Mid-Year Fear: Eeriebyss Factory of Terror offers summer haunted house experience

As stated in the classic 1978 slasher film “Halloween,” everyone is entitled to one good scare.

From as early as the 1910s, haunted houses have been a popular attraction for children and adults alike. It wasn’t until the '70s that haunted houses became the spectacle we know them as today. Whether it’s a movie, book, song, urban legend, strange phenomenon or otherwise, we have always been drawn to the scary side of things as a whole.

For the Eeriebyss Factory of Terror at West 12th and Raspberry streets, the more scares there are, the better, and not just during Halloween season.

On Friday and Saturday, the local haunted house attraction is having its third annual Mid-Year Fear for those who are looking for the perfect fright to kick off the summer. Erie has an ever-growing community of horror film enthusiasts, having hosted both Eeriebyss and the Eerie Horror Film Fest at the Warner Theatre, and that community is only getting bigger thanks to the expanding calendar of events at the Factory of Terror.

The Eeriebyss Factory of Terror is also celebrating the 10th anniversary of its opening in 2013, and it has been expanding ever since. The haunt is housed in a building that is nearly 130 years old, and it carries across two of the structure’s four floors spanning a half-mile of delightful terror. The haunt focuses more on the fun kind of scares rather than the guts and gore of other haunted attractions. It also is the only wheelchair accessible haunt in the area.

“We love the building,” said Greg Sutterlin, the owner of Eeriebyss. “The old-looking nature of it, with the brick and the ivy … it’s the perfect location in Erie.”

The building formerly stored office furniture as the Cost Plus building and the Cohen building. The building, from 1903 to 1957, was the headquarters and factory of the Griswold Manufacturing Co., known for its cast-iron cookware.

New additions this year

There are some changes being added to Eeriebyss this year.

“We’re working very hard to always make changes and improvements,” adds Sutterlin. “We bought some new animatronics, and we’re excited to install those.”

This year also marks the addition of a photo op station to capture haunt goers’ reactions.

“There will be a certain area of the haunted house that will give you a scare, and then we’ll snap a picture and you’ll be able to see it,” Sutterlin said.

The haunt is home to several jaw-dropping props, animatronics, and other spooky items, and it includes about 50 talented actors and special-effects artists to keep the scares coming.

“We’re always looking for new actors,” he said. “If someone wants to apply, they can message us on our Facebook page.”

Keep your eyes peeled for more events at Eeriebyss, which hosted a "Blackout" weekend April 6-7 on the eve of the total solar eclipse. Sutterlin says there are talks happening about more year-round events at Eeriebyss in the near future. The regular fall season opens Sept. 27 and runs on weekends through Nov. 2.

As the well-loved children’s series “Goosebumps” so famously quipped, “Beware, you’re in for a scare!”

If you go ...

The Mid-Year Fear at the Eeriebyss Factory of Terror costs $20 per person and is open from 7 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available for purchase at their website. The haunt is located at 1053 W. 12th St. For information, visit Eeriebyss Factory of Terror on Facebook or eeriebyss.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Eeriebyss haunted attraction to host Mid-Year Fear in Erie PA