CLINTON, Ill. (WAND) – For years, terror has visited Clinton every fall.Terror on Washington Street has been the house of haunts, and 2020 will not be less scary, just different.
"Big changes, yet we're still ready to scary people," Marian Brisard, executive director of the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, said.
Those changes are the results of the real terror of a deadly pandemic. Brisard said the changes will start with the visitors. Tickets are only being sold online and there will be a limit on the number of customers allowed inside.
"We are having groups go in every five minutes and that allows them to walk through at their own pace. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to walk through the haunted house,” Brisard said.
Once inside, Plexiglas barriers will separate actors and customers in areas where they may have once have had a creature in their face. In another change, unless actors bring their own costumes, there will not be any. There will also be fewer actors. Instead, there will be automated displays.
Brisard said to comply with social distancing guidelines, the number of actors is being cut from about 40 to 10.
Hidden doors throughout the haunted house will allow the volunteers to move about without you knowing.
"It allows us to go in and out and appear out of the thin walls, or the middle of the room," Brisard said.
The goal of the changes is to make sure you stay scared, yet safe from catching the real-life scare of COVID-19.
"Be as safe as we possibly can,’ Brisard said. “That is the key."
Terror on Washington Street told WAND News that masks will be required for all actors and customers and hand sanitizer will be available at the entrances and exits. All displays with curtains are also being removed to keep customers from touching more objects.
Terror on Washington Street opens Oct. 9. The organizers said they will only allow about 200 people in a night. In years past, they’ve seen upwards of 1,000 people in one night.
