By Micah Cho
When Doug Sheldon took over a popular 18-year-old business, his only goal was to make sure everyone was running out the door. After all, the business he bought was The Haunt, one of West Michigan’s most well-known haunted attractions.
“We tried to make sure we had something for everyone,” said Sheldon. “Whether you’re looking for a detailed-type haunted house with a lot to look at or whether you’re looking to get startled and scared behind every corner.”
So Sheldon moved The Haunt to a new location, a 50,000-square-foot facility located behind the 28th West Place (the former Wyoming Village Mall) at 1256 28th St. SW (across from the Wyoming High School.) Sheldon teamed up with The Haunt’s General Manager and Creative Director Ethan Turon, who has designed haunted attractions on a national level, to create a space that has more than 144 rooms with about 100 actors, 63 anamtronics and a Lougaroo prepared to give anyone a frightening good time.
Upon first entering The Haunt, guests will visit the Hemlock Manner in the attraction “Exhumed.” Like something ripped from a “Supernatural” storyline, this story is the Hemlock family’s daughter suddenly goes missing, and there’s nothing normal about her disappearance. There are certainly some skeletons in the closet, along with possessed family members and few freshly dug up guests, in this house where visitors have the opportunity to roam the rooms and halls to discover the manor’s secrets.
In the next attraction, mannequins have overthrown the workers and taken control over one of the midwest’s most renowned mannequin factory, the Immortuos Mannequin Factory. But this is no sweet, singing adventure as the zombie-like mannequins are more interested in there next victim, which could be you if you care to clock in.
“The unique thing about ‘Immortus’ is that it’s a never-ending maze,” said Sheldon. “There’s constant twists and turns with scares behind every corner.”
If you should manage to figure a way out of Immortuos, then the next stop is the Vox Sanitarium.
However, don’t be fooled by the smiling man in the lab coat, he is actually a patient with Vox Sanitarium truly fitting the saying “the patients are running the asylum.” Visitors of the sanitarium will weave in and out of the main hallway of the sanitarium meeting different patients, a feature Sheldon said is unique to The Haunt.
“(Vox Sanitarium) is one of the only attractions in the country that has a hallway through the center of it,” said Sheldon. “This hallway gets very full and very creepy”.
If you are still standing, well how about a quick trip to the bayous of Louisiana? Specifically The Lougaru Bayou, where a secret voodoo cult has been living and with their Lougaroo – which Sheldon said is indescribable but dangerous – the cult is ready to take over the world.
You still have time to check out The Haunt, which will be open through Nov. 3. Sundays and weekday hours are 7 – 10 p.m. (note it is not open on Mondays and Nov. 1.) and Friday and Saturday hours are 7 – 11 p.m. Because of long lines, The Haunt has been opening a half hour earlier. Check the website, https://www.the-haunt.com/ for specific details and ticket information. On Saturday, Oct. 27, there will be a Trunk or Treat from 3 – 5 p.m. and a Kids Haunt from 4 – 6 p.m. Sheldon noted that the last two days of The Haunt’s season, Nov. 2 and 3, all be very special and definitely not for scaredy cats.
“We turn the lights off and give you a glowstick. If you were brave enough and weren’t very scared the first time, I guarantee we will get you,” said Sheldon.
And what happens after Nov. 3? Well, you might start hearing a lot of interesting sounds coming from the building…that is construction sounds as Sheldon said they will start building for next year’s event.
