Get ready to scream: After a three-year hiatus, downtown Littleton’s famous Reinke Bros. haunted house is back.
The Haunted Mansion was a casualty of the 2014 hailstorm that closed the vaunted Reinke Bros. costume shop for renovations. Though the shop reopened a while back, the haunted house stayed on the back burner until this year.
Lines stretched out the door within an hour of the reopening of the haunted house on Sept. 28, with longtime fans and first-timers eager to get inside.
“It’s a fully immersive experience,” said Greg Reinke, the store’s owner. “We rely a lot more on theatrics than just big toys you plug in.”
The Haunted Mansion’s 36 hand-painted rooms are loaded with props, appearing more like movie sets.
“I think it’s the best it’s ever been,” said a wide-eyed Katie Moore as she emerged from the end of the haunted house.
Moore said she’s been coming to the Haunted Mansion since 1987, and was crushed by its long closure. The attraction is better than any other in town because it’s more creative, Moore said.
“It’s not satanic and demonic,” Moore said. “There’s enough of that on TV. This is just — wow. Intense.”
Indeed, a journey through the haunted house takes visitors through areas like Toon Town, a trippy sensory-bombarding room with shifting walls and spooky clowns.
“We go after all of your senses,” said haunted house manager Lydia Shofner. “I spent the three-year hiatus visiting all the other haunted houses in town, and I can tell you that none of them are anything like ours.”
