LOCKPORT, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Do you have what it takes to escape the halls of Statesville Haunted Prison before the cell doors close for good?
After 25 years, Statesville Haunted Prison, Illinois’ longest-running haunted house, is locking the gates, but not before they host one last scare season.
"It's bittersweet. We had a great run. I've had so many good memories," said Paul Siegel, Owner and "The Warden" of Statesville Haunted Prison.
Statesville Haunted Prison started in 1996, after weather impacted the success of a haunted hayride at Siegel's Cottonwood Farm that ran for two years. Paul Siegel wanted to diversify his opportunities at the farm outside of farming and the haunted house took off from there.
"I had a large building that was very underutilized, so we decided we are going to move it inside, we are going to take the weather out of the equation...So in 1996, Statesville was born," Siegel said.
But why the name Statesville Haunted Prison?
"Where we are located here on Weber Road, we are two miles to the field as the crow flies from Stateville Maximum Security Prison here in Illinois. I grew up next to it. It opened in the 20s, and so when I was trying to figure out, I am new in this haunted house stuff, what am I going to do with this? What would scare people? Of course you had the typical Jasons and a lot of the other movie-type scares, but having to be locked up in prison, to me anyway, is one of the scariest thoughts that I could think about. You basically lose your rights. You totally lose control of what you are doing...And most people don't dream about going to prison...So we designed out haunted house around that theme of a haunted prison..." Siegel said.
"We purposely changed the name from Stateville to Statesville, because during the summer on Sundays, we would have a lot of people that would stop at the farm and ask 'how do you get to Statesville?' And a vast majority of these people would have southern accents, really uneducated, so I didn't know any better. I always thought the name of the place was Statesville, because that was what everyone asked, 'how do we get to Statesville? We are lost...' So I grew up thinking Stateville was called Statesville, from the time I was 7 or 8 years old, because that's how I heard it. So I spelled it phonetically the way it was always pronounced to me. So Statesville was born. And the rest is history."
More than 20 years ago, Statesville Haunted Prison set the precedent on fear for haunted houses in Chicago and continued to challenge guests from around the region year after year.
As time went on, Siegel said Statesville built up a reputation for being "a really good show." Statesville Haunted Prison has consistently been rated best in the country, and according to Siegel, there's been a lot of people come into the market in the 25 years Statesville has been open and "almost all of them copy something that we've had here. We were one of the first haunted houses that had people that flew. We were doing things from a top view and not just in your face. So when you go into some of the scenes you are looking all over the place, because it's not just in front of you, it's above you, to the side of you, behind you."
Since 1998, Paul Siegel has worked with John LaFlamboy, Founder/Director of Zombie Army Productions to find and work with the best in the industry. Siegel said what sets Statesville apart from other haunted houses is that they seek to entertain rather than scare, and he said "we like to think of ourselves like a rock show - lots of music" rather than focus on the blood and guts.
"We know that certain sounds at a certain volume has an effect on you; not because you want to sing the song or that you tap your foot to the beat, but it has an effect on you to speed up your adrenaline and excite you and that puts you in a state that you're more easily manipulated, entertained, scared..." Siegel said.
And despite some rumors, Statesville Haunted Prison is a no-touch haunted house; though that is not to say you won't be "touched" after leaving.
"People ask me all the time, 'do they touch you, do they touch you?' Yes, we touch you, but you won't know it. We are touching you through your mind. In the middle of the night, you might realize you were touched, but you didn't know it at the time. If we do an effective job, you will think about it long after you're gone. We really want to entertain people more than scare them. Yes, there's some scare to it, some startle to it, but anybody can make a loud noise or loud movement to startle you, and that's fine and some people do that, and some people use water and liquids and so forth to startle you with, but we are just a little more sophisticated than that so we aim to entertain you."
So why close after 25 successful years? Well, Siegel said the family is moving in a different direction, after experiencing life without Statesville in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, the Siegel family had the Amish build them a traditional barn that they now use as a wedding venue.
The Barn at Cottonwood hosted weddings in 2018 and 2019, and it was something Kaity Siegel really had interest in. The Barn now has weddings booked for the next couple years.
"We are kind of going into a different direction. When I started this, my wife and I were in our 30s, now we are in our 60s, so our needs and our wants are different, and Kaity really doesn't want to expand the haunted house, and she really likes the wedding barn and they conflict because October is starting to be the second most popular month to get married and that doesn't work real well when you have a haunted house going on and a pumpkin fest...," Siegel said. "It just reminded us maybe 25 years is enough. Let's go out on top. It's very well-liked and respected. People from all over the country have copied us."
But don't worry, “The Final Fear” will not disappoint and includes every ugly horror and worst fear that Statesville Haunted House has in its arsenal. Visitors will encounter more than 100 convicts from the infamous Fluffy, the psych patient who murdered 7, to the Warden, also known as The Dark One.
"Fluffy is outside and very much interacts with you before you go in and when you come out, so he is kind of the beginning and the end. And again, he is not terrifying, but very entertaining, which again our goal is to entertain," Siegel said.
Paul Siegel said for "The Final Fear" actors are coming back from other parts of the country and other haunts to take part in Statesville's final year. There are even some actors that never acted at Statesville that are participating this year to be able to say they acted at Statesville, Siegel added.
Statesville Haunted Prison, located at 7250 Weber Road in Lockport, is open Thursdays through Sundays now through Oct. 31. Tickets are $30 for general admission. VIP Fast Pass are $50 if you purchase onsite and $45 if you purchase in advance. Statesville Haunted Prison also offers discounted group rates. Also note, no one 10 and under will be allowed on the property and persons 15 and under must be accompanied by a paid adult.
And for those not wanting to splurge on a fast pass, there may be a benefit of waiting in line.
"The haunt starts as soon as you get into that waiting area. We don't want you to feel like 'oh God, how much longer is this going to take?' You are entertained in there...Like a lot of things in society, you kind of look for the weak link, so if you find out there's a weak link in a group of six, or eight, or 10 people, you better believe we are going to pounce on it," Siegel said.
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