Haunted house at Old Joliet Prison prepares to open

The Old Joliet Haunted Prison, the first commercial venue at the city-leased prison property, is scheduled to open later this month with estimates it could attract anywhere from 30,000 to nearly 150,000 people through early November.

The attendance estimates are based on other haunted houses run by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, said Bryan Kopp, senior general manager for the company.

“We’ll see what happens. It’s a new market,” Kopp said.

The Old Joliet Haunted Prison is slated to open Sept. 25 and will be open for 28 dates between then and Nov. 6.

Thirteenth Floor, which operates across the country, sees haunted house attendance that runs between 1,000 and 5,000 people a night, Kopp said. The company has experience in the Chicago market, where it also runs a haunted house in Schiller Park.

The Joliet haunted house also is opening amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which could affect attendance. The opening was delayed a year because of the pandemic.

But Kopp said response is good with opening night just two weeks away.

“There seems to be nothing but excitement,” he said. “The ticket sales reflect that.”

Kopp has said that the attendance estimates could be modest because of the appeal that the prison has as a venue.

Thirteenth Floor is preparing for a big opening and is looking to hire more staff for Joliet.

“We need all the people we can get,” Kopp said.

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday issued a liquor license for The Old Joliet Haunted Prison.

Kopp said Thirteenth Floor plans to have a concession stand to sell soft drinks and hard liquor in bottles and cans for people to consume while they are waiting for entry into the haunted house.

The wait will come with entertainment. Haunted house characters will mingle with visitors, and Kopp said there will be photo opportunities along with other points of interest.

The Old Joliet Prison Haunted House is in the former women’s prison on the east side of Collins Street.

It’s also a busy time of year on the other side of the street, where the main prison is located. The Joliet Area Historical Museum, which manages the Old Joliet Prison, is preparing for a variety of tours that pick up in the fall.

“Fall is a good time of year for us,” said museum Executive Director Greg Peerbolte. “We’re excited to have Thirteenth Floor there, too. It adds to the portfolio of what’s out there.”

The Haunted History Tours, which are done throughout the year, typically draw the most interest in October, when they are held nearly every night. The tours connect haunted legends to true events in the prison’s history.

“We examine the true stories and the real people at the prison,” Peerbolte said. “If people say the prison is haunted, here’s why.”

The museum also oversees paranormal tours and a Ghost History 101 on paranormal exploration during the Halloween season.

The Thirteenth Floor haunted house adds something different to the prison activities, Peerbolte said.

“I think it’s enough of a different experience from what we do that it’s going to mesh real well,” he said.