Well, it’s Halloween time again in Kansas City and can only mean one thing! The Haunted Houses in KC are open for business. The weather is perfect right now, and there are several great sites to visit around the area.
There is something for everyone here, including children, teens, and adults. Kansas City haunted houses have a wide variety of styles and themes and some are aimed at the small children, all the way up to the big kids and adults. Some are clustered together around the lower West side of downtown, and others are up north, and there are also several activities at The Kansas City Zoo.
So wrap up appropriately for the weather just in case you come across a long line. The lines to get into some of the haunted houses in KC are actually pretty fun themselves! Great conversation and a lot of laughs as everyone anticipates getting the jeepers scared out of them once inside the houses. Thousands and thousands of Kansas Citians will be going out haunted housing during the month of October, and there are several to choose from. Some of them offer a discount to go into more than one haunted house when you buy a multi-house pass.
It’s time for some great Halloween fun and some spooky good times, dress up in costume when you go out, or just wear whatever you like, there usually isn’t a dress code. There is even a spooky ride you can take through all of the REAL haunted houses in KC including the Savoy Kansas City Haunted Hotel. You can go to World’s of Fun, or stay in the downtown area. You can go to The Kansas City Zoo early in the day with the kids and then go out with the older children or just the adults at night to the big haunted houses.
Henderson Mansion
Haunted House in Kansas City 1016 Paseo
The Henderson Mansion at 1016 Paseo used to be a showcase home back in its day, but now represents yet another haunted house in Kansas City. This haunted house in Kansas City is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Built in 1899, The Henderson Mansion is one of the last great mansions standing around the once glorious North Paseo district. Back in the good old days this house would have been reserved for the highest of the upper class and has definitely seen its share of house parties. One of the house parties proved fatal for one of its last owners. On August 21st, 1978, Johnny Howard was brutally shot in the face during a small party that he was hosting one early evening when an intruder broke through a glass door. Howard’s killer was never caught nor identified, and after this brutal murder took place in the mansion, it has been on the market untouched to this day. The house currently sits waiting for its next owner, listed at $455,000 by Reece Nichols. But this house is deep in the Kansas City ghetto, and you would have to install a pretty serious security system to keep out the bugga boos.
Haunted Benjamin Ranch
6401 E 87th St, KCMO, 816-761-5055
This is a brand new attraction and the only one in South Kansas City. The premise here is that the old Benjamin Ranch was closed because it was haunted. Obviously a ranch or western-based Haunt. You will brave the Haunted Stables and in the Quarantined Animal Barn (that sounds interesting?) – then on to the one of a kind Stockpen Cage Maze. There is also a more traditional Haunted Hayride available. You don’t wait in line here, instead, groups will wait in “The Corral of Doom” with entertainment provided by Sheriff Dusty Cadaver and a mechanical bull? It definitely sounds like a different kind of show. You should check it out.
Open Thursday through Sunday nights beginning September 24th – October 31st. Gates open at 6PM – last ticket sold at 10PM. cost is $25 at the gate, but specials can be had at their website, including $10 on opening night Sept 24th.
The Edge of Hell
1300 W 12th St, KCMO, 816-842-0320
Granddaddy of Haunted Houses, the oldest in Kansas City, and possibly the nation, it probably scared your parents back in the day. This is the 35th season for familiar faces like “Ratman” entertaining and scaring guests as they wait in line to get in. Inside you will face five stories of terror as you ascend into “Heaven” passing huge live snakes, vampires, and other demons as 45 live entertainers scare the daylights out of you. Of course there is also the obligatory stumbling around in the dark (which is usually just as terrifying) anticipating the next creature to leap from behind the next wall. After your 30 minutes of screams and strobe lights, you are treated to a five-story slide into the depths of Hell and into the arms of the Devil himself!
Tickets range from $23 on weeknights to $37 for a weekend “Line Pass” (gets you by the usually extensive line waiting on weekends)
Open Friday and Saturday in September, Thursday through Sunday in October – doors open around 7:30 and close around Midnight.
