Hotel Vernal Haunt to end after Halloween

VERNAL — Halloween night is always important for haunted attractions, but this year it will mean far more to the volunteers who run the Hotel Vernal Haunt.

It will represent the final night of operation after eight successful seasons at the 120 E. Main location.

"I was like, 'What are we going to do with ourselves, you know, instead of coming down here,'" said sound and lighting creator Jordan Merrell. "We'll figure it out. I'm pretty sad about it."

Megan Carroll, Hotel Vernal Haunt committee co-chairwoman, said the building first opened as a real hotel in 1947 and will be demolished to make way for a community event center including a new hotel and restaurants.

"The haunt goes away," Carroll acknowledged. "As you've kind of experienced going through the hotel, floors are crumbling, the walls are crumbling. We love asbestos around here — asbestos, lead. The hotel has definitely served its purpose."

Carroll said the elaborate 42-room haunt takes about an hour to navigate and represents thousands of hours of work from over 100 volunteers.

Preparation for the season begins in mid-July, Merrell said, with several hours of work each Saturday up until Halloween season.

"It changes as we're creating, because it's like, okay, we have this problem, so we just have to come up with ideas to solve those problems," Merrell said. "We end up with some cool things."

This year's haunt features themes from ancient Egypt, an ice box and a grisly meat locker, a spider hallway, and a set reminiscent of the movie "The Ring."

According to Carroll, over 100 sponsors have supported the haunted attraction, including numerous local businesses.

All ticket proceeds, she said, go to charities in the community. The hope is that by Halloween, the haunt will have raised over $500,000 since it started in 2018. The final days of operation are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

Carroll said she will be forever grateful to everyone who made the haunt possible.

"I'm going to miss what it's done for the community," Carroll said. "I'll miss our haunt family, as we call each other. We'll still get together, but there's a difference between getting together once a month and being with each other every night."

Carroll acknowledged there is something special about the building where the haunt has been held, from the spiritual energy believed to inhabit room 316 to memories with family.

She said those memories will never go away.

"It's brought the entire community together, just from grandma and grandpa to grandkids," Carroll said. "There's a memory for everybody who goes through these walls."

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