Category: Haunt News

Service fees are scary

“If you don’t like it, don’t go.” This post is about one of the main reasons I don’t go to as many haunted houses as I used to. It will also address one of the main complaints I hear about the pricing I list on my site.

It wasn’t too long ago that haunted houses were in the $10-$15 price range – and that had tax included. All costs have gone up, so paying $25-$35 for a haunt doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is how much service fees can be.

Last year, I bought two tickets and the added taxes and fees was an extra $8.88. That was almost 15% on top of the advertised ticket price.

All of us understand “plus tax” since that since we have dealt with that our entire lives. But, all the haunts here used to just round the price up to include tax. That made sense when you were taking cash and didn’t want to have to deal with coins for change.

But today we live in a world dominated by credit cards and online sales. Online businesses save payroll for register clerks and can offer us lower prices. We have seen the downfall of many “brick and mortar” stores as the cheaper alternative – buying online with a credit card – gained popularity.

Yet, because of the extra fees to purchase online tickets, haunted houses are more expensive to buy online than buying at the “storefront.” Why do these ticket systems charge so much? Do any other types of online stores stick you with an extra fee just to buy stuff from them?

When we visited Linn’s Haunted House last year, we watched a family with kids (and their friends) drop $175 ($25 per person) to go thru. The cost is what it is. But, had there been taxes and service fees on top of that, they could have spent an additional $26.25 – more than the cost of a ticket! The fees would me like “buy seven, pay for eight” 😉

Every haunt can set their prices so what you pay is what they advertise, but they don’t. The closest we get to that is Zombie Hollow. They say they are a $20 haunt, but when you go to buy a ticket online, it is $18. After the taxes and service fees, the price $20.74. We’ll call them $20-ish. They certainly are one of the most honest of the bunch when it comes to telling folks how much it costs to go through their attraction.

“It seems like only yesterday” we had the very first local haunt to move to an online ticket system with fees. At the time, I listed the price as they posted it. I soon heard from numerous folks correcting me saying it was closer to $5 more. My site, they said, was not showing real prices.

With this in mind, I want to add a new price categories so there will be a Gate Price (if offered, which may or may not already include tax) and an Online Price (which will include taxes and service fees). This should make budgeting your Halloween excursions a bit easier.

For 2024, here are some references for pricing this upcoming Friday night:

  • Zombie Hollow – $18, but $20.74 after taxes and fees. ($2.74 extra).
  • Slaughterhouse – $35, but $40.22 after taxes and fees ($5.22 extra).
  • Sleepy Hollow Sports Park – $30, but $35.10 after taxes and fees ($5.10 extra).
  • Barnum Circus of Freaks – $25, and when I went to check out, it still said $25. Are there no fees at Barnum??? (There is an optional “Purchase Protection” of $2.13, but that’s something different.)

Just be aware that that advertised prices are not what you pay. While you may expect to pay sales tax, you may not expect to be hit with a few bucks more just for the privilege of buying a ticket 😉

And, to those of you who contact me about my “wrong prices,” I get it, and I’ll work on updating the site.

Until then…

Zombie Hollow 2024 recap

On Saturday, October 5th, 2024, we made the short drive out to Winterset, Iowa to see year two of Zombie Hollow at its new permanent home. This walk-through Halloween attraction was formerly at a home in Urbandale before they moved to Winterset. After a six year hiatus, Lew Jordan (and his family and friends) re-opened it in 2023 as a commercial attraction. We visited last year and were blown away at the greatly expanded offering. For 2024, they added even more.

Location

Zombie Hollow is located at 2310 St. Charles Road on the south side of Winterset, Iowa. They advise visitors to not follow the Google Maps route, as it will take you down a gravel road. Instead, use the route that takes you in to Winterset first and then you will be able to drive the the attraction on a paved road.

Admission

Admission is $27.47 ($18 plus taxes and fees) for ages 6 and up (5 and under are free), and tickets must be bought online in advance. This is due to the very limited parking at the location. You must pick your date and time slot to arrive. This will ensure you have a place to park, and do not have to wait very long (if at all) for your turn to enter.

