Oak Lawn haunted house Midnight Terror will take on narrative and design changes this fall that owner Justin Cerniuk hopes will appeal to young people and boost traffic.
Cerniuk said Midnight Terror has stuck to the same base storyline for the past 11 years, adding new chapters each year.
“We figured this would be a good time to do a little bit of rebranding and completely change the story,” Cerniuk said.
Visitors to the haunted house previously were led through the backstory of ties between Black Oak Grove, which Cerniuk said was the name for Oak Lawn before the village was incorporated, and a separate spooky factory. Willow, a girl with a dark history, discovers a strange book hidden in the twisted branches of the town’s oldest black oak tree that releases Malum, an evil entity.
Cerniuk said Midnight Terror enthusiasts will notice Willow and Malum continue to pop up in this year’s experience but are no longer part of the main theme, which focuses more on classic Halloween tropes and characters.
“We wanted it to be really easy to explain to people,” Cerniuk said. “Nowadays, everyone has like TikTok brain and are scrolling for like seven seconds.”
The existing factory now focuses on fear experiments, Cerniuk said, which are controlled by a group that takes the fear and puts it into candy given to townspeople, creating a sort of “Halloween fever dream.”
“It’s bringing back past memories of what Halloween was to them as kids. So there’s like evil trick-or-treaters, witches and vampires and werewolves and different kinds of ghosts and stuff,” Cerniuk said.
Part of developing the theme was personal to Cerniuk, who said he felt a sense of community in trick-or-treating, as “everyone was doing it.” He said while kids today might not be as focused on door-to-door candy gathering as generations past, he wanted to offer a bit of that nostalgic feel while continuing to scare people.
Cerniuk said the haunted house design choices also aim to provide more agency for scare actors and makeup artists to express themselves creatively, which 17-year-old actor Bella Albrecht said she is excited about.
“I think it makes a lot more sense now that we have the factory side. I really like the candy aspects of the candy turning people into monsters and stuff like that. I really like playing on that — it feels more Halloween.”
Albrecht said one of her favorite characters to play is a sad clown, as her switch from acting depressed and monotone to getting aggressive and in people’s faces freaks visitors out.
“I talk about candy a lot … and it really frightens people, you’d be surprised,” Albrecht said.
Since the season began on Sept. 27, Albrecht said she’s been happy to provide customers a fresh experience that will keep them coming back.
“I know a lot of our customers really enjoy it no matter how many times they walk through, so by giving them this opportunity to walk through a whole new place almost, it’s awesome,” Albrecht said.
Also new this year is a partnership with Merrionette Park’s 115 Bourbon Street, as its menu is offering a limited time Midnight Terror burger. Those who order the burger and bring their receipt to the ticket booth can get two tickets automatically upgraded to Fast Pass tickets, which allows visitors to hop into a line that’s three times faster than that for general admission tickets.
General admission to the haunted house starts at $30 online and $35 in person, while Fast Pass tickets are $55. More information is available at midnightterrorhauntedhouse.com.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
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