A haunted hotel opened in Galleria

Haunted+Hotel+guests+are+to+walk+through+several+rooms%2C+like+the+dining+room+pictured.

Jane Stueckemann

Haunted Hotel guests are to walk through several rooms, like the dining room pictured.

Jane Stueckemann, Features Editor

A new hotel is open for business in the Johnstown area—one created to give its visitors a scare.

Hogue’s Haunted Hotel, a new attraction on the Johnstown Galleria mall’s second level, is to be open from 4 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays from Oct. 6 to Oct. 28.

The attraction is produced in part by the owners of Hogue’s Fun Factory, which is in the mall not far from the Haunted Hotel.

Chris Hogue said that this is the first year his family has done something like this. The attraction is in a storefront they rented for the month.

“We’ll have 13 different viewpoints and most of them are different aspects of a hotel—we have a bar, lobby and ballroom. Character actors will connect with typical hotel roles, like the bellhop or bartender,” Hogue said.

Though Hogue said the character actors won’t touch people walking through the attraction, he said the hotel will be scarier the later it gets.

“We’ll have more actors later in the night,” Hogue said.

Hogue said that the attraction will take about 10 minutes to walk through, and while there may be fog machines used, there will not be any strobe effects.

Admission is $9 per person. Participants may purchase their tickets using cash at the door or using a credit card at Hogue’s Fun Factory.

Hogue said group rates are available for groups of 10 or more people, but they must call ahead of time.

“This is the first year we’re doing this, so we want to connect with people who also have this passion. We hope to keep doing it, too,” Hogue said.

Hogue said his family worked with the Allen and Becky Edmiston family of Johnstown on the attraction. He said they brought the props and designed the storyline.

“The Edmiston family is doing the design and production side of it. They put a lot of time into it. We’ve been getting ready for this since the first week of September.”

Allen said his family has a passion for Halloween. Their tradition is to decorate a small haunted attraction in their garage for friends and family.

This year, Allen said the Edmiston family will be sending their friends and family to check out their handiwork at the Haunted Hotel.

“This has been a pretty big project. It’s been a lot of work, and there is a lot involved, but we want it to be fun and want to give everybody a good scare,” Allen said.