Imagine walking down a dark hallway. Except, it’s so dark that you cannot see your hands in front of you as you push the walls away from yourself and they close in tightly around your body. In the claustrophobic dark, there is no way to tell when — or if — the hallway will end or what might be waiting for you on the other side. All you can do is put one foot in front of the other and pray. 

That dark hallway may have been the most terrifying thing I’veever experienced in a haunted house. If you’re brave enough, you can experience it too at Deadmonton this year. Operating out of the old Edmonton Sun building, Deadmonton is back and celebrating its 10th anniversary by bringing us, not one, but three haunted houses for what is their biggest event to date. And boy, they did not disappoint. 

“The Covent”, “Return of the Williams Farm”, and “the Print Show” are the three featured houses, but Deadmonton has become far more than just a few haunted houses. It’s a whole experience, and the scares are not just reserved for inside of the houses. As soon as you step into the building, you’re met with dim lights, fog, and monsters.

“The actors really take a lot of time to get an investment with you. The more you lean into engaging with them and showing fear, the funner it is for the actors and the funner it is for yourself,” says Alex Johnston, who attended the event. 

Unfortunately, for opening weekend, the haunted house “the Print Show” was unable to open for vague and unclear reasons. Some of the events team cited “issues” as the reason for its delay. Others told me that it was unfinished or underdeveloped. Whatever the reason, though, when the house does open, guests will be in for a treat if it’s anything like the other two houses. 

While the wait time for each house averages about an hour, the actors walking through the lines and interacting with the guests is a fun addition that makes waiting a lot more bearable. For an extra $10, you can purchase a speed pass, which gets you to the front of the lines.

“I feel it would have been worth it to have the speed pass too, cause they were going in pretty quick,” says Kristen Cooper, who was there for a workplace bonding event. 

There are some new additions to Deadmonton this year: Photo Op Alley is an alley filled with life-sized replicas of monsters, perfect for taking photos with, and Camp Deadmonton, which, honestly, might be my favorite addition to this year’s experience. The camp is an outside lounge spot for guests, featuring a food truck and a concession stand circling three campfires for people to stand around and warm up. They even offer s’mores packages at the concession stand so people can roast marshmallows over the fires. 

At the end of the night, the answer I got when asking to see if people thought Deadmonton was worth this year’s price of admission was an unanimous “absolutely.” 

You can experience Deadmonton until Nov. 4.