At 85, Merlyn Linn still oversees his Des Moines haunted house that has scared generations

Merlyn Linn wasn’t familiar with Halloween until he about 10 or 11 years old. Yet he’d be the one to create a haunted house that’s operated for 39 years in Des Moines in the basement of a market he previously owned for longer.

For decades, families and teenagers have paid to crawl down and test their nerves at Linn’s Haunted House in the Highland Park neighborhood in Des Moines.

That entrance, paired with the kind of darkness that prevents you from seeing where you’re going, narrow hallways and some classic scares that jump out at you has set this haunted attraction apart from others in the Des Moines metro.

The man who built it, now 85, can be spotted going in and out of his creation, keeping a watchful eye on the visitors at the haunted house out of concern for the family and loved ones working there, while checking that the haunted house is doing what it’s supposed to do.

Give people the fright they paid for.

Linn’s Haunted House has operated over the years with the help of his children, and later grandchildren and friends of the family.

One actor, Jim Widlund, has been working at Linn’s Haunted House for 20 years. He’s in a clown costume at the haunted house. But he’s not the only person there who has more than a decade of experience with Linn’s Haunted House.

“That's what makes things good, when you don't have to have new help every year,” Linn told the Des Moines Register. “Because these people that I got, they know exactly what to do and when to do it and their timing is good.”

Before Linn’s Haunted House comes to a close on Halloween, the Register spoke with Linn and his wife, Shari, about the history of the haunted house in Des Moines.

More: Get into the Halloween spirit. Here's the best of what's going on around Des Moines.

Intended for kids, Linn's Haunted House proves to be too scary

Linn first built a haunted house in the garage of his home in Des Moines that he still lives in today. It was for his four children and intended for little kids.

When Linn decided to build a haunted house for the basement of his store, Linn’s Super Market, his family, and some of the employees at the store, had doubts, he recalled.

During the day, Linn worked the store. At night, he was crafting what would become a staple for community members for years to come, hauling away junk, Shari said, and bringing in lumber to construct the walls that would create a path for visitors at the attraction. It wasn’t ready when Halloween came around and opened instead in 1984.

“The first year it turned into just a phenomenal thing,” he said. “I was shocked.”

Like the garage in his home, Linn’s Haunted House was intended for kids to enjoy, but he underestimated just how many kids are afraid of the dark.

And Linn’s Haunted House is, at times, so dark it’s easy to bump into walls.

In its second year, he saw the adults come out for the haunted house, appreciative of how unique it was. It’s not gory, an intentional decision by Linn because he built this with kids in mind. Rather, it’s an experience that builds on the suspense as people crawl down into the dark and navigate sharp turns with the knowledge that actors are waiting to jump out at them.

Linn eventually used the entire basement for the haunted house. Over the years, he’s added to his scares with motion sensors that trigger a loud alarm as you walk by, for example.

He’s also made adjustments to the space.

For example, one tunnel was slowing visitors down, Shari recalled. Or, when he had to create a second exit, hauling out dirt and installing a staircase that can lead thrill seekers out of the basement.

“That was a big expense,” Shari said.

A haunted house that brings joy

Linn is confident in everything he does. Still, he was aware that if the haunted house he built ended up being a bust, it would be his children who’d have to hear all about it at school.

Linn's children, now adults, have recognized how much the haunted house has evolved since its early days when they worked it, calling it “primitive” compared to now, Shari said.

Like the Linn children, many have grown up with the haunted house. Linn's Haunted House gets visitors whose parents and grandparents went through the haunted house. They’ve also had people return to the haunted house while they’re visiting from out of state.

Linn became the owner of the market in the 1960s. He worked there since he was a teenager, when his responsibilities included stocking shelves and pricing merchandise.

Des Moines wasn’t always home for him.

Linn grew up on a farm in Dayton before moving to Des Moines when he was still a child. When he moved, he learned about Halloween thanks to some neighborhood boys who were going trick-or-treating, Linn said.

The treats he got, an apple or a candy bar, were a “big thing” for him.

“I’d get home and I’d look at all this and I thought, ‘Man, I have never had this much stuff,’” Linn said.

It was tough for him to step away from the supermarket, Linn said. He leased the supermarket to new owners in 2016 and sold the market in 2020.

“I enjoyed the people and I enjoyed everything about it,” Linn said. “And when I did something, I knew that whatever I did, I was doing it for the store and not specifically for myself, because it all helped me too. It was a fun part of my life.”

Despite the change in ownership, Linn’s Haunted House continues inside the store he knows so intimately. People continue gathering in the alleyway at the haunted house’s entrance. There’s a bowl of free candy for visitors, and now, there are koozies available to purchase for $5 for people looking to have a memento of their visit.

Watching people having fun at the haunted house is a favorite of Linn’s, Shari said.

“We don’t have enough fun in life,” Linn said.

What is the address of Linn’s Haunted House?

Linn's Haunted House is located at 3805 Sixth Ave. in Des Moines.

What are the hours for Linn’s Haunted House?

The hours are 7 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 26, 7 p.m. to midnight Oct. 27-28, 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 29-31.

How much does Linn’s Haunted House cost?

Prices are $25 a person.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Linn's Haunted House in Des Moines has scared kids for almost 40 years