reporting that they are sold out for the night.
The Ankeny Haunted Barn will stay open as long as it takes to get everyone in line through the haunt.
If you plan to go, go soon.
Ames Tribune article about Ames Haunted Forest
Some official confirmation about the Ames Haunted Forest this year:
The official website has now been updated to read “2020 Dates & Hours” as TBA. Interesting. Maybe they are still thinking about doing something later this month?
No Ames Haunted Forest this year :(
Last night would have been the normal opening night for the Ames Haunted Forest. With no official announcement or dates posted to their website, we assumed they were not operating this year. This newspaper article finally confirms it:
See you in 2021, Ames Haunted Forest!
Opening night!
Tonight (Friday, October 2, 2020) is opening night for haunted houses around Des Moines. This year has been quiet and I haven’t heard from many of the haunts that usually contact me, which is probably just an indication of how many are not operating this year.
For those ready to not scream (screaming is bad on spreading SARS-CoV-2, the CDC says), tonight you can visit:
- Ankeny Haunted Barn
- The Slaughterhouse (tickets must be bought in advance online — no ticket sales at the haunt)
Both open at 7 p.m.
Be sure to post your rating to this site when you are done not screaming!
Waukee posts Beggar’s Night guidelines.
The City of Waukee recently announced it was cancelling this year’s haunted house, but noted that Beggar’s Night was still a go. Today they updated their website with CDC guidance about how this year’s trick-or-treating will go. Check it out here:
https://www.waukee.org/885/Beggars-Night
The Iowa Department of Public Health has a tip sheet with recomendations:
“Stay safe!” (What an odd thing to say when a clown with a chainsaw is going to be chasing you…)
DMHH calendar updated
Each year, I maintain a Google Calendar that has daily entries for each haunted house. You can subscribe to this on your phone and always know what haunt is operating that night, as well as the hours.
It has been updated again, and now includes the dates and times for the haunts I have heard from so far: The Slaughterhouse, Ankeny Haunted Barn and Tormented Souls.