Tickets: https://wwwthezombiehollowcom.fearticket.com/frontapp

They also offer a daytime experience with no actors, lighting, sound or other effects, for those who might want to bring young children who might not handle the creepy experience at night. Those tickets are $13.82 ($12 plus taxes and fees).

Dates and Hours

The nighttime haunt is 7pm to 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights, and the daytime experience is Saturday and Sundays from 11-4 or 12-3 depending on the day. Visit their website to see the current schedule:

Hours: https://thezombiehollow.com

Zombie Hollow schedule as of 10/6/2024, subject to change.

The Attraction

When we arrived, someone with a light (saber) directed us to our parking spot right up front. The entrance is themed as an old haunted mansion.

Inside you will see a souvenir window on the left, and the admission window on the right. They had a ghostly organist playing at a large organ, and various paintings and other props, all inspired by Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride.

The attraction is a 1/4 mile walk through of various immersive displays. Pay attention to this sign post you will see just as you enter:

This sign names off all the areas you will experience during your self-paced walking tour. (You may be let in as groups, but you can walk as slow as you want, and linger as long as you want, in any area to take in all the details.)

The areas are listed as:

  1. Scarecrow Den
  2. Stranger Places – an homage to the Netflix show, Stranger Things.
  3. Witch Coven
  4. Smuggler’s Alley – an homage to Star Wars.
  5. Tortuga – an homage to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean.
  6. Zombie Village
  7. Carpathian Crypts – an homage to Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
  8. Zombie Gulch – a ghost town.

…though, when we visited, the signs were not in the order that you encounter the areas. 😉

As you walk through the attraction, you will be surrounded by props, dummies (some animated, even animatronic style moving and speaking to sound), and sets that often surround (including above). It appears to have been a significant construction effort. There are even some buildings you can walk in to and explore.

Scarecrow Den

The first area you walk through features illuminated pumpkins (which they created) and scarecrows all around. Pay attention to the one that is well lit at the end of this path. If it a live actor, or a dummy? What does it have in its lap, I wonder?

Although not “scary” like a haunted house, there was one animated Halloween prop scarecrow that wakes up and makes noises as you go by. I expect this may startle some visitors, but that is about as intense as anything will be here.

Zombie Village

I am not 100% sure which area this is, since the whole village is full of zombie skeletons, but I think it was the area with the zombies in a village.

Witch Coven

Among the details you will find in this section is an old shack. Inside, you will find a head inside of large crystal ball speaking a mysterious rhyming incantation. This effect, which Zombie Hollow had back in its Urbandale days, has been upgraded again and looks better than it ever has.

Just be sure to look all around (even above you, often) to find other details.

Stranger Places

“Welcome to Hawkins,” a sign reads as you walk below it. Your eyes will guide you to a chainlink fence, where behind it you see a child’s bike on the ground and some sort of creature. But be sure to look all around. There is a familiar scene of painted alphabet letters under Christmas lights, which you might recall from Stranger Things season 1.

Smuggler’s Alley

If you have seen Star Wars movies, you may find many things familiar in this area. There are plenty of blinking panels on the themed walls and lots of random cables (the Star Wars universe has the worst cable management, and Zombie Hollow has replicated that here). Signage is in that Star Wars font and, I assume, can be translated in to English. Any volunteers want to go and tell us what all the signs say?

There is also a photo opportunity here where you can pose holding a light saber as if you just took out a battle droid. An actor in the area is usually around, and will assist in getting that photo for you.

There are so many details in this area, and almost everything you see was created by the Zombie Hollow crew. There are plenty of full-size droids, which they produced via 3-D printing and tons of effort gluing pieces together. Be sure to look at them, because some even move. If you see a computer panel on the wall, it is likely an animated display. Lights blink, sounds play, and when we went through, there were two actors in the scene — though we only saw one of them at first.

Tortuga

Up next is an expanded version of the Pirates of the Caribbean scene they had in Urbandale. The pirate ship is not part of this new incarnation (at least, not yet?), but now we get to walk through the full village of Tortuga, with themed walls on both sides, and even water.

