We’ve all been in the dark and felt the hair on our arms stand up, the skin on our backs stiffen, the shivers run up and down our spines.

At Edmonton’s most famous haunted house, Deadmonton, these feelings hit you quick. Offering two haunts this year, Deadmonton is sure to show you a thrilling time. Their main haunt, WARPED, comes from a devilishly twisted imagination to create a colourful and creepy tour inside the Deadmonton warehouse. Leading you through elaborate rooms and passages, this haunt is a spectacle of reimagined terror. Meanwhile, outside, once the sun has gone down, they introduce DUSK – Rise of the Dead: a web of graves, tombs, and crypts.

With each haunt lasting 15 to 20 minutes, be sure to bring your yogic skills, just to keep the heart rate healthy. In between scares, make sure to grab a drink or snack and enjoy some very unique entertainment in an engaging environment. While interacting with talented, friendly (and over-friendly) characters, enjoy some magic tricks and say hi to the costume-designing yeti (and his wife). But just watch out for creatures crawling underfoot as you enjoy those mini-doughnuts ’round the bonfire.

And don’t be fooled. When you get inside, this event is not for the faint of heart.

I like scary movies. I don’t mind jump scares. I think Pennywise is a little bit cute. 

But when I say that shivery feeling hits you quickly, I mean it hits you very quickly. I mean, the-second-the-door-closes-behind-you kind of quick. Like when it seals-out-the-light-and-sucks-out-your-breath kind of quick, which is also when I chickened out and turned around — you know, quickly.

I thought I was pretty brave, but now I don’t know what to think. On the one hand, if this is your kind of thing, invite all of your friends, see how far they can get through before chickening out, and, if they do, make sure to perform ample jokes at their expense. If this is not your thing, I sympathize, but I hope you say yes if a friend invites you out.

I may not have seen much of Deadmonton, but I leave that for you. On the upside, I got a pin. Yes, yes, I am proudly the first “Deadmonton chicken” of 2021.

Enjoy the fun, folks. And stay safe. I won’t see you there.

Deadmonton Haunted House & Halloween Store
7031 Gateway Blvd.
Edmonton, AB T6H 2J1
Open 7 p.m. every night, Thursday through Sunday, until Nov. 7.
Tickets are available at the gate or online.

Image credits: Brooke Scriven