![]() Rain affects Evan’s business more than others, he said, because two of three attractions are outdoors.īut good crowds have still come through the indoor haunted house, he said, and he and VanGilder aren’t in it to make much money anyway. ![]() The owners make a profit, he said, but it isn’t much. On a good day, Evan said the entire operation will make $3,000. Many of their props are made from VanGilder’s old farm equipment. Their attractions cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build, Evan said. ![]() The duo employs about 90 actors from local colleges and high schools for the season. His business partner, 60-year-old Rick VanGilder, funds the operation. Ken Evan, 53, co-owns Slaughterhouse Adventure and the Grand River Corn Maze at 5781 W. “That’s why we started doing this,” he said. Sometimes, he gets to put on a mask and revisit what got him in the business over three decades ago. Now, Terebus spends the off-season reconfiguring parts of the haunt and installing new scares. “It was a lot of work,” Terebus said, but buying a building and rebranding helped. Eventually they went looking for a permanent location. Each year, they added more trailers to their “haunt,” which moved around Metro Detroit every year. Their four-floor attraction is massive compared to the brothers’ first attraction in 1981 - a haunted trailer. New this year is a $50 VIP ticket that allows visitors to skip the typically two-and-a-half-hour line. Layman enlists around 25 volunteers as actors, and pays for security.Īt Erebus, patrons shell out $23 for a weekday romp through the four-floor attraction, or $28 on Fridays and Saturdays. He expects to see more than 10,000 visitors this season, each of whom pay $15 to walk through the haunted house at 20900 Dequindre. “I got into it with the intention of making it a business,” he said. ![]() The attraction has started to make more money the last few years, he said, but he hasn’t quit his day job as an electronic technician. Layman, 36, said The Deadland, a decade-old permanent attraction, brings in over six figures. It’s one time you can just let it all out, man, be what you want and nobody’s going to say anything.” “You don’t have to go visit nobody, you don’t have to buy presents for anybody. “Halloween is the coolest holiday,” the 53-year-old said. From 2005 to 2009, it held the Guinness World Record for the largest walk-through haunted attraction. Visitors wander just under a half-mile through Erebus, which is contained within a warehouse nestled behind the Crofoot Ballroom in downtown Pontiac. Terebus, who runs the four-floor haunt he opened with his brother, Jim, in 1998, wouldn’t say how much money the operation pulls in every season, but he said the attraction does well enough that he and his team can work on the haunt year-round. “Operational costs are huge,” he said.Įrebus opened this year for its 17th season. Perry costs about $1,000 an hour to run during the peak season. Ed Terebus, co-owner of the Erebus Haunted Attraction in Pontiac, estimates tens of thousands will pay for the privilege of being frightened at Erebus this season.Įrebus employs hundreds of actors, make-up artists, security guards and ticket-takers.
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