Many of the zombie pirates in this scene move and talk, with familiar dialog to those who have ever ridden Pirates of the Caribbean at Disney. There is even a scene with pirate skeletons locked in a jail cell, trying to get a key from a skeleton dog nearby.

And, unlike the official Disney version, this Tortuga still has pirates saying “We wants the red head! We wants the red head!” Except, the zombie skeletons in that scene are probably not very desirable in a wench auction…

Carpathian Crypts

This area received some big updates this year – including the construction of tall “castle” walls around the crypts. The ghosts in this area pay tribute to some famous ghosts at Disney’s Haunted Mansion. A few of the figures and props are from an official line of Mansion merchandise sold through Lowe’s, I believe, but everything else appears to be original creations. If you look carefully, you might even find some of the Scooby Do-inspired ghosts they featured one year in Urbandale.

As one of the largest areas in the walk, there is much to see in this area. Take your time and, if you are a Haunted Mansion fan, see how many tributes you can find. New this year is all five “singing busts” in the graveyard, looking better than they ever did in earlier encarnations.

Zombie Gulch

The big expansion this year was to the ghost town section. Several buildings have been added, including a two-story saloon that you can walk in to and see a scene. You can also go in to the jail and see who is being held there, and peek in to the dentist’s office.

Be sure to read the various signs on the buildings, too.

Exit

Lastly, you exit through another “tunnel” and end up next to Nick’s Kettle Corn. Here you can pick up some treats for the drive home. They have flavored popcorn, roasted nuts, pickles, drinks and more. On Saturday nights only they will have their mini-donut machine running, offering bags of fresh donuts.

And, as owner Lew Jordan mentioned to me in his video interview, Zombie Hollow allows (and even encourages) you to stop by the stack stand when you arrive and buy some treats to carry with you as you go through the attraction. Yep, this may be the only Halloween attraction around that lets you carry food and drink in to the attraction.

Of course, we had to buy a bag of the mini-donuts, but they were gone before we even walked over to the entrance scene. On our way out, we picked up three bags of popcorn (there is a special multi-bag discount) and some roasted nuts.

Conclusion

A few photos do not begin to represent the massive scale of this walkthrough. Owner Lew Jordan says the 1/4 mile path can be “power walked” in about 7 minutes, if you are not bothering to stop and look at things. He says many folks spend 30-45 minutes exploring. I think we entered around 8:45pm and made it back to the exit around 9:15, so a half an hour for us. (He was kind enough to let me run through a second time with my VR 360 video camera, and I will try to share that video on YouTube shortly…)

This is by far my favorite Halloween experience in the area. If I only had one thing I could see in October, it would be Zombie Hollow. Now, if you are looking to be chased by scary clowns with chainsaws, this is not that type of attraction. As such, you cannot really compare it to haunted houses. This is not the place to go if you want someone to try to make you pee your pants. It is likely the best overall family Halloween experience you will find around here — quite possibly in the state. Those who love attention to detail, or admire the work of artists, will find plenty to appreciate.

I can’t wait to get back. We want to take a grandkid with us next time as a gentle way to introduce him to a “haunted” experience, but hopefully one without nightmares later on.

When you visit, please tell them that Des Moines Haunted Houses sent you.

Video Interview

For a better look at Zombie Hollow, check out this video:

Bing A.I. list of Haunted Houses

For fun, I asked Bing.com’s Copilot AI about haunted houses in Des Moines. Here is the list:

Sleepy Hollow may not be pleased to see this say that Adventureland is “Iowa’s largest Halloween event” since they have been saying they are “Iowa’s largest and most elaborate Halloween theme park” for many years.

But it is a nice listing, even including the new Haunted Woods (re-opened in 2023) and the new Future Nightmares show (also opened in 2023).

It gave me five links it used for reference, so this may just be scraping a Des Moines Register article that actually listed all the haunts. There have been many times over the past decade where the media listings would be incomplete. If the A.I. truly can figure this out, I can retire this website and get alot of my time back 😉