Tommy’s Carwash just let me know they are doing their Tunnel of Terror haunted car wash again this year. Last year, it was at their Grimes location, but this year it will be at their newest location in West Des Moines.
Find details on their website:
Category: Haunt News
Trail of Terror confirmed.
If you want to visit the longest (surely) haunt in the area, take a short drive to Baxter, Iowa and check out this outdoor haunted walk. They take over a nature trail. There are many steps up and down and lots of rough nature terrain, so dress accordingly. It can be quite the workout when you are being chased by chainsaws through the woods.
This year they seem to have a theme — “The Ashton Chainsaw Massacre“.
This event only runs the last two Fri/Sat nights of October, and they leave ample spacing between groups (in the past, 5 minutes) so you really feel “alone” — until you run and catch up with the group in front of you, I suppose.
Index now updated.
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:
Adventureland Halloween $29.99 offer.
Adventureland is running a $29.99 discount for their Phantom Fall Fest. If you plan to go, buy tickets now and save some money.
Note that there is a $4 processing fee, plus taxes, and you will need to pay $21 for parking, bringing the total to $58.56.
You can save money by carpooling and splitting that parking fee with your friends. Also be sure to read comments and reviews from last year. Like all haunts in the area, some folks praise it as the “best thing ever,” while others say it was a complete waste of time and money.
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.
Ames Haunted Forest has closed.
In addition to Tormented Souls Haunt shutting down, the long-running Ames Haunted Forest has also ceased operations.
To see more links to news articles and video segments about this, see the Ames Haunted Forest page here.
I am glad I got to see it as many times as I did.
Bouton Haunted Church 2024
The really fun Bouton Haunted Church is back for 2024, Fridays and Saturdays in October. Follow that link for a video interview with them from last year.
Zombie Hollow 2024 dates added to the calendar.
More updates coming…
Haunted Woods returns for 2024
Updates: Corrected year. See directory for full list of days open.
The surprising (literally) Haunted Woods returns for 2024. This haunted walk, which originally operated about 25 years ago, took some time off, then returned in 2022. We missed it that year, but did see it last year and boy where we impressed. They had a very cool style to their “distraction scares” that we really enjoyed.
The index and calendar has been updated with their initial information for this season. They provided these details:
- Haunted Woods – Mare Witch Project III
- http://Hauntedwoodsdsm.com
- Opens October 4, 2024.
Fri & Sat. – 7pm – 11pm
Sunday – 7pm – 9pm
Don’t miss it!
Ames Haunted Forest Renaissance Faire?
11/20/2023 Update: Their website has been updated to have more info on the first page.
Coming to the haunted forest in 2024 will be a different type of walk thru the woods.. the new Ames Renaissance Faire. As of today, November 19, 2023, not much is on their official website – in fact, the main page doesn’t even give the date (never a good sign of being organized), but some clicking around reveals the weekend of April 13-14, 2024 will be the date.
There will probably not be any chainsaws…