Vicksburg’s haunted house, Chamber of Horrors, is moving this year to a centralized spot in the Main Street Pub strip mall, 115 S. Kalamazoo, a change from its previous location at the former Cole-Krum dealership.
Sponsored once again by the Vicksburg Chamber of Commerce, the haunted house is a community project. I will be open from 6:30 to 11 p.m. on October 17, 18, 24 and 25.
Patients of local chiropractor, Dr. Dustin Morton, who have seen him painting a coffin in downtown Vicksburg or who have seen posters in his office for the “Chamber of Horrors” have been calling and asking to join the crew of the haunted house.
“We had such a positive reaction to the haunted house last year,” said Morton, “so we knew we had to build another one. It’s good for Vicksburg.”
Morton’s memories of spooky houses on Halloween motivated him to want to be involved in this project.
“I wanted to become the guy who made those memories for the next generation,” he said.
But many adults want a haunted house experience so it’s a challenge to create something to appeal to both, he said.
“Since the Chamber of Commerce is our founder and does so much for the community, we feel it has become our niche to create a ‘family friendly’ experience—scares for the kiddies, but fun for the older crowd,” he said. “I think we will achieve that.”
Helping out this year is a new addition to the construction crew, Dane Bosel of the Distant Whistle Brewhouse.
“There’s nothing quite like being able to take control of a person’s fear and use it against them,” said Bosel. “That’s what working at a haunted house is all about – figuring out what scares people and taking it to the extreme. The benefit with organized haunts is that they are safe for people to walk through and get scared. Also, fear releases endorphins that trigger pleasure responses in the brain, so the scarier a haunt experience, the more fun participants can have.”
Besides helping with construction of the haunted maze, Bosel has brought new ideas such as creating a geocache near the new location. A geocache is a hidden item found by using a combination of coordinates and clues. For example, when you go to http://www.geocache.com and search using Vicksburg’s zip code, a list of local geocaches will come up. “Haunted Vicksburg” will give you the clues to find a spooky little treasure.
The Chamber of Horrors will be open Oct. 17, 18, 24, and 25. Tickets are $8, or $6 if pre-purchased at select stores in Vicksburg.
To thank Main Street Pub for allowing the Vicksburg Chamber to use two of their empty storefronts, visitors to the Chamber Horrors who bring a receipt from any of the Main Street Pub restaurants will receive $2 off the admission price, said Morton.
For more information, or to get involved, please visit http://www.facebook.com/VicksburgChamberofHorrors . Additionally, give the monsters a call at 269-430-3266.