The Beast
1401 W 13th St, KCMO, 816-842-0320
The Beast is a Werewolf themed venue. Since it’s founding in 1991, The Beast has offered a different take on a haunted house. Here, you are not simply following a line of people in the dark, you are actually part of the action. It’s “open format” have you lost in the fog of the Werewolf Forest, Jack the Ripper’s London, or the Swamp. Billed as the largest haunted house in the country, you will get your money’s worth as it takes nearly an hour to exit the madness.
Hours and prices are the same as Edge of Hell, however, a combo ticket for both houses can be purchased and range from $36 to $64.
Macabre Cinema & The Chambers of Poe
1222 W 12th St, KCMO, 816-842-0320
The Macabre Cinema (used to be the Catacombs back in the day) is, you guessed it, a horror movie-themed house. All the scenes from the classic movies that scared you as a child (or adult) are here. Jason, Freddie, Pinhead, and others are waiting to make you scream.
The Chambers of Poe (formerly the Main Street Morgue) has rooms centered around the classic stories of Edgar Allen Poe. Being a Literary based Haunted House it is a little more subdued in its scariness (more creepy really) than the other choices.
These two houses are located right around the corner from each other and a combo ticket can be purchased for $30 – otherwise they are $20 each. Macabre Cinema and Chambers of Poe are only open on Friday and Saturday nights through Halloween. Get buried alive in The Raven Room and test your claustrophobic limits in other rooms. This new haunted house is open every Friday and Saturday from now until Halloween as well as Thursday – Sunday in the last weeks leading up to All Hallow’s Eve.
Ghosts and Gangsters Tour Kansas City
Departing from The Edge of Hell on Friday and Saturday Nights at 6pm and again at 9pm, The Ghosts and Gangsters Tour in Kansas City is a ride you will never forget! Climb aboard this haunted coach that will take you on a tour of Kansas City’s most haunted sites including The Savoy Hotel, where the ghost of Betsy Ward still haunts room 505, visit a church where the minister committed suicide and haunts the church to this day trying to gain redemption. Also visit numerous famous Kansas City gangster hotspots where several ghosts are sure to remain. This tour should also roll through Westport, an area that is now a ghost town – haha. The ticket price for the Ghosts and Gangsters Tour are $25.00 each.
A side note on the Savoy Hotel, we used to know the owner’s son and we used to go to the hotel after partying at a bar next door. We would open up the HUGE kitchen (which looks like the kitchen from “The Shining”) and cook up some 4am dinner. We would then scatter to the various hotel rooms (there were usually around 5 – 10 of us) and stay the night. The Savoy Hotel is DEFINITELY haunted and we always had a KILLER time at The Savoy 🙂 The picture above is of Apartment 505 in the hotel – this is the room where Betsy Ward is known to haunt regularly. There is another ghost resident at The Savoy. His name is Fred Lightner and he has been seen by several hotel residents haunting his former room. Fred Lightner’s wife remained in the hotel for years after her husband’s death. A guest of the hotel went to Mrs. Lightner’s room to borrow something and heard her talking to someone before answering the door. When she answered the door there was a man in a double-breasted 30’s era suit standing next to her, the figure of the man was very grey and slightly faded. The figure of the man suddenly vanished and the guest asked Mrs. Lightner if she saw the man’s figure as well. To this she replied “Oh, yes, that’s my husband Fred”. Mrs. Lightner has since passed on but it is said that Fred still haunts several rooms at The Savoy to this day.
Haunted Houses Kansas City Zoo Boo at the Zoo
Come dressed in your favorite costume and celebrate a kid-friendly Halloween, Zoo style,on Saturday, October 29 from 4 p.m. and ending at 8:30 a.m on Sunday, October 30. Enjoy all of the awesome Boo at the Zoo activities until 6 p.m. and then stay overnight for more spooktacular fun!
Activities include trick or treat stations, costume parade at 1 and 3 p.m, a Jack O’Lantern display, Scarecrow Express (small fee), stilt walkers and Jazzbo (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), hair feathers, Boneville Graveyard and much more. For a complete list of activities, visitwww.kansascityzoo.org.