New ghosts, ghouls and “The Evil Dead” have joined the legion of evil souls inhabiting the Devil’s Attic haunted attraction in 2015!
That creepy, dilapidated building at 647 W Hill Street seems to be making the news again lately. Things there have been relatively quiet since last Halloween, but neighbors have recently begun reporting seeing strange lights coming from the upstairs windows inside the abandoned structure in the middle of the night and detecting the smell of sulfurous fumes wafting through the yard.
This is The Phantom of the Ville reporting in from W Hill Street to tell you that the rumors are all true. The Devil’s Attic has reopened the portal to Hell it managed to close last November 1st and is busy collecting new evil souls for opening night on Friday, September 18. I took a tour of the premises with building owner, Jason Besemann, to get to the bottom of some of the local superstition and rumors spreading about new evil forces rising from the pit to claim residence inside the building’s brick walls.
“We’ve added and expanded three new scenes for this year,” says Besemann, “as well as added additional props and little details throughout the haunt.” Detail is the operative word often used to explain why The Devil’s Attic gets so much attention in the regional haunted attraction scene. Almost nobody else devotes so much attention to detail and atmosphere in their attraction. Flickering flames, ghostly blue hues and swirling fog fill the halls with a forbidding ambience even before the first ghoul jumps into your field of vision.
Vampire crypts, Frankenstein’s laboratory, a torture dungeon and much more await foolish mortals who dare pass Satan’s Gates of Hell at the entrance to The Devil’s Attic. This year will also challenge those with arachnophobia to pass through the new Spider Hallway with creepy crawlies scurrying across the ceiling and all over the walls.
The Ghost Hallway has been greatly expanded. It still includes the “13 Ghosts” area, but it now twists and turns into the Further, filled with new phantoms and specters to chill your blood.
Perhaps the most elaborate new movie scene is an homage to Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s modern cult “Evil Dead” film series which includes “The Evil Dead” (1981), “Evil Dead 2” (1987) and “Army of Darkness” (1992). You’ll visit the infamous cabin in the woods where Ash and his friends discovered the Necronomicon and played back an arcane recording which unleashed the evil spirits that dwell in the dark forest.
Raimi and Campbell have joined forces again this fall for an exclusive Starz Channel original series that finds Ash back doing what he does best, working in retail and killing deadites. “Ash VS Evil Dead,” premieres on Halloween night, Saturday, October 31st on Starz with Sam Raimi personally directing the pilot episode. Get ready for the new series by experiencing The Evil Dead for real this season at The Devil’s Attic.
Perhaps one of the most disturbing additions to the extremely gory and graphic last third of The Devil’s Attic this year, which includes scenes based on “Hellraiser” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” is the twisting Hallway of Bones. Always a fan of authenticity, Jason Besemann has decked the walls in real bones and even the mummified body of a real possum.
“They’re all real,” says Besemann. “We’ve got chicken feet, pig’s feet, pig’s noses and animal bones hanging from the walls all along this hallway. We’ve also got a new mascot this year,” he says as he points out the mummified remains of a long dead possum displayed among the bones and the blood covering the woodwork.
Nice touch.
The Devil’s Attic opens for horror business on Friday, September 18.
