(CAÑON CITY, Colo.) — Aftermath Haunted House was voted number one in the state of Colorado in 2021 by Colorado Haunted Houses.

The attraction is not like a traditional haunted house, as guests make their way through the inside – and outside – of this spooky spectacle.

Outside attractions at Aftermath Haunted House

“One of the things that we have that a lot of others are not able to is that we have a natural setting,” said Kyle Horne, Executive Director, Cañon City Area Recreation and Park District. “So this used to be a farm and ranch house and we’re able to do a trail system outside.”

The haunted house started in 2010 and it is a year-round project. Volunteers start decorating and preparing the haunted house in January.

“We had to really work hard to make sure that we had a great haunted house product and experience,” said Horne.

Tickets for Aftermath Haunted House go towards supporting programs for the city’s youth, and can be purchased the day of, on-site in the community room.

The butcher room at Aftermath Haunted House

“All that money raised then means that it may be a little cheaper to play youth football or youth baseball or youth soccer, it may help out sometimes with the scholarship fund,” said Horne. “We can redirect those funds to where they’re needed in order to benefit the rest of the programs that the community participates in.”

Horne said they are constantly making changes and new additions to the haunted house.

“We’ve continued to tweak this event,” he said. “We always switch things up in the house every year. We have an amazing group of five partners now that help us, that are community members.”

Around 60 volunteers help put on the haunt, including some children.

“So a lot of them are a combination of some adults that just love to scare people and then kids that have kind of come through for years,” said Horne.

The haunted house is open Saturdays in October. People are sent in small groups through the haunted house to get the full experience.

“Even though it’s a house, we spread out the groups because we don’t want to ruin that scare factor,” said Horne. “We try to make sure that we maintain that spacing throughout the event. So that way you’re not running on top of one group and already seen how maybe they’re getting scared.”