Elburn family converts property to haunted house every year

Elburn’s Kamme-O-Circus has been bringing thrills and chills to the community for years and owners expect to see the biggest turnout ever this year.

Elburn resident and haunted house owner Mike Kothe estimated about 700 people entered the Kamme-O-Circus during their Halloween Party on Oct. 19 at 1128 Liberty Drive.

The free haunted house is open for the rest of the Halloween season from 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday.

The Kamme-O-Circus is a haunted house experience that the Kothe family has been cultivating for 23 years.

Kothe and his wife Anne first began decorating their house for Halloween in 2002 in Bolingbrook. With only two strobe lights and a fog machine, it took first place in the local decoration competition. Since then, it has evolved into a two-story display that requires months of preparation, a team of actors and security and thousands of dollars invested every year.

“As it grew, I got more joy seeing people interact with the displays,” Kothe said. “Next thing you know, we were making more and more elaborate attractions and it was getting bigger.”

Kothe said the circus really started to take off in 2014, when his wife started investing money into the display each year for him to make it bigger and better. He said by 2017 the house had changed from a display of decorations to a full-blown haunted house.

The Kamme-O-Circus is a family business of sorts with Kothe’s wife providing most of the funding and their two daughters helping with designs and construction each year.

Kothe’s wife sponsors the circus through her real estate business, the Kothe-Johnson Collaborative. Kothe said they spend between $3,000 and $6,000 every year to put on the circus and probably have invested more than $40,000 since 2017.

Kothe does the majority of the constructing and takes a lot of time off from his job as a data specialist for AT&T during the Halloween season to work on the haunted house.

Most of the haunted house is homemade, requiring a lot of carpentry and programming by Kothe. He designed and built most of the structural elements of the haunt, which he expanded to two stories several years ago. He programs all of the animatronics and automated elements and records all of the audio clips heard in the haunt in his home studio.

Kothe said what he loves most about the Kamme-O-Circus is seeing people’s reactions and creating something that is fun for people. He said his neighbors and other community members love watching him set it up each year.

“Honestly, it’s people’s reactions. I love the spirit of it, seeing people out with friends having fun,” Kothe said. “To me, it’s that time where you can let your guard down, not be afraid and face your fears. A lot of people aren’t afraid of clowns because of us.”

Kothe said the Kamme-O-Circus has had guests ranging in age from infants to a 92-year-old.

The two-story haunted house has 10 to 12 actors working each day during the weekends and requires a large security team.

Kothe creates the designs for the Kamme-O-Circus using a 3D modeling program in virtual reality. He finished this year’s designs in February so they could be approved by the village of Elburn during the summer.

The theme of the haunted house always is focused around clowns. This year’s sub-theme is classic horror movies.

Besides converting some of the clowns to reflect classic horror movie characters for the new theme, this year’s build added two new towers and several new animatronics.

Kothe said in the past few years they have averaged more than 3,000 guests each season and close to 1,000 every Halloween. He is expecting to see the biggest turnout yet this year.

Kothe said he already is working on plans for next year’s designs.

“I don’t think anyone is into it as much as I am,” Kothe said. “We’re pretty crazy. I’m already thinking about next year. I never stop.”

The Kothes also created the Halloween House Decoration Contest in Elburn in 2019, which they host each year. This year’s contest can be entered until Oct. 25 and will be judged Oct. 28. The winner will be announced Oct. 30.

Elburn residents can participate in the decoration contest by signing up at https://forms.gle/wUmz9dAXWAWLYF7Z6 and submitting photos to office@kjcsold.com by Oct. 25. For more information, visit the Kamme-O-Circus’ Facebook page.

Kothe said someday he would like to find a permanent setting for the haunted house but has no plans to stop adding to the circus.